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Questions about herpes and HPV
About two months ago I slept with a new partner. We used a condom. A couple of days later I noticed 1 bump (larger than my usual shave bumps) on the pubic bone area where I shave. The bump was smooth, hard, red, and did not hurt. It never popped. Over a week or so it gradually flattened and went away. It looked like a big pimple that never came to a head.
Here are my questions:
1) do bumps from herpes always break open? Is it possible for herpes to cause a bump like this that that does break open and gradually just goes away?
2) I know what advanced herpes outbreaks look like, but what do mild cases tend to cause/look like?
3)do you recommend a herpes blood test as part of an annual STD check even if a person has never had an "outbreak"? Why or why not?
4) I give myself regular self checks and take careful notice to any changes down there. How possible is it for me to have herpes and never have had an outbreak?
I have also been diagnosed with hpv (I found a small wart and a biopsy was done). I know there are certain strands that most commonly cause warts (low risk), and other strands that tend to cause cervical cancer (high risk). Is it possible for a strand that generally causes cervical cancer to also cause warts? Is it possible for a low risk type (common wart strand) to cause cirvical cancer? Is there any test that can be done once I think the virus has been "cleared" to confirm that the virus is either latent or gone?
I know the greater risk lies with me getting cervical cancer, but can the HPV virus do anything to guys that is worth worrying about? I have heard that HPV heightens your chance of getting throat cancer, and that you can get warts in your mouth. Is this true?
if you have never had anal sex, can the HPV virus still infect your colon? Can it cause colon cancer as well?
Here are my questions:
1) do bumps from herpes always break open? Is it possible for herpes to cause a bump like this that that does break open and gradually just goes away?
2) I know what advanced herpes outbreaks look like, but what do mild cases tend to cause/look like?
3)do you recommend a herpes blood test as part of an annual STD check even if a person has never had an "outbreak"? Why or why not?
4) I give myself regular self checks and take careful notice to any changes down there. How possible is it for me to have herpes and never have had an outbreak?
I have also been diagnosed with hpv (I found a small wart and a biopsy was done). I know there are certain strands that most commonly cause warts (low risk), and other strands that tend to cause cervical cancer (high risk). Is it possible for a strand that generally causes cervical cancer to also cause warts? Is it possible for a low risk type (common wart strand) to cause cirvical cancer? Is there any test that can be done once I think the virus has been "cleared" to confirm that the virus is either latent or gone?
I know the greater risk lies with me getting cervical cancer, but can the HPV virus do anything to guys that is worth worrying about? I have heard that HPV heightens your chance of getting throat cancer, and that you can get warts in your mouth. Is this true?
if you have never had anal sex, can the HPV virus still infect your colon? Can it cause colon cancer as well?
Do you mean that both high risk types *and* low risk types usually don't cause symptoms? What percentage of the time do wart causing types not cause warts?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Something that looks like "a big pimple" almost probably is not herpes. Think of herpes lesions as being "on" the skin, whereas most pimples are folliculitis are "in" the skin. In otherwords, herpes lesions usually lack the hard, firm bump under the superfical pustular lesion. Second, initial herpes is uncommon in the pubic area, whereas that's where most genital area pimples or folliculitis lesions are seen. Finally, from your description, this sounds like a typical "shave bump" except for its size. Individual herpes lesions typically are 2-3 mm (less than 1/8 inch) in diameter. To the specific questions:
1) Yes, herpes lesions generally "break open", i.e. become open sores that then heal with scabs.
2) Mild cases are entirely typical for standard herpes cases, just with small or few lesions, or nonpainful ones that aren't noticed. Not like what you describe.
3) There is little debate about the use of HSV blood tests in people with typical symptoms of gential herpes, in order to confirm the diagnosis if actual testing of the lesions is negative or impractical. However, their use in people without symptoms of herpes is controversial, recommended by some experts and condemned by others. It comes down to the fact that the tests aren't perfect and sometimes give false positive results, especially if the HSV-2 ELISA ratio result isn't very high. My own view is that each case needs to be considered individually, but on balance I tend to think testing is wise, especially for women--and I firmly believe that every pregnant woman (and women planning to conceive in the not too distant future) should be routinely tested.
4) "How possible is it for me to have herpes and never have had an outbreak?" It's mighty possible, but probably less for you than for some other people. Many cases of genital HSV infection occur with no noticeable symptoms, whereas others cause mild or minor lesions. Given your apparent genital self-awareness, you might well have symptoms where someone else wouldn't notice the same thing. But that doesn't mean it can't occur.
As to your HPV questions: The high-risk (cancer causing) HPV types rarely if ever cause external genital warts. The reverse also is true: the wart-causing types almost never cause cervical cancer or high-grade pap smear abnormalities, although they are responsible for some pap smears with low-grade cellular abnormalities. You should assume you have been infected with both wart-causing and high-risk HPV strains; all in all, the high risk types are more common than the wart-causing types--but most of them cause no symptoms, and often don't even cause an abnormal pap. There is no readily available commercial test to learn the exact type in any particular person. And not much point in knowing anyway; it makes little difference in management, counseling, etc. And no, there is no test that proves that HPV has resolved. HPV causes most cases of anal cancer, but to my knowledge there is no association with most cases of colon or rectal cancer.
Men can get penile cancer from HPV, but that's a very rare condition, and generally easily and obviously noticeable at an early stage, when simple excision of the lesion is curative.
I hope that helps. Best wishes--- HHH, MD
1) Yes, herpes lesions generally "break open", i.e. become open sores that then heal with scabs.
2) Mild cases are entirely typical for standard herpes cases, just with small or few lesions, or nonpainful ones that aren't noticed. Not like what you describe.
3) There is little debate about the use of HSV blood tests in people with typical symptoms of gential herpes, in order to confirm the diagnosis if actual testing of the lesions is negative or impractical. However, their use in people without symptoms of herpes is controversial, recommended by some experts and condemned by others. It comes down to the fact that the tests aren't perfect and sometimes give false positive results, especially if the HSV-2 ELISA ratio result isn't very high. My own view is that each case needs to be considered individually, but on balance I tend to think testing is wise, especially for women--and I firmly believe that every pregnant woman (and women planning to conceive in the not too distant future) should be routinely tested.
4) "How possible is it for me to have herpes and never have had an outbreak?" It's mighty possible, but probably less for you than for some other people. Many cases of genital HSV infection occur with no noticeable symptoms, whereas others cause mild or minor lesions. Given your apparent genital self-awareness, you might well have symptoms where someone else wouldn't notice the same thing. But that doesn't mean it can't occur.
As to your HPV questions: The high-risk (cancer causing) HPV types rarely if ever cause external genital warts. The reverse also is true: the wart-causing types almost never cause cervical cancer or high-grade pap smear abnormalities, although they are responsible for some pap smears with low-grade cellular abnormalities. You should assume you have been infected with both wart-causing and high-risk HPV strains; all in all, the high risk types are more common than the wart-causing types--but most of them cause no symptoms, and often don't even cause an abnormal pap. There is no readily available commercial test to learn the exact type in any particular person. And not much point in knowing anyway; it makes little difference in management, counseling, etc. And no, there is no test that proves that HPV has resolved. HPV causes most cases of anal cancer, but to my knowledge there is no association with most cases of colon or rectal cancer.
Men can get penile cancer from HPV, but that's a very rare condition, and generally easily and obviously noticeable at an early stage, when simple excision of the lesion is curative.
I hope that helps. Best wishes--- HHH, MD
the red bump that I noticed also did not have any hair growing out of it, otherwise I would have thought it was an infected hair follicle.
One more thing......after wart clearance and waiting for 6 or so months with no more symptoms, do you see a moral obligation for a woman to tell a man that she had warts/hpv?
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.
