Thank you for creating this great forum and for answering my question. I know your answer will help my anxiety if nothing else.
I am a 40 year old male. I had unprotected vaginal intercourse about 6 weeks ago. I do not know the woman's sexual history. That was my only sexual contact in the last several months.
Eleven (11) days after the intercourse, I was masturbating with vaseline petroleum jelly for an extended period of time (1 or 2 hours) when I noticed three red bumps on the under-side of my penis shaft (about 3/4 of the way down towards the head, just below the circumcision line). They were each about the size of 1/4 of a pencil eraser - or smaller. The were about the same distance apart. They did not itch, hurt, become liquid filled, blister, pop, or scab over. I am pretty sure they appeared while I was masturbating; in other words, I don't think they were present when I started. The first thing I thought of was herpes since there were three red bumps close together on my penis.
The next morning I looked and could not find the bumps. However, later that day, I masturbated and felt the same bumps while I was masturbating.
It has now been 26 days since I first noticed the bumps. I have not had any flu-like symptoms, swollen lymph nodes, or pain when urinating. The bumps, however, are essentially the same. In other words, I still feel them when I masturbate. They fell like hard lumps under the skin; kind of like gristle. Sometimes the skin is red and irritated around the bumps during or after masturbation. But, that usually disappears within a couple of hours and then it is very difficult to see anything (I can see the bumps if I stretch the skin and look carefully). The bumps appear to be under the skin as opposed to on the skin. The bumps have never itched, hurt, become liquid filled, blistered, popped or scabbed. The bumps have never had a discharge and have never bled. They have not really gone away (they just are not recognizable when I'm flacid) but they have not spread either.
I'm not sure if it matters, but I do masturbate once or twice a day using vaseline; it usually lasts between half an hour and two hours.
My questions are:
1. Does this sound like herpes?
2. If not, what else could it be?
3. Should I see a doctor if there is really nothing to be seen when I am flacid?
4. If so, what kind of doctor should I see? (dermatologist? STD clinic?)
5. Any other thoughts? I am anxious about what this could be and what I should do.
Thanks again!