Thank you Terri,
When I visited the PP, the nurse practitioner said that what she saw is very unlikely to be herpes and she thought it was not necesary for the swap test but gave me the option to do it or not. To rule it out, I decided to go ahead with it.
From what I read here it think is unlikely as this appeared 17 days post exposure, no blister, no scabbing.
Do you think I have a good chance this is negative?
If it is positive, I would say it is reliable. False positives are very rare, particularly if taken from a lesion.
Terri
Thanks Terri. I am assuming that regardless of how the results are shown, the tests are reliable?
Looking at the paperwork, they dont mention a culture rather than PCR. They send their specimens to Quest for testing.
It could be that that particular Planned Parenthood does not request typing on their herpes tests. The culture does require a separate request for typing, while the PCR does not. That would be a choice made by an individual clinic. The CDC says all testing for herpes should be type specific.
Terri
Terri,
I would be happy to start another threat if you think is appropiate, just let me know.
As a result of the encounter I described above, I have been paying a lot of attention to my penis. Anyhow, I masturbated vigorously recently and I think I developed a very tinny sore, that looks more like a red spot. No blister or anything, just a tinny red sore after masturbation. After reading the forums I understand the best way to figure out if this is herpes is to get a swab test while the sore is there. I went to planned parenthood. While I was there they told me the swab test does not make a distinction between HSV I or II. I found that very odd but I thought to ask you since you are an expert. Is what they told me correct, I find it hard to believe that a swab test would not distinct between I or II. Please help me with this. I don't want to get a false positive as a result of this swab test....
Thanks Terri for your answer. So, am I safe to assume that if this pimple/sking tag would have been a herpes blister, it should have bursted, ulcered and scabbed by now (2 full weeks post exposure)?
In a first infection, how common is to get blisters and other symptoms?
what are the typical first infection symptoms?
I am sorry for the many questions, but i promise this is it!!!
Thanks so much.
Skin tags usually don't come and go in the way that you are describing. It takes about one day for a herpes blister to break. After it breaks, it forms an ulcer in the skin and then a scab.
Terri
Thank you Terri.
Can these tags come and go? I dont recall it being there before.
Fyi, the pimple is still there. How long does it take for a herpes blister to burst and what is the tipical appereance of it after it bursts? I understand it bursts, it scabbs and it falls off leaving no sign of a mark?
Thanks and sorry for so many questions
It seems to me that a herpes blister would have broken by now. This does indeed sound much more like a skin tag.
Terri
Terri,
I just thought to give you an update. The size of the pimple like has not changed and it seems the white pin head is still there. It seems to me the white spot has increased insize but is hard to say.
Terri,
I thought that the better description i can give you about this pimple, the better you could help. Looking at the pimple it seems the right section of it is dome Like and i am not able to tell if it is fluid filled. The left section does present a little white reconizable spot, probably the size of the sharp en of a niddle.
Terri,
I forgot to mention that there is no redness in or around the pimple
Terri,
It looks more like a skin colored pimple. With the magnifiyng glass i cannot tell if it is a pimple or a blister. The pimple-blister is only visible when the foreskin is stretched. When it retracts or "shrinks" it is practically unnuticiable
Terri,
It looks more like a skin colored pimple. With the magnifiyng glass i cannot tell if it is a pimple or a blister. The pimple-blister is only visible when the foreskin is stretched. When it retracts or "shrinks" is practically unnuticiable
I'm a little confused because on one hand, you describe a skin tag and on the other, a pimple. A skin tag is a piece of skin attached to you that sticks out farther than the skin around it. A pimple is like what you had on your face as a teenager, it pops. So which is it?
Terri