Genital Wart or Regular Wart?

[MakaveliMOB]

I have grown what seems to be a WART on my inner thigh. About 3-4 fingers away from the groin. On the inner thigh of my right leg. i am pretty sure its a wart, its raised, oddly shaped, and you can peel layers of the skin off. It kind of hard too, like a planter wart.



Since it is only slightly raised, i figured it might be a Flat Wart, but those come in large bundles, they are hardly discrete (come in sizes of 1 ), could it be a plantar wart? I have had several on my knee and above the knee??



Or does it sound like a Condyloma (genital wart)? Its weird b/c I get checked regularly and recently saw a skin tag and thought it was a wart, biopsy revealed a skin tag.





I had sex with a girl 1 week ago. I wore a Condom, and even had my Boxers on, in fear of catching HPV / or any other STD, Molluscum,etc.



Prior to that its been like 2 years that I havent had sex.



I'm pretty sure that its a wart, but I cant think of any differential diagnosis, other than a Keratosis, if its not a Planter Wart.



Please Advise. (I know its hard to judge without seeing it)



Thanks A Bunch.



Thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Your terminology is off.  "Condyloma" is just the Latin (or Greek??) word for wart.  And "plantar" means sole of the foot; you can't have a plantar wart of the thigh.  And a "flat wart", by definition, cannot even be felt; it often cannot even be seen.



From your description, it sounds like the thing you describe may be a wart, but I stress "may"; other things can cause similar symptoms.  And if it's a wart, I have no way of knowing whether you are infected with one of the genital HPV types or a different type.



I know of no STD for which boxer shorts will improve prevention over the protection you get from a condom.



"Please advise":  My advice is that you see a health care provider and stop guessing about what it might be.  But be aware that if it is a wart, you will likely never know whether the lesion is due to a genital or nongenital HPV type.  In any case, this doesn't sound at all dangerous; no wart ever is.



Good luck--  HHH, MD

[MakaveliMOB]

Actually now that I read some more, it does really look like Verucca Plana (flat wart), but it is only one lesion. Its smooth, flat, and hard, unlike a skin tag.

[MakaveliMOB]

I see. Thanks for the clarification.



I thought that the labs would be able to do HPV DNA testing to see what strain of HPV they found in the skin lesion.



Well, does the anatomic location of this particular lesion qualify it as being a Genital Wart (if it is a wart infact), or just a Common Wart ?





From my own reading, and I have limited knowledge in this area; I thought that Condyloma (yes it does mean wart) was the nomenclature     used to describe a "Genital Wart" as oppose to a wart on the "foot" which would be a Plantar Wart.



All I know is that it lookd like the couple i had above my knee. I just figured it spread to that area. Its on the same type of skin as the ones above the knee. Its not on Genital Skin, mucous membranes.



What are some of the other possible lesions it might be?



Thanks!!!

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Apologies for the lecturing tone; I didn't mean anything by it.  HPV testing is not available from most labs; the only available tests outside research laboratories are intended for use in conjunction with pap smear in women and likely would not be reliable even if someone tried to use the test on a wart.



If the lesion looks like the ones near your knee, and if those were confirmed as warts, then that sounds pretty likely.  My guess is that this isn't due to HPV-6 or -11, the usual causes of genital warts.



Other than that, I can't say what it might be.  I'm an STD specialist, not a dermatologist and I stay away from speculating about non-STD conditions.  As I said above, your next step should be to see a health care provider.  Or, in the meantime, consider posting your question on the Med Help dermatology forum and see what Dr. Rockoff has to say.



HHH, MD

[MakaveliMOB]

God Bless. I'm going to see my dermatologist tomorrow. I'll post what he says tomorrow, for anyone who is interested.



Thanks. Again