Hi Everyone,
I'll try and make this as short as possible...
I'm now nearly 30 years old, but when I was about 23, I had an enlarged bump I noticed on the underside of penis (I'm uncircumcised) beneath the foreskin. I went to a dermatologist and had it removed, they biopsied it and confirmed it was HPV. I obviously was devastated knowing I had an STD.
Anyway, I went back to the doctor for a follow up about 6 months after, and they didn't notice anything additional. I was told that while technically it's a virus, your body has a way of clearing it from the body to the point where it's no longer detectable and that I wouldn't have an obligation to tell future partners.
Fast forward many years (maybe 25/26 or so) and I went to a different dermatologist because of some very small (and I mean REALLY small) bumps on the one side of penis (outer foreskin this time, entirely different area). She said it looked more like hair follicles than anything, and I can honestly say they do look exactly like hair follicles when compared to the hair follicles at the base of my penis. As a precautionary measure, I asked her to freeze them, which she did, and while they became somewhat red for a day or two, they remained exactly the same. No better or worse. As I said, I'm now almost 30, in a monogamous relationship and until recently, didn't think twice about it. I told my partner I had HPV and she was obviously taken back and I feel dirtier than ever :(. I used to be promiscuous, but have made an effort over the past couple of years to better myself and have not repeated the same behavior. I'm just upset this is now haunting me...
My questions are as follows:
1. Does the above sound as though it's HPV? Based on the location, I find it hard to believe it could be a hair follicle, but have been taking the advice of my doctors.
2. I've read that genital warts typically go away on their own, and this usually happens in 6 months to a year. Given it's been several years with no change, is this indicative of a different type of skin disorder? I've had unprotected sex since first being diagnosed and none of my partners ever indicated anything abnormal from a pap smear, etc.
3. If it is indeed genital warts, are they still contagious since it's been so long? Or do they eventually lose their contagious qualities after a period of time?
4. I've been having unprotected sex with my partner for several months, is it likely that if she contracted it that it would A. show up on her next pap smear and B. potentially be much worse for her? The one thing I was told was that the type that I have is not the high risk type, but didn't know if my partner would be at risk for having a much worse outbreak of it if she indeed get it from me.
5. If it i indeed HPV and even though we've been having unprotected sex, is it possible that she didn't contract anything from me? I've scheduled a follow up appointment with my dermatologist in about a week and plan to use condoms between now and then.
As I said, I'm a mental wreck over this. My girlfriend said that prior to getting into our relationship, she had gotten tested and everything was normal and that if she has gotten HPV, she would've gotten it from me. I'd feel awful if I did this to her out of me being ignorant and am trying to do the right thing.
One other thing to note was I did the vinegar test with myself and the color remained the same (pink/fleshy) and didn't turn white. Don't know if this means anything, but thought I'd include that.
Thank you to anyone who's able to help me get some peace of mind. I really appreciate it.
-Buster