What are the symptoms of herpes? Part I - HSV1

We go on discussing oral herpes, still leaving genital herpes issues until later.

So, what are the symptoms of herpes? How can one know that he or she is infected?

Most of the time, the herpes virus shows no signs of its presence in the human body, although after it gets in, it never leaves the system. When the virus is inactive, or dormant, you may observe no symptoms of the disease (all the more, you observe no such symptoms if you are not infected!). But then, all of a sudden, you may feel some itching in the areas where the skin is particularly thin and delicate, especially close to mucous membranes, or right on mucous membranes. In case of oral herpes, these areas are placed mainly on the lips and around or inside the mouth. Very soon, the itching grows stronger until you feel some hardening of tissue under the skin, like tiny lumps. During several hours, these lumps spring out onto the surface, forming sores surrounded by inflamed skin. The sores are filled with clear or whitish liquid which tends to ooze as soon as the sore is damaged. The more severe infection you get, the more sores may appear. They may even come in clusters, making the skin around them swell a bit.

After a day or two days, the sores begin to dry out a little, getting covered with scabs. They are still filled with clear liquid, although the liquid can contain some traces of blood as the capillaries are damaged in the adjoining areas of skin. However, drying of the tips of the sores can be considered the first sign of the beginning of the process of healing which normally takes from 3 to 14 days.