Extremely Concerned

First of all, thank you for this forum.  I have read all of the archives and I have found cases similar to mine, but not exactly the same.  I am really concerned with this and since i have no medical insurance as of right now i really need to know if this is worth paying a lot of money to see a doctor for.  About a week ago i noticed a small red/pinkish bump about 1 mm in size on the top of my penis about an inch from the base.  The bump is pinkish in color and when i stretch the skin it appears to have a white dot in the middle.  This dot is somewhat hard to the touch and i cannot pop it (although that might be because it is too small to really get a hold of) after i get out of the shower it seems to have gotten to be a darker color as opposed to a lighter one.  However, i soaked it for about ten minutes in vinegar and it seemed like it might have gotten slightly more white anbd flat.  I have had protected sex with three partners recently so i suppose it could be a genital wart, but it is just one little dot and looks nothing like any of the pictures online.  I work construction so i have on jeans in the heat all day and always have ingrown hairs on my thighs and buttocks, but i don't really recall one on my penis before (altho i definately could have over looked them).  i realize you cannot give a diagnosis online but as i mentioed before, i have no health insurance so i really need to know if this warrants a trip to the doctors office.  My questions are as follows:

1. Does this sound like a genital wart
2. If so, will it go away on its own
3. If I wanted to join the army, would this in anyway hinder me from being allowed in, or affect me during service
4. What can i do to treat it at home
5. can it be spread during fellatio
6. i keep reading on your site that the virus is usually defeated by the body after 1-2 years, but everywhere else i looked said it was incurable...where is there more info?


please help me with this i really don't have anyone else to ask at this time.  Thank you very much for your time and sorry to ask a question that has already been asked many times, but my case seems a little different from the others and i have no where else to go...thank you so much...

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I'm glad you underrstand I can't try to make a specific diagnosis online.  The lesion doesn't sound like a wart. Maybe molluscum contagiosum?  It might even be normal anatomy, such as a sebaceous gland.  But I can't speculate further.

Vinegar isn't helpful.  Even STD-knowledgeable healthcare providers don't use the "vinegar test" to diagnose warts, despite what you may have read on some website:  some warty tissue doesn't turn white, and many white things aren't warts.

Expert health care is available for this regardless of health insurance etc.  Call your local health department to learn the location of the nearest STD clinic.  The care will be expert, and most public health STD clinics are free or operate on a sliding scale fee based on the patient's income, or just request a small donation.

To answer your questions:

1) It doesn't sound particularly like a wart, but I can't say it isn't.

2) Warts should not be left go go away on their own.  It takes a long time, and more lesions likely are to pop up.  Better to be treated.

3) I don't know the Army's standards for physical exam, but I can't imagine this would make you physically unacceptable for military service.  Anyway, the lesion sounds subtle and the odds are they would never notice it unless you bring it to the examiner's attention.

4,5) I can't advise treatment or advise about transmission, not knowing what you have.

6) If you search further in this forum, you'll see some threads with extended discussion of HPV natural course, what "cure" means, etc.  Other excellent information about HPV and warts is available from CDC and the American Social Health Association:  www.cdc.gov/std, www.ashastd.org.

Bottom line: See a healthcare provider.  The answers are not available online.

Good luck--  HHH, MD