Scared and Confused!!!

[hellothere736]

Ok so i noticed something not directly on my penis when i was showering the other day. I had unprotected oral sex the night before from a girl and do not know her sexual history. I thought I might have contracted warts. but is that possible to show warts only after a few hours and i could have sworn i seen it there before i might just be paranoid because it was unprotected sex. I doesnt hurt it doesnt burn when i pee or anything. So i went to a nurse at my school and she didnt see it but she said it sounds like warts i took an hiv test and it was negative. So i went to my doctor who specializes in internal medicine and has been my doctor for more than twenty years and he said that it is nothing the reason it looks like that is because i am uncircumcised the "wart" is not on my penis it is on the foreskin on the inside. So i went to a cook county free clinic and the doctor couldnt even find it and asked me where did i see it. I have to spread my skin in order for them to see it if not its not noticable to them. Wouldnt warts maintain their shape if they were spread or not? I showed it to her and she said that it might be warts and that i should put some topical creme that she had on it. Now i dont know what to do and im totally confused and paranoid I was thinking about going to a dermatologist now to see what they say because I honestly believe that both the cook county doctor and my doctor were oblivious to what was going on... any advice i would greatly appreciate it THANKS Sorry about the long paragraph im just really scared and confused Thanks again

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

We don't examine clinical photos on this forum, and the personal profile page is limited to identifying photos or avatars, not clinica pictures.  I will not look and they will be deleted.  If you keep posting anxiety driven questions despite the strong reassurance you have had, this entire thread will be deleted.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Sorry, I would like to help further but I cannot.  It sounds like the dermatologist was quite certain nothing was wrong, but tried to assuage your anxieties by offering treatment just in case.  My suspiciion is that nothing is wrong and that you really don't need treatment at all.  But beyond that, you'll have to ask the dermatologist about the possibility of flat warts, pimples, etc; he examined you and I did not.

My advice to to mellow out and stop examining your penis.  Live a normal life, including sex life, without further worry.

That will have to end this thread.  Take care.

[hellothere736]

So I went to a dermatologist last wednesday and he looked at the bumps with a very large magnyfying glass and he told me that he can almost tell someone right away that they have warts but he did not to me but he did say that they could be flat warts but that it doesnt look to serious and he asked me if I had trauma in the above situation which I do not believe I did. So he told me that I could treat it with aldara or liquid nitrogen. I told him to use the liquid nitrogen since it was faster and I did not want to irritate the rest of my genital area. The initial bump is gone but there is still one bumo there which I assume was sepereate from the initial bumo because that one didnt go away but I saw that he put three applications of the liquid nitrogen around the area. My question is what is the statistics on "flat warts" he seemed to have a hard time looking at them and it took him a while to say that they might be flat warts... also does liquid nitrogen cure any bumps in the genital area. In other words if it was a pimple would liquid nitrogen have cured that as well as any other growths? thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The vinegar test is useless.  Whether positive (turns white) or negative doesn't actually work to reliably diagnose warts.

I doubt your doctor actually recommended circumcision, which usually is not necessary in healthy adults.

Since only you can see the mark on your penis, and even then only with difficulty, most likely nothing is wrong at all.  But if you plan to see a dermatologist, you definitely should stop using the cream and don't use it for at least a couple of weeks before you are examined.  (What cream was prescribed?  Aldara, maybe?  Or Condylox?)

I'll be happy to comment further if you see a dermatologist and get a definite diagnosis of genital wart.  Other than that, I'll have no further comments or advice.

[hellothere736]

Well the nurse at my school didnt see my penis so she didnt have a clue.My doctor said it was nothing so he didnt say to do anything just that i need to be circumsized and the clinic doctor would not give me a definite answer and told me to put the topical creme on it also as she works for the county I would imagine that they are underpaid and underexperienced. I put some vinegar 5% on the bump and it did not turn white i know from other posts that it doesnt mean it isnt a wart but it maintained its color should i put the creme on it because i worry if i do the dermatologist will not be able to see the bump and i wont have definitive answer

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the STD forum.

There are lots of potential causes of bumps or blemishes of the genital skin.  With 3 health professionals having examined you and reassuring you that you don't have warts, it is very unlikely that you do.  But if it turns out that you do have HPV/warts, you shouldn't be so freaked out anyway.  Nobody wants genital warts, but for the most part it's a minor inconvenience, not a serious health problem.

If you remain concerned, you could see a dermatologist.  If you do that, and if s/he reassures you that you don't have warts, please accept it and move on.

If it turns out you have genital warts, you didn't catch the HPV infection from the oral sex event you describe.  It takes at least several weeks for warts to show up after catching HPV, and the average time is 6 months to a year.

I hope this helps.  Stay mellow. Best wishes for happy holidays--  HHH, MD