what could these be?

[samael666]

hi im an 18 year old male and for as long as i can remember, certainly before i had had ANY kind of sexual contact, i have had some very strange lumps underneath my foreskin. Some are around the rim of the glans, however others are further down in the foreskin. I have three larger bumps, they are quite hard to describe other than that they are kind of whitish, smooth, and hollow (there is a small hole in one side of each, and nothing inside the 'bump'). there are other smaller whitish bumps underneath the penis, which led me to believe, despite the fact that i have had them since a kid, that i had genital warts. I went to a clinic who looked at the three largish hollow lumps underneath my foreskin and said they were not warts, and were probably the same kind of thing that produce those whitish bumps on the shaft of your penis. However, i have these too, and the bumps under my foreskin look nothing at all like them. these lumps are more like 'pocket' shaped lumps. They dont really seem to look TOO similar to the pictures of warts i have seen, however. i realise its difficult to diagnose such strange sounding things without seeing them, but can i be confident i don't have warts since i have always (or almost always) had them? is there ANYTHING that appears inside the foreskin that matches this description besides warts? can i be happy with the doctor's opinion?

thanks

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Yes, cysts look like that, especially the part about the small hole.  Warts are on top of the skin, not within it.  Yes, you can be happy with the doctor's opinion.

It's natural enough to be self-conscious about the penis.  However, you clearly don't have genital warts.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff