Pimple on penis

Hi Doctor, about 2 weeks ago I discovered a fairly large red pimple on the shaft of my penis. There is a hair on the side of it but none in the center. There was a dark dot however in the center. I tried popping it the first night and a little white stuff came out. However it stayed. It is definitely underneath the skin and I can feel a hard bump under it. It was never painful (except after trying to pop it) and it never broke open or developed into an open sore. Now, it has kind of receded in size and the  bump underneath is quite smaller. It is slim and there is a bulge of white fluid that I just cant pop. I'm not sure what it is, My std scan has always been clean and I havn't been sexually active for at least a year and half. Any help would be great thanks.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

This is not an STD.  What you describe is about as good a description of folliculitis as I have heard.  Folliculitis occurs when the pores in your skin get plugged.  This allows that normal bacteria that are present on just about every-one's skin to grow and cause what is essentially a pimple.  Some of these just appear as red bumps which may or may not be  tender while others go on to actually form pimples.  In your case, you can even see a hair coming out of, or nearby the bump- (this too is typical of folliculitis).

Sometimes when clients try to "pop" folliculitis lesions there is a small amount of residual scarring when remains behind.  This scarring can take weeks of even months to resolve.  The best way to prevent and even treat folliculitis, should it recur, is to use gentle abrasion when washing the genital area such as that which occurs by using a wash cloth or a loofah sponge gently to make sure that your pores stay open.

There is nothing to worry about and this is not something that you can transmit to others.  EWH

[Hawk89]

so you dont think this could possibly be herpes?  What are the chances of this being a late presentation? And normally how long does it take for folliculitis to clear up? Its been here for two weeks and its not showing any signs of going away soon.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

This is not at all suggestive of herpes.  As for the clearing up, please re-read my coriginal comment.  It may take a while.  EWH