According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five American adults is infected with herpes. There is no cure for herpes, although there are medications you can take to reduce the likelihood of a breakout or to reduce the severity of a breakout once it occurs. Signs of herpes breakouts include pain, tingling, or burning around the mouth or genitals (prodrome), flu-like symptoms and skin lesions.
Prodrome
The term prodrome refers to early or initial symptoms that precede a full breakout. Pain, tingling or burning of the genitals, anus or around the mouth are all signs that a herpes outbreak may be imminent. According to the CDC, these symptoms may persist for two hours or up to two days before other symptoms appear.
Flu-Like Illness
In 80 percent of people, according to a 2005 article in the journal American Family Physician, the onset of flu-like illness is another sign of an impending herpes breakout. Many people report fever, headache, muscle pain, joint pain and lack of appetite. While these are all common symptoms of the flu and even the common cold, respiratory symptoms such as cough and cold are notably absent in the flu-like illness of herpes.
Lesions
Herpes infection is associated with skin lesions that pass through distinct, characteristic phases, according to the CDC. In some cases, the first sign of a breakout will be the appearance of small red bumps or fluid-filled blisters that are extremely painful. These may be mistaken for pimples, ingrown hairs, jock itch, insect bites or yeast infections, according to the American Social Health Association. In genital herpes, these lesions may appear on the genitals, anus, buttocks and thighs. In oral herpes, they will typically appear around or inside the mouth. In both cases, small, clustered blisters that ulcerate, crust and resolve without scarring over the course of two to six weeks are characteristic of herpes.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Genital Herpes
- American Family Physician; Genital Herpes: A Review; J.G. Beauman; Oct .15, 2005
- American Social Health Association: Learn About Herpes
