Do I have herpes?

[seansi]

Doc:

About 5 months ago i had protected sex with a girl on a one night stand.  As I stated it was with a condom and it only happened once.  Before her i was with someone and clean for 4 years.  About 3 months after the one night stand, i got a call from the girl telling me that she had been told by her doctor she had herpes and that she had just had her first outbreak.  I of course started worrying about whether or not i had contracted it from her. Upon hearing this i started to check everyday to look for any signs of herpes.  The only thing i have noticed was one little red mark on the tip of my penis that wasn't raised and did not hurt.  This went away in one day.  I have had no burning from urination, no pain whatsoever.  Just today i noticed a small little tiny rash on the part where the head meets the shaft but in all honesty i have been masturbating alot the last couple of days and this same thing has happened in the past.

My questions: Do you think I have herpes? And is it likely that tiny rash has anything to do with it, or is it from masturbating and having sex with my girlfriend?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Hard to say.  Certainly not typical for herpes and I doubt that's the explanation.  Maybe nothing more than irritation from frequent skin friction.  But the only way to know is through evaluation by a health professional, especially if the problem recurs.

[seansi]

I know I have already posted Doc and I would be happy to pay again if need be but I have just one more question.  In continuation of the previous posts I have a new concern.  I dont have health care so your help is greatly appreciated.  

My girlfriend and I have been together for almost 4 months and have been having unprotected sex almost the whole time.  We have both been faithful to each other to my knowledge.  About a week and a half ago she returned home from a month long vacation in Hawaii.  As expected when she returned we had alot of intense sex together. About 7 days ago I noticed 5 or 6 little red bumps on my penis shaft, 3 bumps were kind of together while the other two were no where near the 3.  The bumps had absolutely no pain and were very small in stature.  Over the next couple of days the bumps turned into to dry skin and for the most part shed off leaving the redness of where new skin grows back.  They never developed into blisters so to speak, never had any discharge and like I said weren't painful in any way.

Could you shed some M.D. knowledge on what might be going on?

Sean-

[seansi]

Thank you so much for the time and review of my question...  You have helped put my mind at ease more than i could ever tell you....It is a great deed you and your team do here and I along with many appreciate what your doing very much..

Thanks Doc

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

There is nothing in your story that suggests you have genital herpes.  First, the timing is wrong.  The symptoms of a first genital herpes outbreak occur a few days after catching the infection.  Therefore, you can be sure your former partner didn't have it when you had sex with her 3 months earlier, so you could not have caught herpes from her.  Also, this suggest you were not the source of her infection.  Second, you had protected sex with her, so you weren't likely to catch herpes even if she had it.  Third, you describe no symptoms that suggest herpes; certainly a red mark on the penis that goes away in a day is not herpes.  Same for the redness on your penis that likely is due to masturbating.

If you remain concerned about the red spot and/or rash, see a health care provider about it.  But I see no reason to be worried about herpes.

Best wishes--- HHH, MD