Oral Herpes (cont.)
IN THIS ARTICLE
- Oral Herpes Overview
- Oral Herpes Causes
- Oral Herpes Symptoms
- When to Seek Medical Care
- Exams and Tests
- Oral Herpes Treatment
- Self-Care at Home
- Medical Treatment
- Next Steps
- Follow-up
- Prevention
- Outlook
- Multimedia
- Synonyms and Keywords
- Authors and Editors
- Viewer Comments: Oral Herpes - How Did You Manage
Oral Herpes Symptoms
- Incubation period: For oral herpes, the amount of time between contact with the virus and the appearance of symptoms, the incubation period, is 2-12 days. Most people average about 4 days.
- Duration of illness: Signs and symptoms will last 2-3 weeks. Fever, tiredness, muscle aches, and irritability may occur.
- Pain, burning, tingling, or itching occurs at the infection site before the sores appear. Then clusters of blisters erupt. These blisters break down rapidly and, when seen, appear as tiny, shallow, gray ulcers on a red base. A few days later, they become crusted or scabbed and appear drier and more yellow
- Oral sores: The most intense pain caused by these
sores occurs at the onset and make eating and drinking difficult.
- The sores may occur on the lips, the gums, the
front of the tongue, the inside of the cheeks, the throat, and the roof of the mouth.
- They may also extend down the chin and neck.
- The gums may become mildly swollen and red and may bleed.
- Neck lymph nodes often swell and become painful.
- In people in their teens and 20s, herpes may cause a painful throat with shallow ulcers and a grayish coating on the tonsils.
- The sores may occur on the lips, the gums, the
front of the tongue, the inside of the cheeks, the throat, and the roof of the mouth.
- Pain, burning, tingling, or itching occurs at the infection site before the sores appear. Then clusters of blisters erupt. These blisters break down rapidly and, when seen, appear as tiny, shallow, gray ulcers on a red base. A few days later, they become crusted or scabbed and appear drier and more yellow
Next: When to Seek Medical Care »
Viewer Comments & Reviews
Oral Herpes - How Did You Manage
The eMedicineHealth physician editors ask:
How do you manage your oral herpes (herpes simplex virus) infection?
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Herpes Simplex Encephalitis »
The human herpesvirus (HHV) family includes 2 clinically important strains, also known as herpes simplex virus (HSV).
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