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Syphilis Concern and Questions
You provide an awesome service here and I've learned alot through the years in reviewing the board. Here's where I'm hoping for some reassurance. I'm a guy, had an experience 5 weeks ago which you would classify as low risk..lots of hand genital contact with other guys, a brief rub on the backside with another guys penis and that's about it. (I know, low to no risk) Here's where I get freaked--about 3 weeks later, I noticed a very small red dot on my penis that is the size of about a "pin head" right where a vein is on the front part of my penis. It looks kind of like a mini-blood vessel if that makes sense. The dot has pretty much stayed the same appearance the last 2 weeks and you can only really notice it when you stretch the skin in a certain direction. No fluid from the dot and I don't think this would classify as a "sore" but I'm not sure from a docs perspective. The red dot doesn't look like the extreme pictures I see online but I remain concerned that it could be a syphilis chancre. I took doxy (100 mg, 2x a day for 10 days) for something unrelated about 4 days after this night so my mind is now obsessing on whether it could of affected the appearance of a chancre if I was infected. So, here's my questions:
-If someone caught syphilis and takes doxy approx 4-5 days after an event, can that affect the appearance of a chancre where it never really develops to full size and resembles something more of a pin dot? Would this timeframe prevent syphilis in the event I caught it that night? Would this amt of doxy cure syphilis as I know the usual regiment is 14 days? (just curious here)
-What is the timeframe before syphilis becomes infectious after someone is exposed? For instance, would someone be able to transmit syphilis 2 days after becoming infected if there were no sores? From another post, I believe it takes a couple of weeks before you can become infectious.
-Can a syphilis chancre resemble what I've described?
-Should I test?
-If someone caught syphilis and takes doxy approx 4-5 days after an event, can that affect the appearance of a chancre where it never really develops to full size and resembles something more of a pin dot? Would this timeframe prevent syphilis in the event I caught it that night? Would this amt of doxy cure syphilis as I know the usual regiment is 14 days? (just curious here)
-What is the timeframe before syphilis becomes infectious after someone is exposed? For instance, would someone be able to transmit syphilis 2 days after becoming infected if there were no sores? From another post, I believe it takes a couple of weeks before you can become infectious.
-Can a syphilis chancre resemble what I've described?
-Should I test?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Glad to have helped.
Thanks---and your right of course. For what its worth, the forum has actually helped me alot to not panic from unlikely situations and live a healthier lifestyle. I'm actually very educated on this stuff now...I guess it's the "uncommon exceptions" that gets my mind reeling and thinking that the "uncommon" could happen to me. It's not a good place to go in one's mind, so it's great a forum like this exists. You've answered my questions and provided the reassurance I needed. Thanks again.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the thanks about the forum.
A "red dot" like you describe does not suggest any STD. Further, no STD can be transmitted by hand job. Thus, there are no worries here about syphilis or any other STD. And syphilis is a rare STD in the US, with only ~20,000 new cases per year in the entire country, two thirds of those in gay men and the rest in small pockets here and there.
Doxycycline is active against syphilis, but it's generally all or nothing. Rather than "altering" a chancre, it would prevent it from ever showing up. The incubation period for syphilis -- from exposure to appearance of the chancre -- is typically 2-3 weeks, sometimes up to 6 weeks. The infection is not transmissible until the chancre appears, certainly not a couple of days after exposure. And no, syphilis cannot resemble what you describe. Based on this exposure and your symptoms, you do not need testing for syphilis or any other STD. Of course, if you remain concerned, see a health care provider in person and follow his or her advice.
You seem to be inordinately worried about STDs despite being at very low risk, based on the 6 or 7 questions you have asked on the forum (mostly in 2006-2007), most or all of which follwed very low risk or zero risk exposures. Within the limits of MedHelp rules (including the one that permits a maximum of 2 questions every 6 months on the professionally moderated forums) you are welcome to continue to return to the forum. But you could have avoided most or all of your posting fees by simply remembering that with uncommon exceptions, if a bare penis (no condom) is not inserted into a vagina, rectum, or mouth, in general there is no STD risk.
Regards-- HHH, MD
A "red dot" like you describe does not suggest any STD. Further, no STD can be transmitted by hand job. Thus, there are no worries here about syphilis or any other STD. And syphilis is a rare STD in the US, with only ~20,000 new cases per year in the entire country, two thirds of those in gay men and the rest in small pockets here and there.
Doxycycline is active against syphilis, but it's generally all or nothing. Rather than "altering" a chancre, it would prevent it from ever showing up. The incubation period for syphilis -- from exposure to appearance of the chancre -- is typically 2-3 weeks, sometimes up to 6 weeks. The infection is not transmissible until the chancre appears, certainly not a couple of days after exposure. And no, syphilis cannot resemble what you describe. Based on this exposure and your symptoms, you do not need testing for syphilis or any other STD. Of course, if you remain concerned, see a health care provider in person and follow his or her advice.
You seem to be inordinately worried about STDs despite being at very low risk, based on the 6 or 7 questions you have asked on the forum (mostly in 2006-2007), most or all of which follwed very low risk or zero risk exposures. Within the limits of MedHelp rules (including the one that permits a maximum of 2 questions every 6 months on the professionally moderated forums) you are welcome to continue to return to the forum. But you could have avoided most or all of your posting fees by simply remembering that with uncommon exceptions, if a bare penis (no condom) is not inserted into a vagina, rectum, or mouth, in general there is no STD risk.
Regards-- HHH, MD
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
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.
