In a Panic over possible herpes

[please help 12345]

A little over 2 weeks ago I went to a massage parlor. There was no sexual contact between the girl and I - what I did was  masturbate in front of her. But while this was going on she got very close to me (maybe 6 inches or so) and at one point got her face near my genitals, (but NOT touching them). I was concerned at the time because when she did, she said something, and I thought I felt some spittle hit my genital area. Didn't notice any lesions on her lips, etc, but who knows?
Then yesterday evening (14 days later) I noticed a rash on one side of my scrotum. It doesn't look like classic herpes but I've called every hotline out there and they all say herpes rarely looks like the classic symptoms. They also say the duration of the rash is between 2-12 days, which also doesn't help me rule this out -I'm entering day 2. It seems to have improved some since yesterday, but now the area is all leathery, shiny, and red. I've been washing it constantly with water, Betadine, and hydrogen peroxide. The rash looks like a red area on the front of one side of my scrotum, and yesterday I noticed some pinprick-sized holes with a tiny bit of watery looking fluid coming from them. They were tiny and I had to squeeze the skin over the testicle taut to really see them. They seem to meld into the general pattern of scrotal folds when I let the skin go. There also seems to be a patterned area of skin that looks a little drier than the rest of that side of the scrotum. There are also what look like a few hair follicles without hairs? coming from them (you know those whitish bumps) that look like they have no tops, so that they look like they might have small, (and I mean very small), scabs or dry skin on top). It doesn't hurt-though it feels a little raw in the shower sometimes. I never saw any blisters - the first thing I noticed yesterday was the redness and the few tiny pore-sized holes with water coming out. Also, I haven't noticed any general illness that one MIGHT expect from a primary herpes outbreak.
The only other possible explanation I have for the rash coming when it did is that I took a long walk on the beach yesterday and perhaps caused the rash from chafing. I have chafed my scrotum before, but I thought the rash looked a little different those times. I'm just not sure. And why just one side affected?
  I don't know what I'm going to do - I haven't eaten since yesterday and I can't sleep. It doesn't seem like the herpes blood tests would be much use, since this could be HSV-1 and if the statistics are accurate, I probably was already exposed to that as a little kid. And a culture doesn't look feasible, since there was really never much, if any, fluid to test. A Tzanck skin scrape might be an option, but supposedly they're not very accurate at all. That's assuming I could even get over my fear of taking such a test. So, did I put myself at risk? Is this herpes? Do I have to just wait for this to possibly happen again to know?? Help!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

No, not herpes, just chafing, plus "washing it constantly with water, Betadine, and hydrogen peroxide."

Please stop doing this.  Instead, apply 1% hydrocortisone, any mositurizing lotion, wear loose inderwear, and show a doctor while the rash is still there so you can get a definitive diagnosis and put this episode out of sight and out of mind (before you go out of yours . . . )

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[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. It never bled or anything like that.  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.

[jannov]

Dear,
I’d like to describe a little bit different way how to treat health or skin problems.
I suffered from atopic eczema all my childhood. My mom tried everything possible to help me, but nothing worked. I went to see many doctors, tried every cream or pills with no results. I remember my mom how desperately she tried. One day I don't know why, but I went to see a healer who came to my town once a month to help people. Believe or not. The eczema what I was suffering from  for 18 years was gone within few weeks. I learned at that time, that skin is only a mirror of my organism. The problem on the skin is just a demonstration of some of your organ problems. Skin problem is just one way how to let you know about that.
But anyway, when I was 20 years old I started to travel to different countries. Never had problems with my skin until I came to USA 5 years ago. I was OK for 4 years but last year I got severe eczema again. Except my face I had it everywhere.
I tried everything possible for few months, with no results at all. I decided to search for alternative help again. I got in touch with Mr. Gellner who was claiming he can treat any health problem over the distance by meditation. And he was saying that he was successful in 99% of all eczema cases so far .First I didn't believe it and was fighting with that problems for another months. Than I said to myself, I don't need to risk anything, if I'm going to try and I did. 5 months was nothing happening at all. On the 6th month my bad eczema disappeared within one week and never came back again. His treatment is very unusual but has the best advantage what nobody else can offer. You pay after you see the results. You can just give it a try and wait till it comes. From the time I got fixed from him, I started to promote his healing method around the world. It is not about money, but about helping to other people, because I know how people with eczema can feel in our society. The web page is www.healer-cz.com  You can ask by e-mail what ever you might need to know or you can call me on my cell in USA 937-672-3935