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STDs  (Expert Forum)
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Back again ... and not so good news
Answered by
University of Washington Seattle - WA
Welcome to the STD Forum, which is intended only for questions and support pertaining to sexually transmitted diseases other than HIV/AIDS, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, human papillomavirus, genital warts, trichomonas, other vaginal infections, nongonoccal urethritis (NGU), cervicitis, molluscum contagiosum, chancroid, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). All questions will be answered by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D. or Edward W Hook, MD.

Back again ... and not so good news

by stripperfriend1, Nov 06, 2006 12:00AM
Hi Dr,

Well, you can read my story on the 10/9 question you answered.   I have reread the story just to make sure I didn't omit anything, and it is still accurate.

You did answer that I couldn't have caught anything from that incident.

So, I have a few new questions which arise from some recent developments.   On Friday, I went into a local clinic/urgent care to check on a couple of bumps in the middle of the shaft of my penis.  They were no more than 2-5mm, and would have been hardly noticable had I not been stressing all month, and looking everywhere on my penis!  In fact, they were behind the visible area from my POV, and had to twist the skin somewhat to see it, and skin-colored.

Anyway, the Dr. there looked, and said he was pretty sure they were warts.  So, just to make sure (he saw my face turn white) he said he would send one of them in for a biopsy, and he burned the other one off.  I told him about the incident I described to you, and he said it was a 'long-shot' that I got them from there.

So, I've been besides myself with stress all weekend.  I keep checking to see if there are others on my penis, scrotum, etc that I might have autoinnoculated not knowing those where there in the first place.  I know my wife has been faithful as we have two small, pre-school children, and though not impossible, it would be improbably that she's sleeping around.   I've also read on some major health sites that these things could lie dormant for years.  We've been together/married for 6 years, and last month's incident was my only deviation.

So ... here are my questions:

1. Could these be reappearing from a previous encounter years ago? Before I got married, I had about 7 other partners. I mean, they were so small and flesh colored, that who knows if I would have ever seen them.  

2. Stress - both the stress of this past incident and the fact that I have a very stressful job at work (1 year project, 12 hour days, etc) ... could this trigger some latent resurfacing of warts?  I can tell you, my immune system ain't what it used to be.  

3. If these warts were acquired years ago, and they went into a latent state, could I infect my wife with them now that they have appeared?

4. Could I pass these onto my baby girl?  I change my fair share of diapers from time to time, and I'm terrified that I could have passed these on without knowing it.

5. Could there be other warts waiting to pop-up after these two?  Like I said above, I'm afraid I could of rubbed them and moved them to the head of the penis, scrotum, etc.

I have leveled with my wife (kinda hard to keep two round cuts on my penis a secret) about my one indecretion, and though she is not happy about it, she doesn't think I caught them from there either.  She even thinks they might have been skin tags, and is telling me to wait for the biposy (7-12 days).

So, comes down to this ... I love my wife and family, and cannot bear losing them to something like this.  Help!?

by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Nov 06, 2006 12:00AM
First, you don't know you have genital warts.  From your description, probably not.  I have never seen a case of genital warts with the subtle appearance you describe.  So your first task is to await the biopsy result, with the most likely outcome that it isn't HPV at all.

Second, if you have genital warts, your doctor and I are in agreement that you did not get them during the event you described a month ago.

So your questions are pertinent only if your biopsy shows warts/HPV, which it probably won't.  1) Warts can (re)appear many years after initial infection.  2) Stress does not trigger warts.  3) If they are warts, your wife is already infected, and probably has been infected for many years.  In that event, you will never know whether you or she had the infection first, and it doesn't matter anyway.  4) Genital warts are not likely to be transmitted to children in the household, especially if common-sense hygiene is used, like hand washing after toilet.  5) If you have genital warts, yes, others could appear.

Regards--  HHH, MD
Member Comments (2)

by stripperfriend1, Nov 07, 2006 12:00AM
Ok ... that sounds like a little better news.

I guess the only hanging issue for me is -- Let's say that this does come back as warts.  And my wife develops them as well ... will this be proof of my infidelity?  Or can HPV stay latent and not transmissable?

Why am I concerned?  Well ... everything she has read (including here) basically points to actually having intercourse.   Simply put ... my genitals never came in contact with the other person's.  There was only hand-to-genital contact.   So, I have a feeling she'll question everything I've told her -- which is the truth.

And I can't seem to win the lottery.  :(
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