Freaking out over one short exposure

[andremartinus]

Dear Doctor HHH/EWH,

first i would like to appreciate your service here, i've gain a lot of knowledge in safe sex practice from it. anyway, i am a 33 year old asian male, married for 8 years with 3 lovely kids. i lived in jakarta. thus sorry for my broken english. long story short, after the 3rd kid my wife has gain a lot of weight (fyi, i am an overweight person as well) &  started to lost interest in sex. on December 2013, due to a very high sex urge i went into a massage parlor (for the first time in my life) and one thing lead to another i had very brief unprotected exposure (less than 30 sec).

i am now writing in a very anxious state, as i just found now my urethra (under skin towards peehole and up to the left side of the penis neck) is swollen.
here are some of the facts i wanted to share to help you determine my problem;
- i had no discharge, rash, bumps or pain nor itch in/on my genitals for the past 5 months
- my testicle is hanging high on the right side with tight skin. (i am not sure whether this happens after exposure)
- for the past few weeks i have been wearing a tight jeans, and underpants.
- i masturbate frequently and have no problem with it (until today when i force to masturbate to see if my swollen skin subside) i know, this is stupid.
- i had been sexually active since january with my wife, last month she had a clear, odorless discharge (fyi, she's using IUD contraceptive, if that matters) once.
- this month she said she had a small red ulcer in her vagina lips but a day later it subsides.
- last month she had a heavy period (but this had happened a few times before my exposure).

i have not took a blood nor std panel test because, i had a huge phobia with needles. and i am so scared right now. doctor, would you please examine my condition. is this a jock itch, or related to my masturbation or there something serious going on? i wanted to take antibiotics myself now but also scared it worsen the condition.
please help.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

The additional information you provide still does not raise concern for STI.  You made have lymphedema which.is a nonspecific finding.  You should return to the doctor who examined you earlier.  EWH

[andremartinus]

Hi Doctor, thank you for your reply.
A quick follow up question,

The (left side under penis neck towards tube into peehole) swollen gotten slightly bigger (+/-20% size of my penis) during the past 24 hrs. It looked really unpleasant. At first I thought there were warts on the penis head but after closer look, it looked like swollen veins or pimples like. Plus my right testicles is hanging up tightly again.

I was prescribed by my doctor 50mg Nonflamin (Tinoridine HCI) and cream to reduce the swell. Doesnt seemed to improve the condition.

Afraid that it might be some bacterial infection I took 500mg of ampicilin.

I have been researching on the internet like crazy looking for similar conditions and narrow it down to lymphedema. Slight pain if I apply pressure to my groin area.

I can still urinate, the swollen skin/tissue is not itchy nor pain but quite sensitive to touch.

I am scheduled for urologist tomorrow morning but I wish to hear your opinion.

I know that you already mentioned that this is somewhat a low risk exposure.

Final question, with all the facts that I shared before and the condition I suffered now (the very swollen area) do you still think that this is not an STI conditions? And this is merely a trauma caused by my own anxiety over STI?

And wasn't swollen lymph nodes is a sign of STI? (I am going crazy about this and started to check my neck and arm pit once in a while).

Yes doc, I am very aware of my severe anxiety. Please for the last time (hopefully) ... point me to the right direction.

thank you doctor.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to our Forum.  As I read your first post I was thinking that the description of your symptoms did not sound like those of an STI and wondered if they night be due to repeated self-examination or perhaps unintended trauma during masturbation.  Your symptoms do not sound like those of an STI.  This I agree with the assessment of the doctor that you saw.  

For your information, while commercial sex workers may have somewhat higher rates of STIs than most people, even most CSWs do not have STIs and when they do, most single exposures do not lead to infection. Thus I your risk for infection was also low even before you were checked by your doctor.

My advice would be to not worry and more forward with your life.  EWH

[andremartinus]

Dear Doctor,

I was too anxious to wait for answer thus I rushed to the hospital to meet a specialist.

I shared everything I mentioned here and he examined my condition. He said the swollen skin and urethra was the result of me pulling and constantly tearing the skin while I continuesly checking for std symptoms which he reckoned I dont have.

He said if there is no pain urinating or other symptoms such as wart, rash, bumps or discharge for the past few months I am likely dont posses the disease I was paranoid about. I was given a cream and medicine to reduce the swollen skin.

It improves a bit, and the swollen is not as big as it was before. I asked for anti biotics just in case but he doesnt want to prescribe me.

However, just now I cant stand of the fact that my wife would contract something from me. Thus I confessed to her about my concerns.

And thank god she accept the confession in the best possible way, she told me that her discharge is not related to whatever I was worried about. And she said that her ulcer has gone and was due to stress (with kids).

I still wish to hear from your assessment. Should I get tested for the whole std panel? Or just particular ones?

Thanks doc. Waiting to hear from you.