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friction burn or herpes

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
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897535 tn?1295206435
Well any time we have an open sore, and you continue to masturbate, you could easily cause infection.

You need to be seen and properly examined to know what's going on. Most likely it is from what you suspect, but if you had unprotected sex you need to rule out STDs.

I would discontinue the calamine lotion, most definitely.

Going forward, be generous with a good lube when you masturbate.
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Avatar universal
Why discontue the lotion? It appears to be helping tremendously...
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897535 tn?1295206435
"Avoid getting this medication in the eyes, mouth, nose, and genital/anal areas." At least that's what's on the bottle of calamine lotion that I have.

At this point, if you are concerned, be seen by your medical provider. No way to know if it's STD related of from the trauma masturbating.
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Avatar universal
Thank you... I'm really stressin out about this. I keep reading things about pain and I'm very confused about the pain?? Like what kind of pain? I haven't experienced any real pain, jus itching, but any wound itches right? I'm going to a dr tomorrow but jus want some kind of idea what I may be dealing with... the only herpe symptoms I see is bumps and itching so it worries me. But I didn't have any bumps form then bust open that I'm aware of? Is it possible once that friction burn is infected it would look like that? Sorry to ask so many questions, I'm jus not familiar with any of this stuff and as you can imagine, I don't want to jus ask advice from all my friends you know?
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101028 tn?1419603004
you'd know it if you had pain dear.

going to be seen tomorrow is the best course of action. stop back and let us know how your appointment went.

grace
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Avatar universal
Well I jus got back from the dr and he thinks its herpes. I have to wait a few days for the results but that's what he said. I tried to tell him I had cuts there before anything else but his opinion was herpes. He also tested for other stds. Can he be wrong or should I just accept that I have herpes and will die alone? Could the cuts have gotten infected and irritated which would give it a herpes look or is it pretty cut and dry that if a dr says its herpes it is? I put antibiotic ointment on it last night and this morning it appeared to be much better. I left the ointment off and no bandage cuz I knew I was going to the dr and when I got there, after some itching on the way it looked very irritated again like not at all what it looked like this morning? Do I need to accept that I have herpes?? Or is there a slight chance that its something else, and if so, what else could it be? Thanks so much for your thoughts...
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897535 tn?1295206435
Did he not do any testing? A visual diagnosis is wrong 1/3 of the time. A swab/culture of symptoms is necessary. Antibiotic ointment won't treat herpes, it's for bacterial infections.

So you think that having herpes means dying alone? Interesting. That would mean more than 1/2 the adult population would be alone!

As to your last questions, did you ask your doctor these??
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Avatar universal
he did do the swab test. it was actually the only real "pain" ive experienced through this whole thing. he was digging the swab into the sore because he said he couldnt get anything on the swab, no blood or anything??? it took 4 swabs and 4 attempts at, i mean really digging at the sore out before he got one. i havent felt anything that even closely resembled pain like that in this whole time. as for the ointment... i was asking because to me it appears to be doing a better job than anything. i had it on for like 10 hrs and it looked to be 70-80% heeled this morning, now since i was prescribed zovirax cream it doesnt appear to be doing nearly as good as the ointment was doing?? if its not herpes would the zovirax still heel it or no? ive had this on for like 7-8 hrs now. as for my questions to the dr, i told him everything that i put on here and as soon as he looked at it he said it was herpes and went to get the culture tests. i tried to tell him that i never really saw any bumps or them burst and he was convinced it was herpes. he said in his "opinion" it was herpes.@gracefromHHP i saw on another forum you said you most likely dont get it from one encounter? the only sexual encounter ive had in like a month was the one and first time with a girl 2 weeks ago so does that apply here as well? im sorry to ask so many questions its just very emotionally draining thinking about this, its hard to explain in todays society that its very common to have this. he also said i could have had it for years and its only now having an outbreak, is this true? im just holding on to hope that its just some other infection but i guess if he thinks that its herpes it probably is. i just have lots of questions about life after this, like conceiving kids, sexual relations with my wife if i ever could find one while having this... jus stressed!!!!!!
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101028 tn?1419603004
zovirax cream really doesn't do anything for herpes. it hasn't been recommended for using on genital herpes lesions for many, many years now.

at this point all you can do is wait for your lesion culture results but it sounds like they will be negative regardless.  follow up with a type specific herpes igg blood test too.


life after herpes? the same as it was before except for something, you have to avoid sex because you have a recurrence. You can have sex every which way you can, you can have a family - it's not the end of anything at all.
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Avatar universal
the cream cost me $50.00 with insurance!!! and your telling me that its not a good medicine? why is it not recommended? are the blood tests better? what does the culture test tell you? and if the ointment was working before should i go back to that? thanks again
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Avatar universal
also... (sorry) why do you say the tests will be negative? are these not accurate tests?
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101028 tn?1419603004
acyclovir cream only heals herpes lesions half a day sooner than using a placebo.   darn shame your provider isn't up to date and caused you to spend that sort of money needlessly :(

the culture would ideally tell you if you had herpes going on. unfortunately there is a high false negative rate and sounds like there wasn't much to culture if it took them 4 tries.  
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Avatar universal
what is placebo? and what would be the best test to take if the culture test has a high negative rate? would herpes be oozing something?
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101028 tn?1419603004
placebo is a cream without any active medication in it.

you can seek out a type specific herpes igg blood test 3 months after the last time you had sex.
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Avatar universal
whats the western blot? can i get the placebo at any pharmacy?
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101028 tn?1419603004
you don't want to use a placebo cream dear.
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101028 tn?1419603004
the free herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com has information on getting tested for herpes for more reading.
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Avatar universal
so should i stop using this cream he prescribed?
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101028 tn?1419603004
it's not going to hurt but it's not going to help much either.  
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Avatar universal
thanks you have been a TREMENDOUS help! i was not at all educated in this subject and still have lots to learn but its very nice knowing that there is something like this that you can get info from.
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Avatar universal
how long once u start using the cream should u see results? and if it wasnt herpes would this cream still heel the lesions anyway?
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101028 tn?1419603004
sometimes just the moisturizers in the cream help whatever is going on.

continue to follow up with medical providers as needed.
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Avatar universal
the zovirax cream is actually starting to burn it?? is that normal? also, once you start the medicine does that make the outbreak go into remission? like could it get worse before it gets better?
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101028 tn?1419603004
it shouldn't burn. stop using it tonight and contact your provider about it tomorrow to seek out further advice.
Helpful - 0
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