Aa
HPV????
Hello Doctor,
I'm a 20 year old girl, and I have been going crazy for months now. At the very beginning of December I noticed one or two skin tag looking things, my GP said it could be GW and gave me aldara but said to go to a gyno to confirm. One week after using aldara the bumps disappeared, and I went to my GP a few more times the next few weeks and she too said everything looked clear. It took until Feb to get into the gyno, she assured me there was nothing there. Since then she has reassured me 4 times, the last time being March 28th where she showed me with some kind of microscope onto a screen that everything is okay. Literally only took me a week to start freaking out again... so it's been constant sleepless nights the past month
These bumps I have been seeing are on the outer labia (not where the hair is) but right under the vaginal opening on the outer skin (top of perineum?) and on the right side. They are only visible when my skin is stretched in a magnified mirror, are barely raised at all, same color as my skin, and I can hardly feel them when the skin is relaxed. Sometimes I have to see them in a certain light. No signs of any bumps on my labia minora. I keep putting aldara on and I'm not sure if this is irritating them more, but it's driving me crazy and my gynecologist seems to think I'm crazy so I don't want to keep going in. I feel sometimes they are less visible than others though.. a week or two ago I thought they were gone and now they seem to be back to being noticeable again. They obviously look nothing like the pictures on the internet but I feel those are such extreme cases! Does this sound like HPV to you? I keep thinking it must be because the bumps are not symmetrical.
Some other factors: I have been sleeping with my boyfriend since September and he has no signs of genital warts (we have unprotected sex regularly). I also had an abnormal pap but my cervical biopsy and the dye test to see abnormal cells all came back normal. Thank you!
I'm a 20 year old girl, and I have been going crazy for months now. At the very beginning of December I noticed one or two skin tag looking things, my GP said it could be GW and gave me aldara but said to go to a gyno to confirm. One week after using aldara the bumps disappeared, and I went to my GP a few more times the next few weeks and she too said everything looked clear. It took until Feb to get into the gyno, she assured me there was nothing there. Since then she has reassured me 4 times, the last time being March 28th where she showed me with some kind of microscope onto a screen that everything is okay. Literally only took me a week to start freaking out again... so it's been constant sleepless nights the past month
These bumps I have been seeing are on the outer labia (not where the hair is) but right under the vaginal opening on the outer skin (top of perineum?) and on the right side. They are only visible when my skin is stretched in a magnified mirror, are barely raised at all, same color as my skin, and I can hardly feel them when the skin is relaxed. Sometimes I have to see them in a certain light. No signs of any bumps on my labia minora. I keep putting aldara on and I'm not sure if this is irritating them more, but it's driving me crazy and my gynecologist seems to think I'm crazy so I don't want to keep going in. I feel sometimes they are less visible than others though.. a week or two ago I thought they were gone and now they seem to be back to being noticeable again. They obviously look nothing like the pictures on the internet but I feel those are such extreme cases! Does this sound like HPV to you? I keep thinking it must be because the bumps are not symmetrical.
Some other factors: I have been sleeping with my boyfriend since September and he has no signs of genital warts (we have unprotected sex regularly). I also had an abnormal pap but my cervical biopsy and the dye test to see abnormal cells all came back normal. Thank you!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
No, warts cannot appear in a day. As to what to look for, there are many websites with photos; just google "genital warts", "genital wart photos", or terms like that. Many of the sites also have photos of various conditions, including normal genital skin, that sometimes are mistaken for warts.
But I advise that you completly stop examining your genitals, except maybe for a brief glance every few weeks. Experts have examined your genital skin and found nothing wrong. That means that anything and everything you can see on your labia, vulva, etc is normal. And if you look at genital wart photos, you'll see that you have nothing like they look.
That's all I'll have to say. Good luck.
But I advise that you completly stop examining your genitals, except maybe for a brief glance every few weeks. Experts have examined your genital skin and found nothing wrong. That means that anything and everything you can see on your labia, vulva, etc is normal. And if you look at genital wart photos, you'll see that you have nothing like they look.
That's all I'll have to say. Good luck.
Thank you for your reply, and I figured that you like everyone else would think it's crazy. But warts can appear in a day can they not? I just don't understand what exactly I should be looking for... which is what I really wanted to get at with you. The being symmetrical or not, visible when the skin isn't stretched, rough or smooth? all of those factors. I have a therapist but that helps only temporarily. I guess I shouldn't expect another response, thank you anyway
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. But unfortunately, I cannot help. You had a prolonged discussion that lasted over a month on the HPV community forum; and you have seen at least 2 doctors (or is it three?), one of them a gynecologist who has examined you at least 4 times. Now you're asking a distant source to come up with a clear diagnosis merely on the basis of your verbal description. Impossible. Your doctors have tried very hard to convince you, several times, that you don't have genital warts. Since they have examined you and they believe you do not have warts, that also is my conclusion. My guess is you are simply examining your genitals too closely and, owing to your obviously heightened anxiety, noticing normal variations in the tissues that are not abnormal.
You're going to have to start acting like a grown-up, paying attention to your gynecologist's advice, and stop worrying so much about all this. You may benefit from professional mental health care, which I suggest out of compassion, not criticism.
Sorry I can't be more helptul. Unlike the community forum, there won't be a prolonged discussion on this one. I won't have any other comments or advice for you.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
You're going to have to start acting like a grown-up, paying attention to your gynecologist's advice, and stop worrying so much about all this. You may benefit from professional mental health care, which I suggest out of compassion, not criticism.
Sorry I can't be more helptul. Unlike the community forum, there won't be a prolonged discussion on this one. I won't have any other comments or advice for you.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
