I've been reading this forum for a while, and have seen a doctor, but I am still unsure what to make of my symptoms.
I had a protected vaginal sex using lubricated condoms with a woman that I would consider pretty promiscuous on May 18. The next day I noticed some slight redness on the right side in the pubic region, right in the skin fold above my genitals. It is like a red line that runs along the fold in the skin and slightly reaches onto my genitals. It felt quite irritated and sometimes hurt a bit, but never itched, nor did it ever progress to blisters, ulcers, or open sores. After trying to moisturize it for a couple weeks, I went to an STD clinic to get it looked at, though it had grown somewhat faded by this point. The doctor examined it thoroughly, and due to my lack of any other symptoms, as well as my history of eczema in other sensitive areas in the past, concluded that it was just eczema or dermatitis. She recommended that I use a 1% steroid hydro cortisone on it that I had been prescribed for eczema in the past. Due to the timing of it appearing directly after the sexual encounter, I was/am skeptical and believe it could be an atypical case of herpes.
I continued to use the cream and it went away shortly after. I forgot about it entirely until last week, when an identical red line of irritation reappeared in the same area. It has been there for 4 - 5 days now despite my continued reuse of the steroid cream on it. A couple times I have woken up in the middle of the night to the area hurting quite badly, but no redness or sore being present in the genital fold area that is in pain.
It is still present now, and I am continuing to treat it with the hydro cortisone, but the timing of the first appearance, and recurrence and pain is really making me worried. Could this be a mild atypical case of herpes? Or does this sound like a different recurring skin condition? I am planning on going to the clinic to get it looked at again, but I am worried that the difficulty in being able to see it is going to make the doctor unlikely to perform any testing, and the long wait will not be worth it.