Genital Herpes from cold sore?

[Celeb]

Hi there,

I'm a male who had uprotected oral sex with a girl who I noticed had a small red spot on her lips. At the time I took it upon myself to judge that it wasn't a cold sore however I have since read on an internet site that cold sores can have very mild symptoms including a 'small red spot' which the owner may not even know is a cold sore!

The spot was a bit bigger than a full stop on a computer keyboard and was on her top lip about centered horizontally. I beleive there was no swolleness, no head, no puss, no discharge - nothing - just a small red spot that I deemed at the time to be a scab from dry lips. One perhaps might even have mistaken it for a mole.

I texted the girl and asked if it was a remnant of a cold sore and she said, 'Oh god no i didnt even know i had something'.

So doc, what is your recomendation? Am I free to continue believing I am std free or do I have adequate suspicion to have a blood test?

Cheers, Celeb.

[Celeb]

...the doc said the spot was a gland.

But I am still very worried about this the spot on the lip. I have described my symtoms to someone and they suggested that the spot could have been a mild cold sore.

I am thinking that I should get a blood test otherwise I am going to be very anxious about having sex with people in the future knowing I have had such a direct exposure to a possible cold sore.

[Celeb]

Well I did notice a white spot on my penis on the back side just below the head. Its tiny - like a pin head.

Anyone care to offer an opinion?

(These pics are very zoomed in so its just skin and a white thing)

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s267/Celeb_05/DSCF0466.jpg

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s267/Celeb_05/DSCF0480.jpg

[Celeb]

Hi there,

I appreciate your continuing advice but I'm afraid my mind is still not at rest.

If, as according to multiple places on the internet, a person can have cold sore symptoms that are so mild that they don't even notice them, how can you conclude from my partner with the lip spot not noticing anything was wrong that there is almost certainly no problem for me?

Couldn't this be a case of a person not noticing that they have a cold sore because their symptoms are so mild?

Do you disagree with the premise that a cold sore can be so mild that a person isn't even aware of it?

Thanks again, Celeb.

[Celeb]

Well the above epsisode was on a Saturday night. The following Friday as I was walking down the street I noticed a mild sensation of the gum at the back of my mouth on the bottom left side being slightly inflamed. I only noticed this for a few seconds and then forgot about it until the next day when it was there again briefly. I poked around and couldn't feel any real pain or narrow it down to one location except maybe on top of the gum behind the back molar. On the third day I noticed it once again when I first started to eat.

I continued to poke around for a few days more and decided that the outside of the gum beyond the back of the teeth gave off a mild pain when pressure was appiled to it. I couldn't feel a spot or sore or anything.

Anyhow, I just put all this worry down to stress and being hypersensitive after a week of thinking about mild cold sore symptoms.

I told all of this to my sister and suggested that it was a mild cold sore outbreak and she was like, 'I think you need to come down to planet earth'.

I wouldn't have have mentioned this on this forum had I not read on yet more web sites that cold sore outbreaks can include flu like symptoms including 'swollen gums' and additionally be 'so mild that you can't even be sure that you have them.'

The main reason I'm bringing this up is not because I'm personally that bothered about having oral herpes but because on the second day of these 'symptoms' I kissed someone and if they didn't already have oral herpes I don't want to be the one that gave it to them.

If your advice is again that this is almost certainly not a mild cold sore outbreak then I'm am interested to know how you can reconcile this judgement with the web site quotes above which could easily describe my symptoms. (Then I will quite happily dissapear.)

Cheers, Celeb.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

All the additional information doesn't change my opinion or advice.

[sparkeler]

I think that's a personal choice.  Most likely nothing will come of it.

[Celeb]

OK that's great. And thank you for your prompt response.

Do you think I should avoid exposing women to my genitals for the next 2-3 weeks?

Thanks again, Celeb.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

If your partner didn't notice anything was wrong, almost certainly there was no problem.  Anyway, the odds are good you are immune to catching HSV-1 anyway; half the population has it from childhood (regardless of whether they ever knew it or had symptoms) and cannot catch it again.  You can safely disregard this event.  Of course get checked out if you develop blister-like lesions or other sores of your penis in the next 2-3 weeks.

Good luck--   HHH, MD