dry penis skin, herpes and HPV

[Freakingoutaboutthis]

I’ve been experiencing repeated dryness/peeling and tiny cuts around the shaft and head of my penis without any pain or blisters over the last couple of years. The symptoms appeared about 3 times per year and generally disappeared after a couple of days. However, the peeling came back 1 month ago, has not faded like before, and I’m now feeling a small burning sensation on my skin. I’m really scared about having an STD. I lost my virginity to an escort in 2000(I used a condom) and only had 1 sexual partner since then. I recently did a full STD screen and everything came back negative. However, I am concerned about my herpes results.  My HSV I and HSV II results came out at 0.12 and 0.10 but have a comment saying  “no serological evidence of HSV type I and II” and then the phrase “infection in this specimen” right underneath.  What does this last part mean? Should I be worried about this last comment on my results? My Doctor paid no attention to it and prescribed a cream saying I had a fungal infection but I think I had an adverse reaction because my penis is peeling more. Any ideas on what is causing these symptoms? Could I have an STD from that high risk sexual experience during all this time?, I’ve been to different doctors all these years  and they keep saying fungal infection but I just don’t understand why I  have this problem. I also recently found a 0.4mm red mole on my scrotum. My dermatologist said it was a small little vein that formed it but it looks like a wart to me. I don’t know how long its been there but I’m now afraid of having HPV. Can HPV produce only 1 wart without multiplying over the years? My girlfriend has never been with another person, she shows no symptoms, all her yearly pap smears have come out normal since we met 5 years ago and her doc said she has no yeast infection. Thanks for your help doc

[Freakingoutaboutthis]

Thanks for your help doctor. I was very concerned about an STD because my penis looks scaly all the time, it just looks like when the skin starts peeling right after a bad sunburn.  I will follow your advice of seeing a dermatologist again. Thanks a lot for your help.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the STD forum.

I'm sorry to hear about your symtpoms and frustration about them.  But truly you have no worries about herpes or other STDs.  No STD, including herpes, warts or HPV, can cause "repeated dryness/peeling and tiny cuts around the shaft and head of my penis without any pain or blisters", "burning sensation on my skin", "red mole" on the scrotum, or any other symptoms you mention.  None, no chance.  Combining that fact with the negative blood test results disproves herpes with 100% reliability.

As far as other possibilities, this forum does not speculate about non-STD problems.  The large majority of genital skin rashes and other skin problems are not due to STDs.  Most of the many causes of skin rash anywhere on the body sometimes can affect the genitals.  Your problem could be allergy, eczema, psoriasis, a superfical fungal infection, or any number of things.  But not an STD.

If you have not seen a dermatologist, that would be a logical next step.  Sorry I cannot otherwise be of help.

Good luck--   HHH