What Does Herpes Look Like?

What does herpes look like is a common question from people who suspect they have genital herpes symptoms. A lot of people confuse it with other skin conditions such as a rash or pimples.

Many times people describe what does herpes look like as an insect bite, razor burn, cut from shaving, an ingrown hair or simply think it’s a yeast infection. In some people Genital Herpes starts with an itch and a rash. The person’s skin can become red and tender. Swelling may develop until small blisters appear. Sometimes they gather in a larger blister. The blisters can be transparent, white, or yellow and filled with a clear fluid.

Genital herpes are generally more sensitive during a person’s first outbreak. After about a week or more genital herpes blisters usually begin to scab over and turn back into normal healthy skin again. Sometimes the new skin may have a different color for a period of time before returning to normal. Reoccurring outbreaks are generally milder and recovery time is commonly reduced over time.

An Ordinary Rash or Genital Herpes?

The most common way to distinguish an ordinary rash from a herpes rash is the location where it can appear in the body. Common genital herpes symptoms tend to be the same no matter where they're located on the body. The main differences lies in the severity of the symptoms. It may cover a larger area and be more sensitive if it is a first outbreak.

Images of Herpes

If you want to get a better understanding of what herpes look like, the best thing to do is to look at genital herpes pictures. Although looking at documented cases of genital herpes pictures online is the best way of seeing what the herpes blisters look like, many of pictures are scary and nearly always represent the most severe herpes outbreak symptoms.

View a small collection of images of herpes. Click Here for images of herpes

WARNING: The genital herpes pictures on these pages are graphic and contain images of male and female genitalia. Click here for Genital Herpes Pictures - Graphic

If you would like to view a list of conditions that are commonly mistaken for what does herpes look like and learn how each condition is different, visit

What's Next?

After viewing the images of herpes, you should be able to have an answer to your question, “What does herpes look like?” If you suspect that you may be experiencing genital herpes symptoms it is critical that you visit your doctor as soon as possible. Preferably while the blisters are still visible and before they begin to scab over.

Your doctor can obtain a culture from the open herpes blister sores and send it to a lab for testing.

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Learn More About What Herpes Look Like and Images of Herpes

Does Herpes Look Like A Pimple
Surprisingly, there are still a lot of people mistake genital herpes to be pimples. There should be no doubt that at some point genital herpes blisters do resemble pimples but more often than not it is very hard to make that mistake.

Images of Herpes - Mild Herpes Outbreak Pictures
View mild Images of herpes to gain a clear understanding of a typical genital herpes outbreak, signs and symptoms.

Genital Herpes Pictures - Genitals Graphic
View graphic but common genital herpes pictures to gain a clear understanding of a typical initial genital herpes outbreak, signs and symptoms. Initial genital herpes outbreaks are generally more severe than reoccurring outbreaks.

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