Herpes and pain during sex: what to know

Herpes can make sex painful when sores, blisters or irritated skin are present, and pain may continue while tissue heals. Avoid sexual contact during visible sores or warning symptoms, and seek clinical advice for diagnosis, antiviral treatment and advice about reducing transmission.

Pain may feel burning, stinging or raw at the vulva, vagina or surrounding skin. Friction can reopen tender areas and slow healing. Pain during sex can also have other causes, including [Vulvodynia](/conditions/vulvodynia/), [Lichen Sclerosus](/conditions/lichen-sclerosus/), pelvic infection, [Endometriosis](/conditions/endometriosis/) or hormonal tissue changes such as [Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause](/conditions/genitourinary-syndrome-of-menopause/). A symptom alone cannot identify the cause.

Pause vaginal, oral and anal sex while sores, blisters, ulcers or tingling are present. Keep the area clean and dry, avoid picking lesions, and use loose clothing. A clinician can assess a new outbreak and discuss antiviral medicine. Condoms and dental dams can reduce, but do not remove, transmission risk because uncovered skin may shed virus. Use lubricant when sexual activity has safely resumed, and stop if pain returns.

Arrange prompt assessment for a first suspected outbreak, severe or worsening pain, difficulty passing urine, fever, spreading sores, eye symptoms or pregnancy. Seek urgent help if you cannot urinate, feel very unwell, develop severe pelvic pain or have a rapidly worsening rash. Persistent pain after lesions heal deserves a separate assessment; the [Pain During Sex](/symptoms/pain-during-sex/) page covers other possibilities.

Could this be herpes or another infection? Is a swab useful while a lesion is present? Would antiviral treatment help this episode or future episodes? When is sex safe to resume, and how can I protect my partner?