Does it always hurt?

Hey,

I'm waiting for my tests to come back, it's been a week and I have one more week to go. How could knowing you have herpes be worse then waiting to find out if you do, i swear my doctor must really hate me.

My question is, does it have to hurt? I went in for a pap smear because my vulva was itchy, and she recommended i get tested for herpes because she saw what looked like scabbed over blisters. I checked with a mirror and it looked like a rash on the very inside of my thigh (who knows what she saw inside me)

I've never experienced any pain, flu-like symptoms, I don't even know where my lymph nodes ARE down there so they didn't swell up. Beyond this and some itching (which went away a few days later), i'm fine.

Is it always painful? And what does the pain feel like? Is it like a fire, or a throbbing bruise?

I haven't had sex in two years (used to annoy me, now I'm really glad. hell, i may never have sex again!), and I've only been with one person. I know this doesn't mean anything...

Mainly I just need to talk about it, this seemed like the place to do it.