Cold sore or pimple / herpes

Last week I had two spots appear on my upper lip. My lip felt tingly and inflammed. One spot was definitely a tiny little white head which I popped and it cleared almost immediately. The other was sore and grew bigger in size. The red spot got to tsize of an eraser. The tingling and tightness of the skin was felt due tothe inflamation (inflammation) of the spot. I was thinking it was herpes however I decided to squeeze it on about day 5 and even though there was no whitehead on the surface a good amount of puss came out then it bleed along with some clear fluid. Since I squeezed this it has started to heal. The healing never had a dark scab on it but there are layers of skin shedding off. There was no yellow or brown crusting.

My understanding is that herpes would not have puss but clear fluid only. I have been tested for HSV1 & HSV2 over the last 5 1/2 months due to an exposer from a partner who had both. My exposure was from recieving oral sex and kissing this person. All 7 of my herpes test have been negative all IgG, Immunoblot and even a Western Blot.  All test were type specific. All negative for both types.


Also I get a strange feeling in my boxer short area where it feels like it an icy/hot bengay feeling on the skin around my scrotum and sometime around the waistband area. Could this be herpes. I have not seen any blisters. These feelings come and go.

My question could this be herpes or is it just a pimple?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it looks like a small infected hair follicle or a boil. A boil generally starts as a reddened, tender area. Over time, the area becomes firm and hard. Eventually, the center of the abscess softens and becomes filled with pus. Finally, the pus "forms a head," which can be surgically opened or spontaneously drain out through the surface of the skin.
If the tests have come out negative then it is unlikely that it is a cold sore. However if the repeat happens, please get it examined from a dermatologist. The waist and scrotum symptoms are unlikely due to herpes and can be due to contact dermatitis, sweat dermatitis or abrasions by clothes. Wear cotton clothes and apply some calamine lotion to avoid any friction rub.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[Joe239]

Thank you for your reply. I will keep you posted if this should reoccur.

[Joe239]

Here I am four weeks later and it appears I am getting a reoccurance of whatever was on my lip. I am in the sun a lot and have been under a great deal of stress. This has just been adding to it. I went yesterday to have another IgG test run and will get results either Monday or Tuesday. I also have an appointment with the dermatologist and I will have him look at this.

Today it just feels tingly like it is going to grow. I have yet to see any blistering. Would it be common to see a reoccurance this soon after the first one. It was four weeks ago when I felt this come on and her it is actually less than four weeks later I am feeling the same thing again.

The red spot where all this happened never went away. Could it be over sensitized? I think it is a cold sore. It manifest like one with the exception of the blistering and the fact last time it had puss in it when I did squeeze it. BTW when this was not feeling like this I did notice there was a hair follicial on the edge of my lip in the center of this spot. Could it have been both a cold sore and an infected hair follical?

I will post more when I get the results from the IgG, possibly a culture from the dermatologist and his examination.    

[Joe239]

I went to the dermatologust he looked at the picture I had, along with the IgG test I recenty did which again came back negative for HSV1 & 2. He concuded it was either a severve pimpe or more likey a cogged hair follicle. I still have a hard time with this since the area still seems to be sensitive and tingles on and off. The lower area on my scrotum he looked at it and says it is eczema on my scrotum or something else not herpes.

I will have to wait for either a really outbreak or I really do not have herpes. I personally think the test is faulty and just not picking up my HSV1 infection. For now I wil live with the medical news I am not infected.