Foliculitis and penis head question

I have about 8 small pimple-like growths where my pubic hair grows.  They are pink to reddish in color.  Some have a hair growing out of them, and some are close to a hair.  I've noticed them for about a month now.  I went to a doctor, and told him I was concerned that it might be herpes.  He did an exam of my genital region, and told me they were just heat bumps, and not herpes.  He wasn't really concerned about them.  They don't hurt, or itch or anything.  One of them did actually itch for a little while.  I haven't noticed any symptoms of herpes.  Should I quit worrying about this, since the doctor didn't seem to be worried?  When will they go away?

I've also noticed that the head of my penis is a little rough.  It may have been that way for a long time, but I've just been paying closer attention to that area here lately.  Is it normal for the head of the penis to be rough?  I'm not experiencing any pain or discomfort.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Sounds to me as though the doctor is right.  Also, bumps on the penis are normal--you're probably just paying extra-close attention to them, now that you're anxious about it, as you realize yourself.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[Arcane]

I had a similar problem.  About 6 months ago I broke out in blisters below my naval but above my pubic hair region.  I was bled on by my girlfriend and that area broke out the next day.  My penis, shaft and head became dry and crusty but everything went back to normal after a few weeks.  I still have a couple blemishes from the blisters but im using some scar lotion stuff.  The blisters were by far the itchiest thing ive ever had and Ive had poison ivy a number of times.  I went to the doctor and they didnt think it was herpes.  I got a full blood test, stds, hiv and syphilis.  All came back negative.  I assume it was a fungus/yeast infection that was in her blood that got on me.  The only thing I still carry is a small section on my finger that feels like fine sand paper, it itches when I get something acidic on it.  It never blisters though.  I got some anti-fungus cream but its not going away.

Hope this helps.

[bryan1980]

Well...went to another doctor on Monday.  He still wasn't sure what the bumps were.  He said that they might be warts of some sort.  He gave me a prescription of Doxycyline (sp?) for ten days, and he also ordered a herpes blood test.  He said that they didn't look like herpes to him, I think the test is just more for my peace of mind.  The results won't be in until Friday, so I'm on pins and needles until then.  I hope to God I don't have herpes, I'm in the beginning stages of a promising relationship, and I don't want to lose it because of this. So far, two doctors have said that it didn't look like herpes, so I guess that's good.  I wonder if a dermatologist would have better luck diagnosing this?

[bryan1980]

Well...the HSV test came back negative!  Now it's just a matter of finding out what those bumps really are, probably by a dermatologist or something.  I'm not worried about them a whole lot now, since they don't even cause me any discomfort or anything.  I'll still get them checked-out, though.

[MIKE22]

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT THE DIAGNOSIS IS.  I HAVE HAD THE SAME BUMPS ON TESTICLES AND ROUGH RED SORE/ITCHY AREA ON TIP OF PENIS.  UNFORTUNATELY, THIS HAS GOTTEN WORSE OVER A YEAR AND NOW I HAVE URETHRA BURNING/PAIN AND ABDOMINAL AND PELVIC PAIN.

ALL STD TESTS WERE NEGATIVE. I WAS GIVEN DOXYCYCLINE AND LEVAQUINE.  THE DOXYCYCLINE LESSENED MY URETHRA AND GROIN PAIN ABOUT 80%, BUT IT DIDN'T GO AWAY COMPLETELY, SO NOW I'M ON 6 WEEKS WORTH OF DOXYCYCLINE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS.  THE BUMPS WENT AWAY ON THEIR OWN MANY MONTHS AGO BEFORE MY ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT.  BUT, I STILL HAVE THE RED ROUGH AREA ON TIP OF PENIS THAT ITCHES AND HURTS EVERY SO OFTEN.

THANKS

[diggerup]

I have the same problem, itching redness, dry... have been tested for stds, came back neg. i was wondering if urine can cause this, i change underwear 2-3 times a day b/c of leaking urine after pissing... this have been going on for 8 years now and getting worse, maybe longer im not sure.had an third kidney takin out. and it functioned at one time but it never drained to bladder, so there was 5 pounds of urine trapped in the ureuta(s/p)the leaking and itching have been getting worse and i don't know what to do and have no insurance.

[LOMBRIS]

A related discussion, BURNING AND PAIN ON THE HEAD OF MY PENIS was started.