Could this be herpes?

[JN1865]

Hi,

Over the summer I got a blood test for HSV 1/2 and the results were negative on both. About 3 weeks ago, I had unprotected sex with my girlfriend  of 3 years. (we were broken up for a couple months previous to this encounter so she had been sexually exposed to other partners.) Last weekend, we had protected sex and last Monday, I noticed what looked like an abrasion at the base of the head of my penis and on the scrotum. The scrotum is an area about the size of a quarter and was red and irritated and the mark near the penis-head is small and had no shape. Now almost a week later, these have become more painful and look more irritated. I can go as far as describe them as sores. In The shower I noticed white bumps inside of them, but when they are dry they just are red and look like bad scrapes. There hasn't been any kind of oozing or pussing that I can notice, but they look like open sore that burn and itch. I asked this girl friend of mine if she had any symptoms and asked her recent sexual history. She said no strange symptoms and wouldn't discuss her recent sexual history with me. But I think she has had sex with other people recently, (most likely unprotected). What do you think I should do? Is it possible its just an abrasion/rash from having the sex recently?

Thank you for your help..

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

I think you should go into someplace and have these evaluated by a medical professional.  With genital symptoms, the sooner they are evaluated after symptoms begin, the better, because the lab tests, when done, will likely be more accurate. For you, it has been a week, and that's quite a while later as these thing go.   This could be just an abrasion from sex or something more concerning, but having someone look and test if appropriate would be your best strategy at this point. Since you developed symptoms the very next day after the weekend during which you had sex, it might be less likely to be herpes because that's a pretty short incubation period for herpes symptoms - the average time from infection to symptom presentation is 5.5 days, so definitely on the short side. Of course, if you started having sex Friday, then that's three days, right?   Does she give you oral sex?  Does she ever get cold sores?  Has she ever been tested for herpes?  If you believe that she has had other partners since you've been apart, maybe her getting an STD screen would be a good idea.  This might really be true even more if you two are picking up and starting over as a couple - good to clear the decks, so to speak.  How about you, did you have other partners during the break up period?  It does sound like you may have had some STD tests, were you tested for things other than herpes?  Sounds like you two need to make yourselves talk about the difficult time apart and what may have happened that put either of you at risk. It isn't easy, but I think important in terms of future health and trust.  

So the plan is
1) have someone evaluated these areas on your genitals
2) both have STD tests, if not already
3) bring yourselves to talk about the months apart and other partners that may have been around.

Good luck with all of that.

Terri

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

OK, sounds good, I hope this resolves for you!
Terri

[JN1865]

Okay, To follow up on your help. I did see a physician, says it could go either way herpes or an infection on the genital region. I told him my sexual history and he said I am low risk for herpes however. I have not had any sexual partners except my girlfriend since I was last tested negative for HSV. She doesn't give me oral sex (I sometimes give to her though, not sure if that makes a difference) and I haven't seen any cold sores on her. She said in our time apart she has only had one other sexual partner, (unprotected sex with him) and that they were together for a substantial amount of time, so I assume if he had herpes symptoms she would know.  But I have 2 tests pending, a blood test and a swap test. I am applying bscitraysen to the sores and am taking a perscribed antibiotic to see how the symptoms react to the medecine.

Thanks for your help.