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STDs (Expert Forum)
random questions about GW
Answered by
University of Washington
Seattle - WA
Welcome to the STD Forum, which is intended only for questions and support pertaining to sexually transmitted diseases other than HIV/AIDS, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, human papillomavirus, genital warts, trichomonas, other vaginal infections, nongonoccal urethritis (NGU), cervicitis, molluscum contagiosum, chancroid, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). All questions will be answered by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D. or Edward W Hook, MD.
random questions about GW
by milanhugo, Jul 07, 2006 12:00AM
Doc,
Before I begin, just want to say thanks for this site. Its helpful being able to come to a forum where you know a health provider will give you solid answers instead of others where random people will tell you anything.
Okay some back ground info...I got all my checkups for the normal STDs, HIV, HSV(HerpesSelect), gonoreah, clamydia (chlamydia) etc. All came back negative except for HSV-1.
Around 6 months ago I noticed that there was a single bump on my penis it was small and flat and a darker color than the rest of my skin. Saw multiple providers each told me something different, Molluscum, GW, and even nothing at all. This was about 3 weeks after having protected sex with a condom and unprotected oral (receiving). Anyway I decided to get a biopsy done on the lesion and it came back that the lesion had cell changes and diagnosed it as Condyloma caused by HPV. They are running a PCR analysis to determine if the virus still exists.
Also, around this time I noticed other changes on my penis. I see that there are a lot of tiny white dots, pimple like scattered around the lower half of my penis. Feels smooth when flacid but slightly bumpy if stretched out or erect. I've tried, but seems that I cannot pop these bumps either. Does not look like the original lesion that was diagnosed as a wart. My derm and planned parenthood both believed it to be normal and said it was sebaceous prominence. But I am in doubt as they all had different diagnosis of the orignal lesion and the fact that I don't remember ever seeing these bumps before.
I have several questions and would appreciate it if you can ease my mind on these things.
1. I know that you don't like to diagnose over the forum, but do these signs of the small bumps lead you to believe that they are more GW lesions?
2. Can Molluscum cause cell changes?
3. If the HPV virus clears on its own after 6 months to 2 years, does that mean that the warts will go away on its own without treatment?
4. In your professional opinion, which type of physician would you recommend to that a look at this and figure out what it is exactly?
5. Can sebaceous prominence just appear for a guy in his mid 20s if he never remembers seeing them before?
Doc this post is starting to get a little long and i've already taken up a lot of your time.
Appreciate the help!
Before I begin, just want to say thanks for this site. Its helpful being able to come to a forum where you know a health provider will give you solid answers instead of others where random people will tell you anything.
Okay some back ground info...I got all my checkups for the normal STDs, HIV, HSV(HerpesSelect), gonoreah, clamydia (chlamydia) etc. All came back negative except for HSV-1.
Around 6 months ago I noticed that there was a single bump on my penis it was small and flat and a darker color than the rest of my skin. Saw multiple providers each told me something different, Molluscum, GW, and even nothing at all. This was about 3 weeks after having protected sex with a condom and unprotected oral (receiving). Anyway I decided to get a biopsy done on the lesion and it came back that the lesion had cell changes and diagnosed it as Condyloma caused by HPV. They are running a PCR analysis to determine if the virus still exists.
Also, around this time I noticed other changes on my penis. I see that there are a lot of tiny white dots, pimple like scattered around the lower half of my penis. Feels smooth when flacid but slightly bumpy if stretched out or erect. I've tried, but seems that I cannot pop these bumps either. Does not look like the original lesion that was diagnosed as a wart. My derm and planned parenthood both believed it to be normal and said it was sebaceous prominence. But I am in doubt as they all had different diagnosis of the orignal lesion and the fact that I don't remember ever seeing these bumps before.
I have several questions and would appreciate it if you can ease my mind on these things.
1. I know that you don't like to diagnose over the forum, but do these signs of the small bumps lead you to believe that they are more GW lesions?
2. Can Molluscum cause cell changes?
3. If the HPV virus clears on its own after 6 months to 2 years, does that mean that the warts will go away on its own without treatment?
4. In your professional opinion, which type of physician would you recommend to that a look at this and figure out what it is exactly?
5. Can sebaceous prominence just appear for a guy in his mid 20s if he never remembers seeing them before?
Doc this post is starting to get a little long and i've already taken up a lot of your time.
Appreciate the help!
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Jul 08, 2006 12:00AM
, Jul 08, 2006 12:00AM
The main take-home message is that if two providers, including a dermatologist, say your penile skin looks normal, then my opinion is that it is normal. Straight to your questions:
1) The lesions you describe don't sound typical for genital warts, but I cannot say more.
2) A pathologist is not likely to confuse molluscum with warts on biopsy. If a pathologist saw cellular changes consistent with condyloma, you had a wart--period, full stop--the result of the HPV test won't change anything.
3) You seem to have it backwards: If HPV clears up, so will the wart; you cannot have a wart without persistent HPV. In other words, you can have HPV without warts; but there is no such thing as a wart without HPV.
4) In general, a dermatologist will be most expert in this area.
5) Yes. Sebaceous prominence can increase with age. But a dermatologist is much more expert than I am about the timing, at what age it might be seen, and so on.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
1) The lesions you describe don't sound typical for genital warts, but I cannot say more.
2) A pathologist is not likely to confuse molluscum with warts on biopsy. If a pathologist saw cellular changes consistent with condyloma, you had a wart--period, full stop--the result of the HPV test won't change anything.
3) You seem to have it backwards: If HPV clears up, so will the wart; you cannot have a wart without persistent HPV. In other words, you can have HPV without warts; but there is no such thing as a wart without HPV.
4) In general, a dermatologist will be most expert in this area.
5) Yes. Sebaceous prominence can increase with age. But a dermatologist is much more expert than I am about the timing, at what age it might be seen, and so on.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
I just wanted to make sure that the white bumps were not warts, because if they were I could have them treated and wait for the virus to clear so I can move on with life.
Thanks