friction burn or herpes

[mattinva]

I am a 30 yr old male. After masturbation I noticed I had really dry skin on my penis and that I had rubbed two small, I call them friction sores onto my penis. I have experienced similar "friction sores" before so I didn't pay them much attention. The next day or maybe 2 days later I again masterbated and irritated the small sores. They began to get bigger and itch like any little sore would do, but as I itched... it got worse and they got bigger and almost looked infected. I have noticed that around the biggest one has gotten inflamed and sticks up like a small cluster of bumps. its not really painful at all, its more of a tingly feeling or numb feeling. It doesn't hurt to touch the cluster and I don't have any other sores on or around my groin area. Also when I urinate, it kind of has a tingly feeling at first, no discharge or anything like that. I jus last night applied calamine lotion to the area and it is heeling great. The sores are heeling and the inflamation is going down but is still there. I'm wondering if I contracted herpes, I did have unprotected sex with a girl 2 weeks ago or do I jus have an infected sore. I didn't really treat the small sores til the calamine lotion. Please help

[bobrope45]

Maybe it would be better to wait for your culture results and pursue a blood test to try to understand if this is a recent infection or not. Then you can decide what to do and who to talk to.

[mattinva]

I have not only because I don't wanna frighten her or start any unnecessary rumors right now. I would be looked upon as dirty and don't wanna deal with that on top of this. Should I at least ask her if she's ever been tested?

[bobrope45]

Acually, the virus can be transmitted even without visible outbreaks are present, since the virus is shed from skin from time to time, with no symptoms.
If you want to avoid transmission, it would be best to take on suppressive therapy - taking antivirals everyday - and using condoms. This way, risks of transmission are very low. Grace will give you the details on that.

But as I said above, the type of herpes will define your approach.

And yes, it could be an old infection - in your first post, you mention recurrent friction burns - they might have been herpes outbreaks. If you get a blood test for HSV2 IgG now and it's negative, most likely it's a new infection; if it's positive, it's most likely an old one. Have you talked to your last partner about it?

[sympathetic77]

In theory, the virus may have been in your bloodstream for any length of time, but usually symptoms appear within 14 days of exposure.  So chances are you were exposed when you had unprotected sex 2 weeks ago.  Outbreaks can occur if the body is stressed or the skin surface is damaged so it could also be that the 'friction' you describe activated the virus.

[sympathetic77]

You'll need to have a culture or blood test done to determine if it is HSV-1 (oral herpes) or HSV-2 (genital herpes).  Both viruses can affect either area.  HSV-1 infection in the genital region is becoming increasingly common.  Up to 80% of people have HSV-1 antibodies in their blood, and up to 25% of people have HSV-2 antibodies, which means they have been exposed to the virus at some time.  So you are not alone!  The stigma the disease carries far outweighs it's effects.  You will most probably find it is a minor skin irritation, and with sensible precautions (like avoiding sex during an outbreak, safe sex with new partners and discussion in long-term relationships) it will have little impact on your life. There is plenty of information on the web.  Talk to your Dr, or perhaps find a Dr with more experience with HSV.

[mattinva]

I jus talked to them and they said they would type it, it will take 3-5 days to get results. They seem to think its no big deal, they said I could have unprotected sex as long as there was no outbreak? Also, if this has been inside of me for a while what could make it finally appear?