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Dermatology (Expert Forum)
Herpes? Or am I crazy?
Answered by
Alan Rockoff, MD - dermatology, Child Skin Problems
The Rockoff Dermatology Center
Brookline - MA
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Herpes? Or am I crazy?
by jstcr, Jul 24, 2003 12:00AM
Dr. Rockoff,
I’ll start from the beginning. In late May I had a visit from my girlfriend (who lives a few hours away). The first morning after she arrived I woke up with the beginnings of about 3 cold sores on my lower lip, these had not been present at all the day before. These developed into painless, red cold sores and were gone in about a week.
However after my girlfriend left I became curious why I had suddenly broken out in cold sores, when I seldom have one let alone three. I looked various places on the internet to research what could have caused this. Of course I came across both oral and genital herpes information. I became quite worried when I found out herpes could be spread from the mouth to genital through indirect contact. By indirect I mean touching your lips, not washing your hands and then touching other areas. I became quite worried because although I avoided all direct oral contact with my girlfriend, I did not pay any attention to where my hands touched. I am worried I may have passed HSV1 to my penis inadvertently. I was not using a condom, so my penis was fully exposed to contact with my hands.
I became quite paranoid and was checking my penis for anything out of the ordinary very frequently. About 2 weeks later I noticed about 3 red dots on the shaft of my penis. They were very small, painless, and pussless. Two of them were within 0.5 inch of each other while the 3rd was like 1.5 inches away. They were present for only about 48 hours or less and they faded to hardly visible red specs(not scabs) and then disappeared. I also experienced itching in my pubic area, but not on my penis itself.
I told my father about this who is a Doctor (Neurologist). He said it did not sound like herpes, but I should see the doctor anyway to make myself feel better. So I saw the doctor (not dermatologist) a few days later, but at that point there was little to nothing to show. I explained the situation to him as I have to you. He also examined me thoroughly. He told me he really did not think I have herpes or any other STD for that matter and that I should stop worrying. He also added that indirect herpes transmission is very rare.
I felt better for a while but the same dots returned and have continued to return frequently since then. Initially they did not appear to be hair follicles, but now it seems quite possible that is all it is. I am just worried because I never noticed any type of folliculitis on my penis in the past and it seems like an odd coincidence for it to show up right when I am worried about herpes. My father seems to think it is folliculitis or dermatitis brought on by humidity. As a test I shaved a small area and within a few hours I have a few similar bumps. This might be a dead giveaway that it is hair follicles, but I have never had this type of reaction in the past.
Is folliculits in anyway tied to HSV-1?
Do you think I am making something out of nothing?
Any Advice would be greatly appretiated!!!
I’ll start from the beginning. In late May I had a visit from my girlfriend (who lives a few hours away). The first morning after she arrived I woke up with the beginnings of about 3 cold sores on my lower lip, these had not been present at all the day before. These developed into painless, red cold sores and were gone in about a week.
However after my girlfriend left I became curious why I had suddenly broken out in cold sores, when I seldom have one let alone three. I looked various places on the internet to research what could have caused this. Of course I came across both oral and genital herpes information. I became quite worried when I found out herpes could be spread from the mouth to genital through indirect contact. By indirect I mean touching your lips, not washing your hands and then touching other areas. I became quite worried because although I avoided all direct oral contact with my girlfriend, I did not pay any attention to where my hands touched. I am worried I may have passed HSV1 to my penis inadvertently. I was not using a condom, so my penis was fully exposed to contact with my hands.
I became quite paranoid and was checking my penis for anything out of the ordinary very frequently. About 2 weeks later I noticed about 3 red dots on the shaft of my penis. They were very small, painless, and pussless. Two of them were within 0.5 inch of each other while the 3rd was like 1.5 inches away. They were present for only about 48 hours or less and they faded to hardly visible red specs(not scabs) and then disappeared. I also experienced itching in my pubic area, but not on my penis itself.
I told my father about this who is a Doctor (Neurologist). He said it did not sound like herpes, but I should see the doctor anyway to make myself feel better. So I saw the doctor (not dermatologist) a few days later, but at that point there was little to nothing to show. I explained the situation to him as I have to you. He also examined me thoroughly. He told me he really did not think I have herpes or any other STD for that matter and that I should stop worrying. He also added that indirect herpes transmission is very rare.
I felt better for a while but the same dots returned and have continued to return frequently since then. Initially they did not appear to be hair follicles, but now it seems quite possible that is all it is. I am just worried because I never noticed any type of folliculitis on my penis in the past and it seems like an odd coincidence for it to show up right when I am worried about herpes. My father seems to think it is folliculitis or dermatitis brought on by humidity. As a test I shaved a small area and within a few hours I have a few similar bumps. This might be a dead giveaway that it is hair follicles, but I have never had this type of reaction in the past.
Is folliculits in anyway tied to HSV-1?
Do you think I am making something out of nothing?
Any Advice would be greatly appretiated!!!
Doctor's Answer
by Alan Rockoff, MD, Jul 25, 2003 12:00AM
, Jul 25, 2003 12:00AM
The doctor who saw you sounds right about both the fact that what you had doesn't sound like herpes and that indirect transmission is rare. Also, you can't spread herpes from one part of the body to another. (If you could, everyone with oral cold sores would be covered with herpes.)
I think you probably have dolliculitis, which is not tied to HSV. I think you noticed it now because you're looking very hard.
My advice is to forget about it. If you ever get blisters on the penis that scab over, that would be the time to see a doctor again.
Take care.
Dr. Rockoff
I think you probably have dolliculitis, which is not tied to HSV. I think you noticed it now because you're looking very hard.
My advice is to forget about it. If you ever get blisters on the penis that scab over, that would be the time to see a doctor again.
Take care.
Dr. Rockoff
ASR