People infected with genital herpes may or may not show symptoms.  The symptoms that show are called outbreaks.  An outbreak usually occurs within two days to two weeks after a person is exposed to the HSV (herpes simplex virus).  The people who do not experience the outbreaks will still have the virus in their bodies and they become carriers.  They will release the virus along with fluids from the mouth, penis or vagina.  This is called “asymptomatic shedding”, an effective way of spreading genital herpes.  Since the HSV stays for many years (even for a lifetime) the carrier may infect many other people, especially if that person will have many sexual partners.  It would also be impossible to determine from whom the carrier got the HSV in the first place.
The first time that the outbreak occurs is called the “primary outbreak”.  There will be signs before the blisters come out, such as itching, numbness, or tenderness in the genital area.  Some would feel a tingling or a burning sensation in areas where the sores are going to materialize.  These pre-outbreak signs are called “prodome”.
As the herpes blisters come out, a person may also experience fever, headache, muscle aches, and painful urination.  There will also be alarming abnormal discharges.  The blisters may be too small to be noticeable or may be as large as coins and cause great painful discomfort.  A blister may appear alone or in clusters.  Sores may cover only a limited portion of the genital area, such as the penis and the vulva, that area that surrounds the vaginal opening.  Or blisters may spread to the anus, the scrotum, the buttocks, and even the thighs and nearby areas that have broken skin.  Blisters may also occur inside the vagina, the cervix and the urinary tract.  After about three weeks, the sores will begin to rupture and clear liquid will ooze painfully from them.  These will take about three weeks to heal on its own.  Women, though, normally take a longer time to heal than men.  Once healed, they completely disappear and leave no scars behind.

However, the HSV remains underneath the skin where the sores once dominated.  Sometimes, the virus remains dormant forever, but sometimes, the virus is triggered to produce more viruses and cause another round of itchy swollen blisters.  This is called a “recurrent outbreak” or “symptomatic recurrences”.  A person may have about five recurrent outbreaks within a year.  Normally, these are less painful and heal faster than the primary outbreak.  Except when an infected person has an impaired immune system, such as those with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).  A recurrent outbreak may be triggered by stress, illness, menstruation, or a new sex partner.  They also become less frequent as time goes by.

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