Can you diagnose herpes just by looking?
A healthcare provider may diagnose herpes by looking at any blisters or sores. They can also take a sample or swab from a blister or sore that is not already crusted over or healing. In fact, the tests that use these samples work best.
If you were diagnosed with genital herpes in the last few days, you may be experiencing a number of uncomfortable or painful symptoms. Or, perhaps the symptoms are rather mild, barely noticeable, and resemble an insect bite or a rash.
Mild symptoms may go unnoticed or be mistaken for other skin conditions like a pimple or ingrown hair. Because of this, most people do not know they have a herpes infection. Herpes sores usually appear as one or more blisters on or around the genitals, rectum or mouth.
Diagnosis of cutaneous or mucocutaneous HSV infection can be accomplished through the use of simple light microscopy.
Contact Dermatitis Can Be Mistaken for Herpes
It's not an STD, but when it appears in the mouth or genital area, it may be mistaken for herpes. However, unlike herpes, contact dermatitis can happen anywhere on the skin and is caused by direct contact with an irritant or an allergen. It is not caused by a virus.
- A different STI which causes visible lesions, such as Syphilis or genital warts (HPV)
- Irritation caused by shaving.
- Ingrown hairs.
- Bacterial vaginosis (BV)
- Pimples.
- Yeast infections.
- Haemorrhoids.
- Bug bites.
Herpes looks like white, yellow, or red translucent sores or bumps, filled with a clear liquid, whereas pimples are pink or red and are not see-through. While pimples may appear individually as well as in clusters but in recognizable patterns, herpes sores are primarily observed in a bunch.
Many cases of genital herpes don't show up as blisters. They can appear as a small area of rash, cracked skin, or some other skin condition on the genitals. Although herpes sores heal, the virus stays in the body, and you can have more outbreaks.
At first, the sores look similar to small bumps or pimples before developing into pus-filled blisters. These may be red, yellow or white. Once they burst, a clear or yellow liquid will run out, before the blister develops a yellow crust and heals.
The average incubation period for an initial herpes infection is 4 days (range, 2 to 12) after exposure. The vesicles break and leave painful ulcers that may take two to four weeks to heal after the initial herpes infection. Experiencing these symptoms is referred to as having a first herpes “outbreak” or episode.
Can herpes look like a spot?
Does herpes look like a pimple? While any sores in the genital area can be alarming, it is easy to distinguish genital herpes from genital pimples. Pimples are small and hard, while herpes blisters may be larger, softer, and painful. Pimples are usually only painful if they become irritated.
Can herpes cause just one sore? Genital herpes outbreaks can differ in severity. While some people encounter multiple painful blisters, some only have one single sore. It is not uncommon for the symptoms to be so mild that they go unnoticed.
The rationale is that there is no health benefit that's been proven and there [are] a couple of risks,” Dr. Johnston says. “One is a false positive test, and the second is a risk of anxiety… [Herpes] is not associated with serious health outcomes, yet it's still feared.”
A PCR blood test for herpes can distinguish between HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections, making this test useful in determining which virus is causing a person's infection. PCR testing is the primary method of testing samples of cerebrospinal fluid.
The classic symptoms of genital herpes involve the skin: clusters of small raised bumps develop, which progress to fluid or pus-filled blisters (4,5).
Vaginal discharge associated with herpes usually takes the form of a thick and clear, white, or cloudy liquid. It's most common to have discharge when you're having other symptoms like sores.
The first signs are a tingling sensation in the affected areas (genitalia, buttocks, and thighs), and groups of small red bumps that develop into blisters. Over the next 2 to 3 weeks, more blisters can appear and rupture into painful open sores.
During a herpes outbreak, you'll notice tiny, painful blisters filled with clear fluid. The blisters may appear in clusters and can also appear on your rectum and mouth. The blisters tend to feel squishy.
| Herpes | Pimples | |
|---|---|---|
| Feel | soft | firm |
| Location | around genitals, buttocks, or mouth | areas of sweat or friction |
| Number | multiple lesions | individual or clusters |
| Pain | usually | sometimes |
Sometimes you can catch herpes when your sexual partner has no visible sores or symptoms. This is because the virus can become active on the skin without causing any visible blisters or sores. This is sometimes called 'asymptomatic shedding'.
Do you legally have to disclose herpes?
No, you are generally not legally required to tell someone you have herpes. However, if you knowingly engage in sexual activity with that person, you could face criminal and civil penalties for failing to tell the person you have herpes.
Keep any rejection that occurs in perspective. “The right person will know that herpes is not a deal-breaker,” says Henderson, “They will be able to work with you, get over it, and accept it.” If someone cannot deal with it, then they may not be the right person for you, she says.
The only way to know if you have genital herpes is by a medical exam. Your health care provider can examine you and test for it. Lab samples are taken from a sore, blister, or blood. Your health care provider may ask to test you for other infections at the same time.
It will still take a long time before these experiments lead to the first human trials of gene therapy to cure herpes. Jerome estimates that will be at least three years away. Herpes simplex viruses afflict billions of human beings around the globe.
It might be annoying, but herpes doesn't get worse over time or cause serious health problems like other STDs can. If you don't get treated for herpes, you might keep having regular outbreaks, or they could only happen rarely. Some people naturally stop getting outbreaks after a while.
There is currently no cure or preventive treatment for herpes infection. If a person gets either form of herpes virus infection, they will have it for life, whether or not they experience symptoms.
The rationale is that there is no health benefit that's been proven and there [are] a couple of risks,” Dr. Johnston says. “One is a false positive test, and the second is a risk of anxiety… [Herpes] is not associated with serious health outcomes, yet it's still feared.”
NAAT methods are the preferred method, with PCR as the most-widely used NAAT method. These tests are fast, accurate, and can tell if a person has HSV-1 or HSV-2. There is also less chance of a false negative result with NAATs.
During a herpes outbreak, you'll notice tiny, painful blisters filled with clear fluid. The blisters may appear in clusters and can also appear on your rectum and mouth. The blisters tend to feel squishy.
Can Genital Herpes Be One Bump? A genital herpes outbreak usually begins as a small cluster of blisters. While these may eventually look like one blister, it's unusual for genital herpes to start as one bump. If you discover a single bump in your genital area, it could have a number of other causes.
Why not to freak out about herpes?
Bottom line: There's no need to freak out about positive results. There are two types of herpes simplex virus, which can cause painful sores on the mouth and/or genitals. HSV-1 primarily causes sores on the mouth.
"For HSV-1, close to 100 percent of people in the U.S. are antibody-positive because they have been exposed at some point in their lives, though only a percentage of these individuals will actually get cold sores," says Adam Friedman, the residency program director at the George Washington University School of Medicine ...
If the infection occurred very recently (within a few weeks to 3 months), the test may be negative, but you may still be infected. This is called a false negative. It can take up to 3 months after a possible herpes exposure for this test to be positive.
A test that is 90% sensitive will correctly identify 90 people out of 100 who have the disease. Ten people will have a false-negative result.
Herpes tests aren't the only ones with a risk of false positive results. False positives can occur for any test that diagnoses viral infection based on antibodies, i.e., your body's immune reaction, rather than direct detection of the virus.