red marks on penis shaft

[idiotboy32]

Dear Doctors,

Your forum is absolutely amazing. Thank you for being so informative, reassuring, reasonable, and, above all, super-humanly patient with all of us.

My question: had an encounter with a CSW about 5 days ago. Protected intercourse, mostly protected oral sex, but some relatively brief unprotected oral as well.

Yesterday I noticed some reddish marks--4 or 5 on my penis shaft. They are not raised at all (I can't feel them as anything separate from my skin) and they don't itch or hurt. I have no discharge or pain in urination or anything else.  I suffer from mild psoriasis and occasionally get red spots on the shaft from this, but those are always slightly flaky, and these are not.  

These spots are most visible when my penis is not erect. If erect, or when I pull the skin taut, they more or less can't be seen. One thing I've thought is that they might be clusters of broken blood vessels, which get separated and look less red when the skin is tight. My encounter with CSW was for a couple of hours and the sex was fairly vigorous and extended.  She also massaged me with oil at some point; the oil is supposed to be hypoallergenic, but perhaps there could be a reaction anyway?

Is this something I should worry about, get checked? Your forum has really helped me learn to take a reasoned, safe approach to encounters with CSWs, and I try not to be paranoid. I know oral sex is very low risk in any case, and I actually always request it to be protected; this time was an exception because it was with a CSW I've seen a couple of times and so sort of trusted her more than I normally would, and she even told me she was, as far as she knew, negative for oral herpes.  So of course now I'm second-guessing myself.  Your opinion will be very much appreciated.

THANK YOU again.

[idiotboy32]

OK, thanks, it's sort of the answer I expected, but it's nice to hear it from The Expert rather than one's own head.

I want to say also, just since you mention it, that this Forum has really helped me get perspective on the idea of "sex addiction" and anxiety about sex with CSWs.  You guys make it extremely clear that the moral issues and the health issues are not intertwined, however much it might feel that they are.  I do not see CSWs a lot, but when I do I try to follow an extremely disciplined safety regime so that I can enjoy it as something I want to do rather than mentally punish myself in retrospect for something I shouldn't have done.  Slightly breaking my disciplined regime is, of course, what led to the worries that led to this post...!

Anyway, I just say this because I imagine others in my situation might like to hear how others manage anxiety.  This forum is a fantastic help in that regard, in how it allows for experience to be shared, and I'm very happy to contribute $$ even when I pretty much knew the answer to my question in advance!

Thanks again.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Thanks for the thanks in advance, and welcome back.  I hope the sex addiction that concerned you 3 years ago is a thing of the past.  Whether or not your exposures remain more frequent or more compulsive than you would like, congratulations on doing it very safely.

No STD causes red spots of the sort you describe.  Based on your description, I suspect you are correct that they are related to blood vessels in your penile skin -- but probably not "broken" ones, just clusters of capillaries.  This is consistent with blanching when the skin is stretched, and such things tend to become more common as people age.  If you remain in doubt, then see a health care provider for examination and reassurance.  Whatever is going on, I wouldn't worry about STDs.

Regards--  HHH, MD