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Dermatology (Expert Forum)
Normal skin variation?
Answered by
Alan Rockoff, MD - dermatology, Child Skin Problems
The Rockoff Dermatology Center
Brookline - MA
Welcome to the DERMATOLOGY FORUM! Questions in this forum are answered by Dermatologists from St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, under the direction of Andrew Alexis, M.D., M.P.H.
Normal skin variation?
by cobet06, Jun 07, 2006 12:00AM
3 1/2 months ago I had unprotected sex with someone other than my steady partner of a year now. This new (one-time) partner told me she didn't have any history of STDs but agreed to get tested afterwards and said her exam was fine.
3 weeks ago I developed a growth on my inner thigh, almost where the leg meets the crotch. Reading information posted on this forum and elsewhere I thought it was just a skin tag but two days ago I decided I would get it checked out just to be sure.
That same night I was examining my penis and found something on the shaft. It was between my circumcision scar and the head of my penis, closer to the scar. It wasn't noticable until I pulled the skin taut but then it was definitely pronounced, maybe 1 mm in diameter and 1 mm tall, same color and texture as the surrounding skin.
So yesterday I went in to the STD clinic and the guy who saw me took a look at both growths and said he was going to spray liquid nitrogen to check for differences in tissue density. The assumed skin tag didn't hold the white color for long at all and was quickly pronounced a skin tag by the clinician.
The growth on the shaft held its white color long enough to make the clinician think it had an irregular density. He commented on how there was just one and not more and said it didn't look like a wart to him but it might be the start of one. Otherwise it might just be some other normal variation in the skin, maybe one I just hadn't noticed before (although I feel it was new). He said he was going to call it a skin tag (I have read posts here stating how tags affect the groin, warts the shaft) and was going to give me a clean bill of health.
He went ahead and used the liquid nitrogen to remove both of my growths (although they are still attached and have gotten a bit bigger).
I asked whether I should tell my steady partner about this and he said I shouldn't needlessly worry her with something that might not be a problem. The only thing is that she and I are getting serious and I don't want this to be the sort of thing that wrecks our relationship at some point down the road after we've both invested more or our time and energy in it.
That said, here is what I would like to know:
1. Can you think of any normal skin variations that would manifest themselves in this way (on the shaft)?
2. How long should it take for these treated things to finally fall off?
3. My steady partner has told me that she wouldn't want to know if I ever cheated on her. Given that so many people get HPV and never manifest warts, and that I was formally given a clean bill of health, should I follow the clinician's advice and not say anything to my partner unless the situation changes for either of us?
4. If something DOES come up is it more likely from the one-time exposure three and a half months ago than from my steady partner?
5. Is it reasonable to expect the infection to be resolved within 2 years? Would we likely both be in the clear?
Thanks!
3 weeks ago I developed a growth on my inner thigh, almost where the leg meets the crotch. Reading information posted on this forum and elsewhere I thought it was just a skin tag but two days ago I decided I would get it checked out just to be sure.
That same night I was examining my penis and found something on the shaft. It was between my circumcision scar and the head of my penis, closer to the scar. It wasn't noticable until I pulled the skin taut but then it was definitely pronounced, maybe 1 mm in diameter and 1 mm tall, same color and texture as the surrounding skin.
So yesterday I went in to the STD clinic and the guy who saw me took a look at both growths and said he was going to spray liquid nitrogen to check for differences in tissue density. The assumed skin tag didn't hold the white color for long at all and was quickly pronounced a skin tag by the clinician.
The growth on the shaft held its white color long enough to make the clinician think it had an irregular density. He commented on how there was just one and not more and said it didn't look like a wart to him but it might be the start of one. Otherwise it might just be some other normal variation in the skin, maybe one I just hadn't noticed before (although I feel it was new). He said he was going to call it a skin tag (I have read posts here stating how tags affect the groin, warts the shaft) and was going to give me a clean bill of health.
He went ahead and used the liquid nitrogen to remove both of my growths (although they are still attached and have gotten a bit bigger).
I asked whether I should tell my steady partner about this and he said I shouldn't needlessly worry her with something that might not be a problem. The only thing is that she and I are getting serious and I don't want this to be the sort of thing that wrecks our relationship at some point down the road after we've both invested more or our time and energy in it.
That said, here is what I would like to know:
1. Can you think of any normal skin variations that would manifest themselves in this way (on the shaft)?
2. How long should it take for these treated things to finally fall off?
3. My steady partner has told me that she wouldn't want to know if I ever cheated on her. Given that so many people get HPV and never manifest warts, and that I was formally given a clean bill of health, should I follow the clinician's advice and not say anything to my partner unless the situation changes for either of us?
4. If something DOES come up is it more likely from the one-time exposure three and a half months ago than from my steady partner?
5. Is it reasonable to expect the infection to be resolved within 2 years? Would we likely both be in the clear?
Thanks!
Doctor's Answer
by Alan Rockoff, MD, Jun 07, 2006 12:00AM
, Jun 07, 2006 12:00AM
1. Can you think of any normal skin variations that would manifest themselves in this way (on the shaft)?
Yes, a cyst.
2. How long should it take for these treated things to finally fall off?
A week or so.
3. My steady partner has told me that she wouldn't want to know if I ever cheated on her. Given that so many people get HPV and never manifest warts, and that I was formally given a clean bill of health, should I follow the clinician's advice and not say anything to my partner unless the situation changes for either of us?
Yes.
4. If something DOES come up is it more likely from the one-time exposure three and a half months ago than from my steady partner?
Impossible to say.
5. Is it reasonable to expect the infection to be resolved within 2 years? Would we likely both be in the clear?
Impossible to say.
I think the clinician you saw was correct. Doesn;t sound likke warts.
Best.
Dr. Rockoff
Yes, a cyst.
2. How long should it take for these treated things to finally fall off?
A week or so.
3. My steady partner has told me that she wouldn't want to know if I ever cheated on her. Given that so many people get HPV and never manifest warts, and that I was formally given a clean bill of health, should I follow the clinician's advice and not say anything to my partner unless the situation changes for either of us?
Yes.
4. If something DOES come up is it more likely from the one-time exposure three and a half months ago than from my steady partner?
Impossible to say.
5. Is it reasonable to expect the infection to be resolved within 2 years? Would we likely both be in the clear?
Impossible to say.
I think the clinician you saw was correct. Doesn;t sound likke warts.
Best.
Dr. Rockoff
