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Recurring bump under skin could be herpes?

I am a 24 year old male, diagnosed with HPV/genital warts.  Not many warts ever showed, just a couple large ones which were surgically excised and a few smaller spots that may or may not actually be warts.

Where I'm seriously starting to worry however is a recurring bump or lump that keeps popping up in the same spot.  It is located pretty much in the crease of skin where the shaft of the penis begins to meet the lower abdomen/groin area (an area that would be just beyond where a condom would cover) and is just a centimeter or two away from where one of the two larger warts was located (right at the very base of the shaft.. again just beyond the condom line).

In the past I have written this bump off as a razor bump from shaving and I will be totally honest and admit I have not really been keeping track of when it comes or how often.  When I had shown my actual warts to my general physician, she had pointed to the same bump after diagnosing the other warts, but since I had recently shaved several days prior, I just told her it was a shaving bump.

About two weeks ago it was itching pretty regularly in that area and i noticed the bump forming and it seemed like there were 2 little red bumps kind of pushing out from under the skin a bit.  They were not really sores or anything forming ON the skin.  They were definitely bumps UNDER the skin surface.. you could sort of feel a "root" or "mass" under the small redness that was exposed.  They did not really change in size or appearance until I started pressing on them and squeezing it (like I have done other times this bump has surfaced).

When I mess with the bump it seems to swell under the skin and there is a very small amount of clearish discharge (it is not puss like from a pimple) when I squeeze hard.  The bump has never "popped" or "oozed" on its own and it doesn't really ooze anything out.. it has only kind of crusted over after i have picked, squeezed and messed with it.  I do not believe it is an ingrown hair because I cannot notice any hair growing out of it, but I am pretty sure I remember using a warm compress to make the swelling go down.

I am beginning to suspect it may be genital herpes and it just happens to be an extremely mild symptom.  Why else would it keep coming back to the same exact spot?  Could it possibly be a genital wart that is mostly subclinical and tries to rear it's head some times and I just keep picking at it?  The slight scabbing that forms doesn't seem to remove what appears to be a few "heads" or just slight whitish looking dots that seem to "center" the lump and it still feels like there is a touch of swelling UNDER the skin and those "heads" are just under the skin surface as well.  They almost look like the whitehead of normal pimples, except under the skin and they won't pop.  The squeezing just sort of makes the clearish discharge come from the general area that I am irritating.

None of the other known warts I had would sort of emerge and then go away.
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Avatar universal
Definitely.  You have certainly eased my fears a bit.
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101028 tn?1419603004
it doesn't sound like herpes as I already said.

follow up with testing and see a dermatologist for further evaluation.

grace

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Avatar universal
There is no pus in this lesion or bump or whatever it is.  It is that ABSENSE of pus that makes me think it could be herpes or a partially sub-clinical wart.
Helpful - 0
101028 tn?1419603004
herpes lesions don't have pus in them.

Herpes lesions won't appear under the skin either as you've described.

grace
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Avatar universal
What's got me worried about it is this time it showed up and I had not been shaving.  Since I had the external warts excised in late-May/early June (I can't remember exact date off my head and my records aren't with me right now) I was thinking "maybe this is just the recurrence".

The absense of puss has just made me extremely skeptical it could be a normal thing like folliculitis or an ingrown hair or something like that.

But I will definitely get the specific IGG test to make sure.
Helpful - 0
101028 tn?1419603004
This doesn't really sound like it's due to herpes. For peace of mind, cover your bases with a type specific herpes igg blood test though since odds are you've never had one before.

Do not shave again until it's healed.  also don't pick at it any more either!

Definitely show it to your provider and start a proper work up about it.

grace
Helpful - 0
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