Warts/Moles on lower abdomen

Hey Doc...

A couple of years ago I noticed that a wart/mole on my lower abdomen (just below the belt line) was getting larger.  It was flat at that time, but preceded to get larger and then 3 smaller moles/warts appeared next to it.  I showed my doctor and she said they were nothing to be concerned about.  To appease me, she removed them using cryotherapy.  Two weeks later they were gone and the skin was healing.

Here it is two years later and the moles/warts have returned...pretty much in the same place.  The original is the largest and the other three remain small.  I also noticed two smaller bumps on my scrotum this time.  After freaking out for a bit, I visited an STD clinic and the physician mentioned that the two bumps on the scrotum looked like moluscum (molluscum); he was not entirely certain about the bumps on my lower abdomen.  He mentioned that he would just use cryotherapy again and freeze them.  Again, the skin is healing.

Now just to give a little background, I was pretty sexually active for about a 3 year period prior to the growth of the moles; however, not once did I have unprotected sex or experience a condom busting or anything.  I did not notice the bumps until after that period.  The last two years that I speak of have been pretty much the two years since I stopped having an active sex life.  

None of the bumps hurt, cause discomfort, or anything to that effect.  They also do not have the "cauli-flower" look that warts carry.  I am just wondering if they are warts or not.  If they are, is there another treatment option besides cryotherapy?  If they are not, should I be concerned about them constantly coming back?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I really can't tell you what they are, based on your description.  They could be mollusca, they could be warts, they could be nothing much.  (By the way, despite what the textbooks say, mollusca are rarely sexually transmitted.)  I think that rather than just have these things frozen off, you ought to get a specific diagnosis.  I advise you to see a skin doctor, explain the whole course of events and your specific concerns, and ask whether a biopsy may be in order, just for certainty.  It may not be needed, if the examination alone is conclusive, as indeed it may be.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff