Photo Gallery of Common STDs

Cold sores, also known as fever blisters or oral herpes, are mainly caused by the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Cold sores are small, painful blisters that most often appear around the lips. They usually break open, crust over, and heal within a period of seven to 10 days.

Oral herpes can be easily transmitted through kissing. They can also be passed to a partner's genitals during oral sex.

An outbreak of genital herpes is characterized by a cluster of small blisters that break open and become painful sores. It is most commonly associated with the herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2).

Not everyone infected with HSV-2 will develop symptoms. Others may only have mild symptoms (such as tenderness and unbroken bumps) that are easily missed or ignored.

Suppressive therapy not only shortens outbreaks in people with recurrent outbreaks, but it also makes infecting a partner far less likely.

In the end, there is no way to know whether a person has herpes unless they've been tested. In fact, a great many people with HSV-2 will only realize they have the virus when a partner becomes infected.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is recognized as the virus responsible for genital warts and the development of many cervical and anal cancer cases.

The anal lesions pictured are extreme but provide you some sense of what genital warts look like. Generally speaking, the warts are whitish or skin-colored and have an irregular surface, much like cauliflower. They can be big or small and occur in clusters or as a single wart.

Genital warts can develop on the vulva, vagina, cervix, penis, scrotum, or anus. They are sometimes itchy, but most of the time they don't hurt.

Sadly, there is no way to tell if someone has HPV by looking at them. Testing is invariably required. Moreover, there is no commercial test to diagnose HPV in men. For this reason, you should always practice safer sex to help reduce your risk of infection.

In men, chlamydia and gonorrhea often have no symptoms. If symptoms do appear, they will often manifest with a discharge from the penis and other signs of urethritis, including redness and swelling around the opening of the penis and burning or pain when urinating. In some cases, the discharge will only be seen when the penis is "milked."

Men with gonorrhea are more likely to experience discharge than those with chlamydia. With gonorrhea, the discharge can often be profuse.

Other symptoms may include pain and swelling around the testicles and a greater frequency and urgency of urination. If the infection occurs in the throat, a sore, scratchy throat may develop.

Cervicitis is the term used to describe the inflammation of the cervix. It can be caused by many things but is characteristic of STDs like trichomoniasis, gonorrhea or chlamydia. Often, the only time cervicitis is detected is during a pelvic exam, although other symptoms may develop, including:

• Vaginal itching or irritation
• Bleeding between periods
• Pain during sex and/or bleeding after sex
• Frequent and painful urination
• A foul-smelling gray or which discharge
• A feeling of pressure in the pelvis

Because STDs are often internalized in women, they are frequently missed or misdiagnosed.

Primary syphilis is one of three stages of a syphilis infection. It is characterized by the appearance of an open, ulcerative sore known as a chancre. Chancres are normally round and painless, which can make them difficult to notice in the throat, vagina, or rectum.

Syphilis chancres are reasonably easy to spot on the external genitals and will usually heal on their own in three to six weeks. This does not mean the underlying infection has disappeared.

If left untreated, a syphilis infection can persist for years. After the secondary phase of infection (characterized by fatigue, flu-like symptoms, and, occasionally wart-like growths around the genitals), the disease will go into a period of latency, only to emerge years later as tertiary syphilis, the most severe form of the disease.

Pubic lice may seem more like an annoyance than a public health concern, but the sad truth is that "crabs" affects between six and 12 million Americans each year, according to a 2016 review in BioMed Research International.

Pubic lice are not the same thing as head lice. They are almost always spread through intimate contact and are far less likely to be transmitted through shared clothing or sheets. Infestations are characterized by itching and the appearance of crab-like insects in pubic hair. You should also be able to see white oval eggs attached to hair shafts.

Pubic lice are usually found in the genital area but can be spread to other coarse body hair. They are not usually found on the head. Treatment includes a lice-killing lotion containing 1% permethrin or a mousse containing pyrethrins and piperonyl butoxide.

Scabies is a skin infestation caused by a mite known as the Sarcoptes scabiei. The microscopic insects live on the skin and can burrow into tissues to lay their eggs. This causes an itchy, red rash to develop. The itchiness tends to become worse at night.

Scabies symptoms primarily develop in folds of skin where moisture is greatest, such as between the fingers, on the wrists and ankles, and in the genital area.

Scabies can also be spread through casual contact with clothing, towels, and bedsheets.

Treatment typically involves topical medications such as Elimite (permethrin), Eurax (crotamiton), Lindane (gammaxene), or Stromectol (ivermectin).

Chancroid is a bacterial STD rarely seen in the United States. Worldwide, chancroid infections are on the decline, although infections still occur in parts of Africa and the Caribbean. As such, infection is possible if you engage in sexual activity while in these regions or have sexual contact someone from these regions.

Symptoms usually develop within four to 10 days of exposure. The rash will begin as a tender, elevated bump filled with pus. The bump can erupt into an ulcerative sore similar to a chancre, albeit with ragged rather than smooth edges. Unlike syphilis, the sores will be painful.

Chancroid can usually be cured with a single oral dose of azithromycin or a single intramuscular injection of ceftriaxone.

In severe cases, chancroid can cause inguinal lymph nodes to literally burst. Inguinal lymph nodes are located near the hip crease and drain from the buttocks, legs, and groin. 

Swelling of the inguinal nodes (known as inguinal lymphadenopathy) is a common symptom of chancroid and often the only sign of the infection. Although lymph node ruptures are rare, they may develop if symptoms are ignored and left untreated.