The good news about early syphilis symptoms is that they are often considered painless. Initial syphilis symptoms generally consist of small, firm sores that pop up in the area of the body where the infection was transmitted (typically the genitals). Unlike herpes sores, which can oftentimes be quite painful, syphilis sores don’t tend to cause discomfort. But just because your syphilis symptoms aren’t causing you pain doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get treated for the disease.
Syphilis can be cured completely when it’s caught by an STD test in its early stages. But if STD testing is avoided and the disease is left to progress, it can cause serious health problems down the line. Late-stage syphilis symptoms include dementia, blindness, and severe nerve damage—which is why it’s important to get a syphilis test if sores do appear on your body at any point. Even though your syphilis symptoms may not be producing any notable pain, you’ll need to get treated for syphilis if you want to avoid the types of symptoms that will have a huge impact on you physically down the line.
