Is this herpes?

[home39]

Hello,

I have had 2 recent partners, one in Dec 2011 (1 vaginal intercourse with a condom) and one ongoing Feb 2011 (although the current relationship includes messing around with a condom while my girlfriend has her underwear on - just grinding while she decides to wait).  We had one instance of brief intercourse back in late February.

I have not noticed anything herpes like before now since the December encounter although I have experienced some hot feeling but nothing at all visible.  The dermatologist at the time said that since he cannot see anything, there does not seem to be anything.

I noticed on about April 11th that I have some redness behind and to the right of the head of my penis (on the thin skin there).  Prior griding session as described above may have been on April 9th.  We messed around the next time on April 13 and I finished in the condom and then when I took it off I did not wash up.  When I woke up the next day the area was much more red and there were little cuts around.  

I had an issue with tenderness due to using aldera before and my doctor gave me a steroid creme to clear up the issue.  I put some on the area and now it seems to be healing up except there is one whitish yellow sore that could look like the herpes pictures online.

There was also an issue about 2 weeks ago when I notcied the same area to be very tender.  When I looked at it, I saw that there were 2 white areas and I thought it could be a return of genital warts.  Since it looked dry, I put lotion on the area and the white marks immediately disappeared so I assumed it was dry and irritated skin but now I am not so sure.

The question is, is this small white yellowish sore and reddish sensitive skin due to herpes or from grinding and not washing after finishing with the condom and going to bed day after day with this situation?

I hope I have provided enough detail to make this post meaningful.  If you need more information, please let me know.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No change in my assessment.  Repeated trauma of masturbation and grinding will irritate an slow healing.  

There will be no further answers unless yiou have test results to comment

EWH

[home39]

Dear Doctor,

The area has been healing with application of the gel I mentioned above but the sore remains.  It is visible when the area is not moist now (and quite possibly more visible when not moist than when moist).  It is still tender but the sore is getting smaller.

On April 22nd we messed around again doing the grinding mentioned above and she had given me a hand job with lotion the two prior days.  The area became again very sensitive after grinidng and finishing in the condom.  There has been no friction applied to the area since April 22nd and I have been applying the gel regularly.

Can you let me know your thoughts on what is going on?  Also, how long would a Herpes sore last versus a Friction sore?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Your are still over reacting.  The warmth of the shower, as well as moisture quite naturally make lesions of the sort you describe more apparent.  Try to relax.  EWN

[home39]

Everytime I take a shower, the sore becomes more prominent then disasppears as the area drys.

[home39]

I went to the dermatologist today and he said that he was very confident that it was not herpes.  The sore had fallen off in the shower so there was nothing to have him take a sample of today during the examination.  He said if it comes back in 2 weeks or whenever, he wants to take a look at it.

He told me to use something called Flamigel 3 times a day which is used for burns, grazes, incisions, or pressure sores.  

I have just put it on for the 3rd time today and when the area was moist I could barely see the sore in the same place (when it was dry i could not see it but I could feel a slightly raised area during the examination with the doctor which I brought to his attention).

What does this mean, is there any reason why it became more prominent when moist?  As the area drys it becomes much harder to see the sore.  Does this seem more like herpes or does it still seem like a sore from grinding?

[home39]

Thank you Doctor.  I will let you know what the dermatologist says as soon as I get an appointment.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

There is nothing in your repeated description that suggests herpes.  My assessment and suggestions are unchanged. EWH

[home39]

Just to clarify, I had first sexual encounter with this girl back in late February (1 brief protected encounter) and since then has been the regular grinding we were talking about.  

I noticed the redness before while we had not been together for 3 days and then immediately after our session on april 13th, it got much worse.

The current white sore and area is slightly heated.

What are your thoughts on the situation where I previously had tenderness in this area (soon after our first exposure with my girlfriend, although with a condom), and after applying lotion the white areas disappered?  Is this any definig comment that this is not herpes or could this still suggest herpes although onot likely?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to our Forum.  I'll try to help. while there is no substitute for examination by a trained clinician, the fact of the matter is that there is little in the description that you provide to suggest that this is herpes. Herpes typically appears more than 4 (and less than 14) days after an exposure.  Your irritation appeared sooner than this and followed a known episode of grinding, a practice which commonly can lead to abrasion.  the description of your lesion is likewise more consistent with an abrasion than with an initial herpes outbreak.  


Bottom line, the sore area you describe does not sound suggestive of herpes, nor is your exposure likely to have lead to herpes.  If you are really concerned you could ask your doctor to perform a culture or PCR test from the area but if you do, I anticipate that it will be negative, proving what I just said, this is not likely to be HSV.

I hope this comment is helpful. EWH