Wondering if I have HPV/Genital Warts

[rodsteel80919]

38 year old male with one sexual partner for the last 12 years. So approximately 2.5 years ago I began noticing a few discolorations on the shaft of my penis, mainly around where it meets with my pubic mound. I asked a friend about it, and he pushed it off as skin getting darker with age. Fast forward to more recently and I now have clusters of them, of various size. They are a dark brown in color, are mostly flat and have no pain or itch associated whatsoever. I'm wondering if this is HPV or something else. Approximately 10 years ago my partner had an pap smear come back indicating irregular cells and had a leap procedure done. This has completly cleared-up her issue and she has had no more abnormal results, and is also not showing any similar signs (vagina, anus or mouth) and we are very sexually active. I'm happy to provide pics if that would help. Thanks!

[auntiejessi]

It's probably not HPV, but you should get it checked to make sure.

There is something called penile melanosis. It's basically a hyperpigmentation, and occurs when melanin forms deposits on the surface layer of the skin. It's benign, so you don't need to worry about cancer.

https://www.healthline.com/health/penile-melanosis#symptoms

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327189.php

https://www.epainassist.com/men/penile-melanosis - this has an illustration of it, which is the best I could find (which is ridiculous).

You should definitely get it checked by your doctor, though, to make sure it isn't melanoma or another cancerous condition, or something like lichen sclerosus.

Let us know what happens. :)