Could these "sores" be caused by HPV?

I was diagnosed with HPV (not sure which strain) a couple months ago as a result of my annual check up. A few weeks before I went, I'd been having issues with painful intercourse and a swollen lymph node, which my OBGYN attributed to the HPV. The painful intercourse felt like a cut or scrape on the wall of my vagina that hurt when irritated. That day, I received the first of the Guardasil shots and antibiotics. After a week, everything was back to normal.

A few days ago during intercourse, that scrape-like pain I'd experienced came back and was very painful but subsided fairly quickly. The next day, I found what I thought was an infected ingrown hair and attempted to "pop it" to get the hair out. Low and behold, no hair, just puss. I didn't think much of it, I'd recently shaved so I figured it would go away. I woke up the next morning to severe itching on my vagina and anus. What I thought to be an ingrown hair had multiplied into 4 or 5 similar bumps or sores that appear either similar to ingrown hairs and a few are just sores. They are mostly around my vagina, in a group on my labia majora and a couple strays on my labia minora. I'm assuming my anus is somehow affected, but I don't see any there. All in all, there are probably about 7-8 now, but I'm not sure. My lymph node is swollen again, as well.

At first, they just itched. Now, they're a bit painful. There's a burning sensation and just wiping my vagina really hurts, as if it's just really raw. I'm not sure if this was wrong, but I put a small amount of rubbing alcohol around the area just to try to clean the infection a little, which also helped the itching immensely.  Could this be due to the HPV, or does it sound like something else?

I'm just pretty scared, confused and pretty down in the dumps from all of this. It's been one thing after another these past few months. I've been with the same wonderful guy for about 9 months now and he's been with me and supportive about everything and to be honest I'm scared to tell him about this because my confidence is so low right now. Anyway, I've made an appointment with my OBGYN for a week from today, but I guess I'm just looking for some sort of answer as to what this could be. I really appreciate it.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Burning, itching and pain in the sores can be due to HPV but herpes also should be ruled out. Most individuals have no or only minimal signs or symptoms from HSV-1 or HSV-2 infection. When signs do occur, they typically appear as one or more blisters on or around the genitals or rectum. The blisters break, leaving tender ulcers (sores) that may take two to four weeks to heal the first time they occur. Typically, another outbreak can appear weeks or months after the first, but it almost always is less severe and shorter than the first outbreak.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.