"Crawling From Herpes"

Is the skin around your “private parts” red and sensitive? Do blisters appear? Is it painful or itchy? Burning or tingling? Uh-oh. You might have herpes.

You are not alone. 20 percent of Americans—equivalent to roughly 50 million—are infected with genital herpes. And guess what? The majority of them are unaware that they have it. Studies reveal that more than 500,000 Americans diagnosed with genital herpes for every year, and it is increasingly occurring in teens.

Herpes comes from the Greek word “herpein”, which means “to creep”. It refers to a group of viruses that produce painful sores and blisters. There are two kinds: herpes simplex and herpes zoster. The former causes cold sores around the mouth and around the sexual organs (genital herpes). The latter triggers chickenpox and shingles.

Genital herpes is easily spread, usually through sex, even oral sex. It can spread from one part of your body to another, such as from your genitals to your fingers, to your eyes and so on. And if you’re pregnant, be careful: it can be transmitted to your child during birth. Even if the person infected does not exhibit the symptoms, the virus can be transmitted. Scary, isn’t it?

If you think you have herpes, fret not. It is far from being deadly, not even dangerous. However, it can be a nuisance and can result to emotional trauma. Plus, there is no cure yet.

How do you know that it’s herpes? Usually, small, painful blisters appear in the first week. They could contain clear or cloudy fluid while the area under them could be red. These quickly become open sores.

Besides tender blisters and sores around your genitals, it may hurt to pee. You can also run a fever and exhibit symptoms of flu. Most people feel much pain early after infection, while some don't have any symptoms, and don’t even know they're infected.

The symptoms go away and ordinarily return after some time. When a recurrence occurs, the symptoms are not as bad as they were during the first attack. If you want to avoid a recurrence, avoid being stressed, getting sick, or feeling tired. Staying under the sun and having your menstrual period can also cause a recurrence. When you feel itching, tingling, or pain in the previously infected areas, watch out.

An uninfected person has a 75% chance of contracting herpes while making love with an infected one. To protect your partner or yourself from being one of the millions of herpes victims, don’t have sex when you have outbreaks. Use condoms every time you have sex, and make sure all infected areas are covered. It’s better to be safe than sorry.