canker sore??

hello, for the past i want to say 8 months i have been getting these ulcer like sores
in the gental reagion. they look identacal to canker sores you get in your mouth.

i have never had sex and i have had 2 herpes test done while the sores were there, both came up negative.
my docter dosnt quite know what it is, he says that its most likly a bacteara but i just cant
find any information on it and it has come back maybe a dozen times.

it starts off as a sore red spot with a pin size hole and just kinda of gets bigger then gets a
a covering over it like a canker sore would. there never a boil or anything like that.  do you
have any idea on what this could be?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Your description sounds most like herpes.  By "never had sex", do you mean vaginal penetration?  What about genital apposition (i.e., penis against your vaginal area but not inside)?  Oral sex?  If none of those, then I agree herpes is unlikely--but if you have had such contact, then request a blood test for HSV-2.  Ask your doctor to do the HerpeSelect HSV-2 test, the only accurate one offered by most labs.

Other possibilities:  Stevens Johnson syndrome causes genital sores like you describe, but it normally is accompanied by a skin rash all over the body, a rash called erythema multiforme.  Behcet's disease is a rare condition that causes genital ulceration, sometimes with a kind of arthritis and other symptoms.  It occurs mostly in people whose family origins were around the Mediterranean Sea--typically Turks, Armenians, Italians, and others from that part of the world.

I suggest you see a dermatologist.  The best approach is to find one, talk to him/her  (or the office staff) and try to make arrangements to wait until your next outbreak, then see the doctor within a day or two when the sores are fresh.

Please post a follow-up once you have a diagnosis and let us know the end of the story.

Best wishes--  HHH, MD

[katied]

i have never had any form of sex at all and have had 2 blood herpes test that came up negative. i think thats why my docter is having such a hard time figuring out what this is. i have no other symptoms. and its only one sore in the same spot each time.  i go to the docter tuesday, if i find anything else out ill be sure to post