Genital herpes' defining characteristic, arguably, is that it nearly always goes unrecognized by the people who have it. Eighty percent, or thereabouts, of people who actually have genital herpes aren't aware of their infected status. In this respect, genital herpes is a silent condition; but silent or not, genital herpes is transmittable.

The symptoms of genital herpes often get mischaracterized as something else: shave irritation, ingrown hairs, jock itch, a basic rash. The essentially benign nature of these conditions leads them to typically be ignored, and hence, an accurate diagnosis of genital herpes may go unmade.

In contrast to what may be popular belief, genital herpes symptoms, when they appear, are often very slight. When symptoms are clearly apparent, they typically follow a pattern: discomfort, blisters that expand then break, scabbing, then healing. A cycle of genital herpes symptoms runs two weeks or so. A cycle of genital herpes symptoms can be reduced significantly with proper treatment.

Unlike some other STDs, genital herpes infection doesn't represent a threat to physical well-being. Genital herpes is a nuisance condition more than anything, though there are some very limited exceptions to this: persons with severely compromised immune systems, and infants, who can become infected during the birthing process if their mother is infected.

Genital herpes does often present mental trauma. People can go into a deep funk when they learn they have an STD, any STD, even one, like genital herpes, that's not a serious medical threat. This sense of upset is understandable: STDs still, for the most part, carry a stigma. What STDs aren't, however, is moralistic. Lots of "good' people get STDs, and some of those STDs have far worse possible outcomes than genital herpes does.

There's a general assumption that the appearance of genital herpes symptoms indicates a recent infection. This belief can cause a great deal of conflict within a relationship if a case genital herpes suddenly appears. But the belief that genital herpes symptoms always indicate a recent infection is false. Yes, genital herpes symptoms can appear days after an infection takes place; but symptoms can also be noticed for the first time literally years following infection. Genital herpes symptoms don't represent absolute evidence that sexual activity has recently taken place.