Aa
Painless blisters only in pubic hair area?
Firstly, I am a 30-year-old male, who had protected vaginal/unprotected oral sex with 4 different partners over a 2 month period from April to June last year, and after a night of protected vaginal and unprotected oral sex with a fifth partner at the end of July, both she and I developed a rash that might be described as blisters that opened into lesions and eventually formed scabs, but in my case, there were only three such bumps, fairly far apart, and only in the pubic hair area, not on the penis itself. As I had been using condoms for all vaginal sex, this makes sense to me that I would not have bumps on the penis, but I did receive unprotected oral sex.
In all five of these partners, there were no discernible visible symptoms (as something of a hypochondriac, I'm prone to surreptitiously visually examining my partners before we engage in anything) like a rash or any kind of red spots, and I didn't have any cuts on my skin, so I'm mind boggled as to how I could have contracted this, if it is indeed herpes. Prior to the partner at the end of July, the last partner I had was at the end of June (again, no symptoms or feelings of being unwell afterward) so a whole month had passed until the July partner. The partner in July had also never experienced any such symptoms before, so we both are perplexed by how we could have a seemingly simultaneous primary outbreak.
Since that time, I have noticed extremely tiny bumps, more blister-like than what I am accustomed to with acne, but always individual (only one in the entire pubic hair region at a time) and in most cases, less than 1mm in diameter. Just this week (January) I have now noticed one new bump with a reddish area around it that is around 2mm, the biggest I've seen so far. It has yet to pop or ooze, but with all of these bumps, there is no pain, no itching, no soreness, nothing that screams herpes to me. I suppose I feel a vague nerve twinge in my groin area every now and then, which I'm not sure I had felt previously, but then I'm also entering my 30's so I'm feeling more aches and pains in general than I used to.
I'm just feeling confused as to how I could have gotten this if it is indeed herpes. I tested negative on an IGM test approximately 10 days after the incident, at the time, the bumps had already started to scab sot the doctor informed me it was too late for a culture. The girl says she had a liquid-based cytology test at her gynecologist
that had "herpes - a few" as a diagnosis.
In all five of these partners, there were no discernible visible symptoms (as something of a hypochondriac, I'm prone to surreptitiously visually examining my partners before we engage in anything) like a rash or any kind of red spots, and I didn't have any cuts on my skin, so I'm mind boggled as to how I could have contracted this, if it is indeed herpes. Prior to the partner at the end of July, the last partner I had was at the end of June (again, no symptoms or feelings of being unwell afterward) so a whole month had passed until the July partner. The partner in July had also never experienced any such symptoms before, so we both are perplexed by how we could have a seemingly simultaneous primary outbreak.
Since that time, I have noticed extremely tiny bumps, more blister-like than what I am accustomed to with acne, but always individual (only one in the entire pubic hair region at a time) and in most cases, less than 1mm in diameter. Just this week (January) I have now noticed one new bump with a reddish area around it that is around 2mm, the biggest I've seen so far. It has yet to pop or ooze, but with all of these bumps, there is no pain, no itching, no soreness, nothing that screams herpes to me. I suppose I feel a vague nerve twinge in my groin area every now and then, which I'm not sure I had felt previously, but then I'm also entering my 30's so I'm feeling more aches and pains in general than I used to.
I'm just feeling confused as to how I could have gotten this if it is indeed herpes. I tested negative on an IGM test approximately 10 days after the incident, at the time, the bumps had already started to scab sot the doctor informed me it was too late for a culture. The girl says she had a liquid-based cytology test at her gynecologist
that had "herpes - a few" as a diagnosis.
I think feelingundone is the best person to answer this because he knows his stuff and is up-to-date on symptoms and testing but the IGM test is absolute junk and should not be used to diagnose HSV in adults.
What you need is an IGG type specific test 12 weeks past possible exposure.
What you need is an IGG type specific test 12 weeks past possible exposure.
2 Comments
I wanted to add to this...the HSV IGG is pretty damn good for HSV2 but can miss a hefty portion of HSV1 infections. I have no idea what kind of test result your partner had but “herpes - a few” is not a diagnosis. You either have it or you don’t. She also needs a type specific test to determine if she is positive for 1 or 2 or both.
And if you have any bumps...go to an urgent care and get it swabbed, using PCR. If the bump is fresh enough, a pcr swab can give you an answer.
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
