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Herpes or folliculitis
1 year ago I had protected vaginal and oral sex with a sex worker in the Dominican Republic. I became extremely anxious afterwards and began having panic attacks and night sweats. I would also touch/rub my groin and genital area looking for herpes lesions. The sweating and rubbing of my genital region caused me to get a jock itch on both sides of groin about 5 days after the encounter. On The night of day 7 I masturbated for the first time since the encounter. The next morning I saw a white speck or pimple on my penis. I went to the Planned Parenthood and showed the nurse there the pimple and she said it was nothing and same for the jock itch. I had another pimple the next day on the lower part of my shaft. I had about 6-7 pimples in total over the course of about a month. All the pimples were superficial I think and had a white pus head that would keep growing outward until I rubbed off the white pus from the top or just touch it a bit and then a red base would remain which would disappear within hours. Found scabs for some of the pimples a couple days later. None of the pimples hurt, itched, or burned. They all happened one by one and would last 48-72 hours in total. They showed up usually hours after masturbation (Friction). All happened on my penis shaft. Some had a hair sticking out of it but I think all were on hair glands which are visible all over my penis. I showed pictures of the pimples to doctors on the healthtap app and they all said it looked like folliculitis and not herpes. I haven’t had pimples like that since then. I have improved my hygiene of that area and use anti-bacterial soap. I tested negative for stds/herpes IGG at 14 weeks after the exposure and also 11 months after the exposure. I really want to move on from this encounter but I am scared the pimples I had were herpes. I would really appreciate your input after seeing the description of the pimples and the blood test results. Thanks.
Hsv2 tests are very sensitive. False positives can be an issue but you can trust the negative.
How accurate are the blood tests though? Is it possible for it to be a false negative?
Oh you can believe your negative results. Yes you may have had a mild case. That is way more probable than what you describe being hsv. Everything you describe goes against it being herpes. To make my point bluntly... I am not sure what you had going on exactly. I did not see it. That being said. one thing I can tell you for sure. It's not herpes. Seriously you can put that to rest.
Yes but some doctors told me that I had mild folliculitis that can heal quickly. I'm trying to believe my negative results.
Folicus usually takes longer to heal as well. If you can't see them then they healed. Hsv does not heal that fast. If they come back have them examined by your Dr
Maybe I should clarify. I don't know if they disappeared but I just couldn't see them anymore after 48-72 hrs. For some of them I found a scab of it a couple days later.
From the tests and your description this is clearly not herpes related. Herpes lesions don't have hairs in them and they usually take up to two weeks to heal. Not 2-3 days
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Can folliculitis disappear in 2-3 days though? I am just trying to get a proper diagnosis of one these conditions so I could put my mind to rest.
Maybe I should clarify. I don't know if they disappeared but I just couldn't see them anymore after 48-72 hrs. For some of them I found a scab of it a couple days later.
Maybe I should clarify. I don't know if they disappeared but I just couldn't see them anymore after 48-72 hrs. For some of them I found a scab of it a couple days later.
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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.
