Herpes can happen to anyone

I was with friends at a bar in Los Angeles when I met the hottest girl I'd ever seen. Her name was Vicky. She was tall, tan and blond, and she kept shooting me flirtatious looks from across the bar. My friends didn't know her, but I bought her a drink anyway. One drink led to another, and soon Vicky asked to be taken back to her place. I was happy to oblige. Needless to say, I didn't return home that night, nor did I get very much sleep. Victoria rocked my world! That was one of the wildest, craziest nights of my life. However, nothing could prepare me for the bomb Vicky dropped on me the next morning; she told me she had herpes.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Why didn't she tell me before I slept with her? How long had she had herpes? Does that mean I have herpes? And, above all, what exactly are herpes? I grabbed my clothes, stormed out of Vicky's apartment and drove home. I couldn't schedule a doctor's appointment because it was Saturday. So instead, I did the only thing I could do; I got on the Internet and began learning about herpes.

And this is what I learned. This site contains the most basic information on herpes and herpes treatment; I made this site in hopes of providing quick, easy information for people who've shared my gut-wrenching experience.

Herpes: Incurable, but treatable

Herpes is perhaps the most recognizable STD, partially because there is no cure for this condition. The primary symptom for herpes is periodic breakouts of strange rashes, warts or blisters that occur in the genital area. People with herpes may go for weeks or months without showing symptoms, only to experience bouts of growths and painful sensations. Although there are no cures for herpes, medical researchers are constantly producing new drugs to help people manage and control their outbreaks.

The bad news is there's no cure for herpes. Once you've got it, you've got it. No vaccines or medications have been created that can actually destroy the herpes virus. However, there are several types of treatments available for controlling herpes outbreaks and symptoms. Many people who have herpes go on to live otherwise normal lives. So, while having herpes definitely sucks, it's far from being a death sentence. It just means you have to be extra careful with how you live the rest of your life.

How common are STDs?

Statistics show that sexually transmitted diseases are widespread across the United States. Surveys from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that roughly 3 percent of men and women ages 15-44 were diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted diseases in 2002, and those figures aren't believed to have changed much in the meantime. The problem with STD reporting is two-fold: for starters, most people who have STDs are unaware of their conditions, and second, even people who believe they have STDs are often to embarrassed or ashamed to attempt to receive treatment. For these reasons, health experts believe the number of people with STDs is actually larger than what's indicated by statistics.