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STDs (Expert Forum)
Burning penis/Groin area
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.
Burning penis/Groin area
by burning up, May 05, 2006 12:00AM
First I want to thank you for hosting this site. God bless you!
I am a married man with a small child and a pregnant wife, I am ashamed of myself...and a little anxious right now, but not totally freaked out.
A month ago I visited a male massage "therapist". His body was very clean and he had no sores of any kind on his mouth or penis. We had mutual unprotected oral sex. I did not become aroused by it...so he stopped after just a few minutes..but he did try to masturbate me with some massage oil. I continued to perform oral on him for a few minutes. No ejaculation by me or him.
The next day I became worried about STD's. Totally convined I had Herpes for some reason. So I found an STD testing site & got their full battery of tests done two days after the incident. (see below)
Seven STD screening tests using one blood/urine sample:
HIV-1 - Antibody Screen with Reflex to Western Blot Confirmation
Hepatitis B - Surface Antigen with Confirmation by Neutralization
Hepatitis C - Antibody
Genital Herpes - Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2 lgG, Type Specific Antibody
Neisseria Gonorrhoeae - RNA, Transcription-Mediated Amplification
Syphilis - RPR (Diagnosis) with Reflex to Titer and Confirmatory Testing
Chlamydia Trachomatis - RNA, Transcription-Mediated Amplification
All came back negative. A few days later my lips became very dry and cracked and I had a small rash on my face...both conditions went away within a week or so. Also my penis began to hurt in very sharp painful areas on the side of my shaft, on the underside of the head and in the opening to the urethra.
There seemed to be a small irritation at the opening to the urethra but this may have occurred because I was examining myself frequently during the day to find out why my penis was hurting so much. At one point I saw a cluster of tiny tiny red dots on the side of my penis which disapeared within a day or so.
For the last few weeks it has been painful to urinate (because of the irritation) and now I seem to have areas in my pubic area that feel like they are "ON FIRE" Sometimes on my scrotum and also the area to the right side of my penis. Sometimes the areas look really red and irritated...at other times everything looks fine. All of my symptoms just seem to come and go depending on whether I am wearing pants, sitting, standing etc.
I called my GP...who is on vacation...and I have given the lab a urine sample...which they are analyzing.
Were any of the tests I took taken too early (two days after contact) to be reliable?
Does it sound like a possible Herpes infection...or maybe some kind of Prostatitis?
Should I try to get a referal to a Urologist or does it sound more like a Dermatological problem?
Should I ask my GP for any other tests?
I know I am asking alot. Hope you can help.
Again, thank you for offering this servic.
I am a married man with a small child and a pregnant wife, I am ashamed of myself...and a little anxious right now, but not totally freaked out.
A month ago I visited a male massage "therapist". His body was very clean and he had no sores of any kind on his mouth or penis. We had mutual unprotected oral sex. I did not become aroused by it...so he stopped after just a few minutes..but he did try to masturbate me with some massage oil. I continued to perform oral on him for a few minutes. No ejaculation by me or him.
The next day I became worried about STD's. Totally convined I had Herpes for some reason. So I found an STD testing site & got their full battery of tests done two days after the incident. (see below)
Seven STD screening tests using one blood/urine sample:
HIV-1 - Antibody Screen with Reflex to Western Blot Confirmation
Hepatitis B - Surface Antigen with Confirmation by Neutralization
Hepatitis C - Antibody
Genital Herpes - Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2 lgG, Type Specific Antibody
Neisseria Gonorrhoeae - RNA, Transcription-Mediated Amplification
Syphilis - RPR (Diagnosis) with Reflex to Titer and Confirmatory Testing
Chlamydia Trachomatis - RNA, Transcription-Mediated Amplification
All came back negative. A few days later my lips became very dry and cracked and I had a small rash on my face...both conditions went away within a week or so. Also my penis began to hurt in very sharp painful areas on the side of my shaft, on the underside of the head and in the opening to the urethra.
There seemed to be a small irritation at the opening to the urethra but this may have occurred because I was examining myself frequently during the day to find out why my penis was hurting so much. At one point I saw a cluster of tiny tiny red dots on the side of my penis which disapeared within a day or so.
For the last few weeks it has been painful to urinate (because of the irritation) and now I seem to have areas in my pubic area that feel like they are "ON FIRE" Sometimes on my scrotum and also the area to the right side of my penis. Sometimes the areas look really red and irritated...at other times everything looks fine. All of my symptoms just seem to come and go depending on whether I am wearing pants, sitting, standing etc.
I called my GP...who is on vacation...and I have given the lab a urine sample...which they are analyzing.
Were any of the tests I took taken too early (two days after contact) to be reliable?
Does it sound like a possible Herpes infection...or maybe some kind of Prostatitis?
Should I try to get a referal to a Urologist or does it sound more like a Dermatological problem?
Should I ask my GP for any other tests?
I know I am asking alot. Hope you can help.
Again, thank you for offering this servic.
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., May 06, 2006 12:00AM
, May 06, 2006 12:00AM
The risks of STD from the exposure you describe were theoretical and low. Testing 2 days after exposure is adequate for gonorrhea and for chlamydia, but you couldn't have caught chlamydia from that exposure, so you can be sure you don't have those infections. Your testing was much too early for any of the others. But the only ones with any measurable risk at all were 1) genital herpes due to HSV-1, if your partner happens to have oral herpes and had an outbreak at the time (i.e., statistically unlikely); and 2) nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) related to oral sex, perhaps due to oral bacteria.
Your painful urination almost certainly isn't herpes. Conceivably could be due to NGU; the urine may give a clue about that possibility. Prostatitis often is a wastebasket diagnosis--that is, a word that providers often come up with to explain otherwise mysterious symptoms like your but probably greatly overdiagnosed. Your other symptoms (evanescent red dots, pubic area "on fire") don't suggest any STD and could be anxiety related.
If your symptoms persist and you're not certain about your GP's expertise, your local public health STD clinic or an infectious diseases specialist probably would be a better bet than the average dermatologist or urologist. But my bet is your urinalysis will be normal and that nothing more need be done at this time, except wait for your symptoms to fade on their own. None of the realistic possible explanations will ever harm you, your wife, or your unborn child.
Good luck--- HHH, MD
Your painful urination almost certainly isn't herpes. Conceivably could be due to NGU; the urine may give a clue about that possibility. Prostatitis often is a wastebasket diagnosis--that is, a word that providers often come up with to explain otherwise mysterious symptoms like your but probably greatly overdiagnosed. Your other symptoms (evanescent red dots, pubic area "on fire") don't suggest any STD and could be anxiety related.
If your symptoms persist and you're not certain about your GP's expertise, your local public health STD clinic or an infectious diseases specialist probably would be a better bet than the average dermatologist or urologist. But my bet is your urinalysis will be normal and that nothing more need be done at this time, except wait for your symptoms to fade on their own. None of the realistic possible explanations will ever harm you, your wife, or your unborn child.
Good luck--- HHH, MD
(1) You tested too early for any of the STI's that you had stated.
(2) The chance that this person had "all" of these STI's would be extremely RARE. (The person would be a physical mess to say the least)
(3) The risk for HIV was so extremely low and probably not even a concern...(search threads on "HIV and transmission")
(4) HSV1 and HSV2 probably would have only been the only concern that I would have thought. (Herpes Select test is a reliable test I think after 6 weeks?- Ask MD HHH)
(5) The irritation on the shaft may be contributed to friction, etc. (you should probably see a dermatologist....which, in my opinion, they probably see more of HSV 1 and 2 than GP because it is a skin condition).
Brian