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STDs (Expert Forum)
Cyst, ingrown hair, pimple....or wart or herpes? Please help!!!!
Answered by
University of Washington
Seattle - WA
This forum does not cover AIDS/HIV issues. This forum is for questions and support regarding STD issues such as: Chlamydia, Crabs (pubic lice scabies), Gonorrhea, Hepatitis (viral), Herpes, HPV, Molluscum Contagiosum, PID, Rectal Infections, Syphilis, Trichomonas, Warts, Yeast Infection.
IMPORTANT
This forum is limited to questions about STDs other than HIV/AIDS. For questions about HIV prevention, or if you have general questions about safe sex (e.g., condoms, how to protect yourself from HIV and STDs), please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum
Some of the most common types of questions concern the risk of HIV or STD after a particular sexual exposure, and about symptoms that might or might not be due to HIV. If your question is along these lines, please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum.
This forum is limited to questions about STDs other than HIV/AIDS. For questions about HIV prevention, or if you have general questions about safe sex (e.g., condoms, how to protect yourself from HIV and STDs), please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum
Some of the most common types of questions concern the risk of HIV or STD after a particular sexual exposure, and about symptoms that might or might not be due to HIV. If your question is along these lines, please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum.
Cyst, ingrown hair, pimple....or wart or herpes? Please help!!!!
by totallyfreakedout, Jul 08, 2007 12:00AM
I have 1 sm bump near my vagina, NOT on the fleshy area. It's on the OUTSIDE-the crease b/w my leg and outer labia, where my panties lie. Looks like a pimple. Saw it ~4 days ago, was very sore, like a pimple. I can get deep ingrown hairs-my skin is very sensitive! I wax~every 3 wks &where the lump is. Tried to pop it and some blood came out, a little puss seemed clear.Doesn't look blistery. Keep squeezing it, trying to pop it few Xs/day. A TINY bit of white puss came out. Was really red at first. Used warm compress-the redness reduced, still there&now a pink bump. Less sore now but press it & still feels like a sore zit. No whitehead or hair! Also used neosporin-helped the cuts from picking at it but the lump itself still there-less swollen.
No fever,discharge-never had anything on genitals.Had 2 others that looked just like this at DIFF times. 1 above pubic bone where I wax; other was where my panties lie-on the right side. Also picked them, I think white puss came out once. Both left a discoloration, like a zit.
Been in a monogamous r-ship for 1 year-have unprotected sex. 4-5 mos after we 1st had sex, had my reg exam-nov 2006-& asked for an "STD Screen” Dr. took cultures & blood.Everything was normal.
What is this!? Pimple, cyst? Or WORSE-herpes or a genital wart? I spent HOURS on the Internet-freaked out b/c I read ingrown hairs/cysts can be mistaken for herpes/warts?!? Also read those usually present on the genitals itself and w/many bumps-this is neither.
No fever,discharge-never had anything on genitals.Had 2 others that looked just like this at DIFF times. 1 above pubic bone where I wax; other was where my panties lie-on the right side. Also picked them, I think white puss came out once. Both left a discoloration, like a zit.
Been in a monogamous r-ship for 1 year-have unprotected sex. 4-5 mos after we 1st had sex, had my reg exam-nov 2006-& asked for an "STD Screen” Dr. took cultures & blood.Everything was normal.
What is this!? Pimple, cyst? Or WORSE-herpes or a genital wart? I spent HOURS on the Internet-freaked out b/c I read ingrown hairs/cysts can be mistaken for herpes/warts?!? Also read those usually present on the genitals itself and w/many bumps-this is neither.
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Jul 08, 2007 12:00AM
, Jul 08, 2007 12:00AM
You're doing too much internet searching for bad news. There is old saying in medicine, 'If you hear hoofbeats, look for a horse, not a zebra'. That is, common conditions with typical symptoms are far more frequent than less common things with atypical symptoms. Sure, sometimes herpes is mistaken for other diagnoses, like folliculitis, a cyst, etc. But when that happens, the herpes symptom usually is typical: it's not that herpes actually looks like a cyst, it is that people panic because they don't understand the difference between them.
The bottom line is that what you describe cannot be either herpes or a wart. Whether it's a garden-variety pimple, an infected sebaceous cyst, folliculitis, or some other condition, I cannot say. See a health care provider to know for sure. But in the meantime, there is no reason to worry about herpes or a genital wart.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
The bottom line is that what you describe cannot be either herpes or a wart. Whether it's a garden-variety pimple, an infected sebaceous cyst, folliculitis, or some other condition, I cannot say. See a health care provider to know for sure. But in the meantime, there is no reason to worry about herpes or a genital wart.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
