MCV or HPV confusion? or just irritation from conatct?

[timisok]

Hi, I am 21, and about the end of Jan I noticed a pimple like bump on my penis by the foreskin scar.  No other legions appeared, just the one although my penis is sometimes really dry.  I convinced myself it was a genital wart so I went to the dermatologist.  He said it looked inflamed he said it looked like Molluscum C.  I asked if it could be a wart and he said that it could be an early wart  Also I asked the Dr. about these white splotches on the head of my penis, and he said that they were nothing.  He gave me a sample tube of Ultravate Ointment to apply once a day for a week on the bump and to come back.  Since you get MCV the same way I thought I could have had HPV.  I also never saw the dimple.  I also researched and did not find that people use ultravate to treat warts.  During the week the bump flattened and by the time I returned the doctor concluded that it now “looked like a patch of rough skin.”  He told me that there could be an underlying wart.  He then asked me if I had ever had warts before, and if I was sexually active.  I have never had sex but I have had genital contact in recent months.  I should have asked him if by warts he was talking about MCV instead of HPV.  He made the diagnosis open or dermatitis. He said that if the rough spot didn’t go away or the bump came back to maybe check back in a month.  Now it has been almost 2 weeks and I have watched the bump come backNow I have some questions.  Would a genital wart or mc respond that way (flatten out) to Ultravate?Do derms confuse the 2.  Could i have just reirritated by rubing.  sound like a wart?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

As I have said many times on this board, I cannot compete with the medical opinion of a provider who has examined a patient.  If a dermatologist was uncertain about HPV vs. molluscum contagiosum vs. some other problem, there's no way I can resolve it.  You problem doesn't sound typical for either HPV or MC.

I believe Ultravate is a corticosteroid (anti-inflammatory) cream, but not certain.  A dermatologist probably would not use that to treat warts or MC.

If you aren't certain your dermatologist knows what's going on or isn't giving you straight answers, see another dermatologist for a second opinion.

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[timisok]

sorry I had to try and squeeze anything in and didn't have room for a proper THANK YOU.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

You're welcome; thanks for the thanks.

I should have added that another source of a second opinion is your local health department STD clinic.  They probably would be able to say with confidence whether or not you have either a wart or molluscum--although they may not be great at saying what IS the problem if not one of those.

HHH, MD

[timisok]

Yes, Ultravate is an anti-inflammatory, which is why I thought a wart could be ruled out.  From my understanding a wart happens when the cell cycle is hijacked and the cells continue to divide, not an inflammatory response.  So it wouldn't make any sense for the wart to subside in response to an anti-inflammatory.  It's not that my derm was confused, rather than he never gave me a straight answer and just listed all the possibilities.  I think I will go back to him and I'll post what happens if you are interested and if their are others in the same boat I am in.  Thank you for your help.