Yes. Genital herpes treatment comes in two forms: prescription and non-prescription. The difference between the two, obviously, is that prescription treatment requires a prescription to acquire, and nonprescription treatment doesn't.

Prescription genital herpes treatment comes in tablet form, and is taken once to several times per day on the appearance of symptoms (outbreaks), or to prevent symptoms from appearing (suppressive therapy). There are three primary brands of prescription treatment: Valtrex, Famvir, and Zovirax. Valtrex has shown some ability to prevent genital herpes transmission, but this effect has only been demonstrated to last for several months.

Nonprescription genital herpes treatment is usually applied directly to an outbreak area, rather than ingested like prescription treatment is. The duration of usage for nonprescription treatment. Nonprescription treatment is, essentially, available exclusively on the Internet, and there are several different brands to be had.

That's a subjective question. Prescription treatments have undergone clinical trials for effectiveness and are regulated (at least in the US); on the other hand, prescription treatment does require a prescription (again, at least in the US) and has to be taken every day over a period of time to work -- for every outbreak that occurs. Nonprescription treatment isn't regulated, but it can be easily had and typically doesn't need to be used as often as prescription treatment does.

It depends on who you ask. Standard information states that a genital herpes infection is a lifelong condition, and can never be completely cured. However, there are nonprescription treatments that claim to stop outbreaks forever.

Not necessarily. Most people with genital herpes don't observe outbreaks at all: there's no reason for these people to seek treatment. For those who do have them, outbreaks will ultimately clear on their own, without any intervention; but outbreaks clear much more quickly, and are much less uncomfortable, when treated.

Prescription treatment can be taken on a regular basis as a means of reducing outbreak frequency. This type of constant treatment with prescription treatment is known as suppressive therapy. Suppressive therapy does not necessarily prevent outbreaks from occurring: people on suppressive therapy can still have outbreaks. Also, suppressive therapy seems to lose its effectiveness after a period of time. There are nonprescription genital treatments that also claim to reduce outbreaks.

Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Like all STD's, genital herpes is transmitted through sexual intercourse -- usually unprotected sex. Genital herpes is caused by a strain of the herpes simplex virus (HSV): herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV 2). It's thought that in the neighborhood of 80% of people with genital herpes are unaware of their status because they don't recognize any physical symptoms. When genital herpes symptoms do appear, they typically run a pattern: discomfort in the affected area, followed by an outbreak of blisters that eventually fill with fluid, burst, scab over, then heal. Left untreated, a genital herpes outbreak runs about two weeks. With treatment, an outbreak can clear in days. Genital herpes is not a threat to health except in the case of infant infection (during the birthing process) and, possibly, in persons with severely compromised immune systems.