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Dermatology (Expert Forum)
Scar... or not?
Answered by
Alan Rockoff, MD - dermatology, Child Skin Problems
The Rockoff Dermatology Center
Brookline - MA
This forum is for questions regarding Dermatology issues, such as: skin rashes, acne, birthmarks, skin infections, rosacea, and general skin care.
Scar... or not?
by geoff_r, Feb 13, 2009 07:13PM
So about a year ago I was working in a warehouse where i ended up sustaining a slight injury to my penis. As I slid between two pallets, one being raised to waist level by a forklift in front of me and one behind me that was on the floor I ended up rubbing against the wood of the pallet in front of me and tearing off a small amount of skin on the bottom left side of my shaft. At the time I didnt think much of it, i cleaned it up and went about my work.
While it was healing however i was constantly scratching and picking at it which i know didnt help matters any. The worst part is yet to come. I really didnt like the look of it as it was healing and somehow the unintelligent thought crossed my mind that if i reinjured the area down there it would somehow heal better if I just left it alone this time. I was definitely wrong to say the least. I decided to take a very small pair of scissors and "clean" the area up a bit in the hopes that it would heal better the second time around. All i ended up doing was making it bigger and worse off than it originally was. At the same time I was down there I decided to make two more slight "adjustments" to other areas which was pretty much the stupidest move I could have done. So I ended up with 3 slightly raised white scars when it healed. The original one being the biggest and the other two being of smaller size.
I went to see my doctor and after hearing about the half the story he told me I had genital warts. Based on the tissue I removed myself and the lack of evidence that supports genital warts appearing from flesh wounds I dont trust what he said
The tissue that was removed was fairly deep so is there a chance that the slightly raised white tissue that grew back is infact scar tissue and not genital warts?
If a biopsy of the tissue were to be performed is there any way to 100% differentiate scar tissue to wart tissue? Since there is no test for HPV i need some way of proving what kind of tissue it is, any suggestions?
While it was healing however i was constantly scratching and picking at it which i know didnt help matters any. The worst part is yet to come. I really didnt like the look of it as it was healing and somehow the unintelligent thought crossed my mind that if i reinjured the area down there it would somehow heal better if I just left it alone this time. I was definitely wrong to say the least. I decided to take a very small pair of scissors and "clean" the area up a bit in the hopes that it would heal better the second time around. All i ended up doing was making it bigger and worse off than it originally was. At the same time I was down there I decided to make two more slight "adjustments" to other areas which was pretty much the stupidest move I could have done. So I ended up with 3 slightly raised white scars when it healed. The original one being the biggest and the other two being of smaller size.
I went to see my doctor and after hearing about the half the story he told me I had genital warts. Based on the tissue I removed myself and the lack of evidence that supports genital warts appearing from flesh wounds I dont trust what he said
The tissue that was removed was fairly deep so is there a chance that the slightly raised white tissue that grew back is infact scar tissue and not genital warts?
If a biopsy of the tissue were to be performed is there any way to 100% differentiate scar tissue to wart tissue? Since there is no test for HPV i need some way of proving what kind of tissue it is, any suggestions?
Doctor's Answer
by Alan Rockoff, MD, Feb 15, 2009 06:28AM
, Feb 15, 2009 06:28AMTo: geoff_r
We know you had an injury at work, and we know you picked and attacked it with fingers and scissors, so there's no reason not to think these are scars. I suggest you see another doctor who knows what genital warts look like for another opinion--I just can't see, based on your description, why you should need a biopsy. As for the scars, they are not likely to have an functional significance other than the way they look, so I suggest you ignore them (once they're definitively diagnosed.)
Take care.
Dr. Rockoff
Take care.
Dr. Rockoff
