Irritated scrotum § shaft

[Need advice]

I am a 30 year old white male.  Dated a girl on 2/6/04 who stated that she had genital herpes.  She has “outbreak” symptoms about once a year which she treats with medication at first warning sign, with her last symptoms being last summer.  We have had sex four times over the last 6 weeks, each time with condom protection.  Soon after the first time, I started to get mild irritation on the base of my shaft (right side) where the scrotum and the penis generally “fold together ” or where the penis falls to one side.  I figured that this was a minor irritation due to the condom usage (since it is where the ring of the condom tightly fits) and I’m not accustomed to normal condom wear, though I have used condoms before.  The minor irritation was sometimes an itch, sometimes a sting sensation.  Oddly, there was no redness, bumps, sores, or other signs of skin damage.  It seems to be aggravated each time I use a condom, as well as when I work out or sweat in the groin area, again on the one side where the sweat accumulates between the shaft and the scrotum.  Taking a bath/shower and cleaning and drying helps tremendously until I begin to sweat again, as does walking or standing after I’ve been in as sitting position for a long period of time.  I work in a hot office which generally causes me to perspire in addition to my normal perspiration during my gym work out.   In order to counter this, I typically shift my penis to force it to hang to the other side.  This is generally effective.  I have no other symptoms.  However, this is the 6th week I’ve had these symptoms associated with the perspiration in the groin.   My partner continues to have no symptoms.  However, we have recently ceased having intercourse.  Should I go get a blood test (POKit) for the herpes virus?  Or is there a less serious culprit?  

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

It sounds like you are describing irritation, not herpes.  Among many other things, the condition is persisting for weeks, whereas herpes goes away after 10 days or so, and comes back some other time.  Also, you mention no blisters, and so forth.  Why not ask a doctor to have a look, get a specific diagnosis, and perhaps a prescription-strength cream to reduce the irritation?  That indeed seems most likely, more so than herpes.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[CRAZY BRAIN]

angela,
why don't you guys tell everyone about the big DECREASE IN HSV down to 17% as reported by the CDC? Don't you think they need to know that too.

[The_Rajah]

The reports of the decrease sounds like good news, but the fact remains that that there are still millions of infected people out there and most of them don't know it.

I don't think the reported decrease is of much help to the person asking the initial question and that information is publically available.

[t1234]

I saw the 17 per number and apparently it is true.

If you assume HSV2 asymptomaticly spreads at the rates advertised, goes from 5 to 30 per cent infection rate in few years, and then we find a 17 per cent decease in infection rates something is wrong with the idea that IGC positive = herpes.  Maybe the old view that all it mean was exposure is
closer to the mark.


Also why does it seem to peak instead of reaching "critical mass"  considering the number of sex partners you have plow into the formulas to get to these infection rates in the first place. Do these people suddenly become abstinate.

I wonder.  For example new born babies will show HSV2 positive
per an anti-body test if the mother is infected because the anti-bodies are transmitted via the placenta.  Then after about 18 months they go negative because the virus is not present.

The simplist explanation is that as people are becoming HSV2 positive people are reverting to HSV2 negative and the infection rate is equalibrium( if you define infection as HSV2 IGC positive only. People who diagnosed with HSV2 from a routine STD Clinic test and have never had any symptoms.)  The 17 per cent number could be just statistical volatility.

I did see one study where apparently some people had gone from
positive to negative.

Are there any folks out there who have been told by an STD Clinic during a routine screen they were positive for HSV2 more than 5 years ago and have never had any symptoms???

If so would you get retested and let us know the results?

This may be a crazy thought, but there's something here we don't understand.