Herpes or Friction Burns?

[Webinski]

I'm a 27 year old male and am concerned that I have herpes.  I have beeen in a monagomous relationship having unprotected sex for 8 months.  During that time my girlfriend has not had a single symptom of an STD.  I however, have been getting what I refer to as "rugburns" below the head of my penis after rough sex(this has happened for many months).  Just recently one of these "rugburns" scabbed over, possibly bled, and the next day my penis was covered with tiny sores.  More sex really iritated the sores. The sores were not blister like, but infact resembled red pimples with small, circular scabs in the middle of them. When one of these small scabs is squeezed a small amount of clear fluid comes out. This is the first time this has happened. Just recently my girfriend has felt sore near her vagina, but does not present with bumps, blisters, ect.  Here are my 4 main questions......
1. Would herpes ever present itself as a painful, dry scab that is visible for many months, and then suddenly pops, creating smaller round scabs all over the penis?
2.  What do you think Doc??
3.  Do herpes sores always start as blisters or is it possible that they can simply appear as scabs??
3.  Do females start to show symptoms of herpes if their partner is having a breakout and the 2 people have had sex during this breakout?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

1.  This does not sound like the typical pattern of herpes at all.
3. Blisters can dry up into scabs pretty quickly.
4. Not necessarily at the same time.
2.  I'm honestly not sure what you have.  When someone says, "my penis was covered with tiny sores," I have to wonder whether herpes may be possible, even if the whole story is not consistent with that diagnosis.  (The "rugburn" part is probably just friction.)

You really need to see a doctor about this, for diagnosis, culture, and explanation.

I'm sorry I can't be more specific.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[Webinski]

Dr Rockwell---thanks for the reply.  I think I have just another couple of questions if I may....

1.  In your experience----what are the frequencies that breakouts of herpes can occur?  I mean do you think that I would have noticed something strange if I had been infected 6 or 8 months ago (the last time I slept with someone other than my girlfriend)

2.  If it were herpes, and assuming that a woman was infected..wouldn't she have probably had a breakout by now (6-8 months)

[Webinski]

sorry Doc---one more

What about this situation dosen't sound "typical?"

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

1.  It varies from every month to 3 times a year to never.
2. Not necessarily.
3.  The combination fo different kinds of symptoms.

Dr. Rockoff

[bjhawk]

I just recently experienced the same occurence.  The sores initially appeared immediately after sex and appeared as a "friction burn" or "rug burn" on my foreskin.  The inflamation (inflammation) went away after about 24 hours but these 3 little pimple like sores remained and had a small circular scab in the center.  After 7 days of topical treatment with Neosporin, the scabs have vanished and all that remains are tiny pink craters where the sores were.  I am experiencing immense psycological unrest about this!  And every time I read the symptoms for an STD I start wondering if I have herpes or something worse.  

Are these friction burns/sores common?

[anonyman]

Hi. Im a 22 year old male who has only had 3 sexual partners in my lifetime.  With two of them, I wore a condom all the time, I NEVER had sex with them unprotected.  I have now been in a monogamous relationship with my current girlfriend (she was my girlfriend before but we only had sex once and thats when we lost our virginities)  we have been having unprotected sex for 8 months and she is using the birth control patch.  I have had a small pimple like bump right between the head and circumsized foreskin on the underside of my penis that is never painful and its been there for like 3 years. It never grew or itched or burned and the doctor said it might just be a swollen sweat gland. Recently, about two or three weeks ago i have had an irritation on my foreskin that itches sometimes but it doesnt burn and it doesnt hurt when i touch it.  It looks as if it has healed, but it doesnt match the other side of my penis so it looks as if the irritation is still there.  At first it was like dryskin and then i scratched it off.  Then it became reddish and itched from time to time.  Now its my normal skin color but I can still sorta see it.   I'm pretty paranoid and don't know what this is.  My girlfriend got checked out before we had unprotected sex, and I was checked out before her so we were both fine before we began unprotected sexual activity.  Please advise.

[inoj]

my boyfriend has the same thing. Last Saturday we had sex and he got it around the base of his penis. He said it hurt and it burned in the shower. Plus it hurt when we did have sex after that. And now he said another one showed up. He thinks it may be the herpes virus and told me about it but I'm wondering what the possibility is of it just being a friction burn.

[voice of sanity]

i have experienced the same thing as webinski, but the circumstance are a bit different.  i get these little bastids after using condoms.  i think it may be some sort of allergic reaction to latex, if i wear the gloves my hands break out in hives, and i have kind of delicate skin.  i'm also allergic to most antipersperants and deoderants.  but they still have me worried despite recent testing, and i plan to get tested again soon and will be consulting a doctor very soon. i would be way more worried except for the fact that i do use condoms and don't have these reactions except when i do.

[Hopefullywell]

My afliction is really similar to Webinskis - small sores appearing like small pimples but different (as he described).  Sometimes there is a bigger friction burn that can scab over - not pleasant.

Anyone got a more satisfactory idea than 'dunno, go to your GP'?

[krazykittykat44]

i am female and get the friction sores occasionally after sex where enough lubrication wasn't used. they are extremely painful, especially to go pee. they last about 3-4 days. i'm just wondering if there is any way to treat them to ease the pain. i've been grinning and bearing it for years and am just about fed up!

[analeigh]

I have been dating someone on and off for about a year.  In between our "on" stages, I had protected sex with 3 different people.  Two of the times I also received oral sex.  Recently (a little over a week ago), I received oral sex from someone that I didn't know very well at all.  He didn't appear to have any cold sores or symptoms of herpes on his mouth.  A few days later, my on-again-off-again boyfriend came back into town and we had unprotected sex like usual (I did inform him of the oral sex I had received a few days before.)  My "boyfriend" and I had sex probably 10 times within just two days.  He has been tested for STD's before and I am certain that he doesn't have any.  The day after he left, I was very raw and sore from having a lot of rough sex, and soon noticed a bunch of small blister-like bumps all around where my pubic hair is.  I shave my pubic hair and shaved really well (against the grain) right before he got there.  I have a few of these sores a little closer to my vagina but not directly on it.  They are very uncomfortable and burn and sting slightly.  I also noticed that my vagina was slightly itchy (and just irritated).  I went to my OBGYN and was diagnosed with folliculitis, she said because the small blister-like spots were directly over hair follicles, and a bacterial infection.  She said that if my symptoms worsened or appeared closer to my vagina that I should come back to be tested if it is, indeed, herpes.  I'm so worried because it sounds exactly like herpes.  I know that I've been diagnosed with folliculitis, but do you think that it could possibly be herpes?  I've also had mild symptoms of herpes such as headache, fatigue and pain in my groin which I didn't mention to my Dr.  I also didn't tell her that the bumps were tingling or bothering me at all because they weren't at the time.  If you can give me any piece of mind or advice, or if this sounds like herpes at all and could let me know I would greatly appreciate it.  Thank you so much.

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