Aa
cant get a diagnosis for genital bumps
I have noticed some bumps on my penis after ending my relationship of a year and a half last summer and finding my ex was positive for HPV. i have had 6 evaluations, 4 by GP's and two by NP's and they have all said they are normal variation. I am unsatisfied with their evaluations.
Description: The bumps are on the shaft of my penis right along the circumcision line. some are round, some are flat. the main one im concerned with is the size of a needle tip and is raised and hard. you cant stretch it which sounds like the descriptions i read online. i have been having alot of protected sex recently and they seem to have become inflamed due to this. one of them is starting to have a white tip that wasnt there before. sometimes they are shiny but they are skin colored for the most part. i can post a picture if you would like to see.
at the end of last summer i used liquid nitrogen and salicylic acid at home and burned them off for about 2 months once a week and they kept coming back in the same spot. they are unchanged for the most part, but i have been having protected sex with a new partner and they seemed inflamed due to irritation.
I have asked the doctors to just burn them off but they say they wont do a procedure if its not necessaryI have graduated college so no more school clinic, and i have been to the all the free/low cost std clinics in my area. I have had 6 tests so far but my mind is not at ease.
My question for you doctor is, what do you suggest i do at this point? i dont have access to a dermatologist until atleast the fall to get another opinion so im going to have to wait. im also very confused as what to do with this new partner which im very interested in . should i find an excuse to drive her away, maybe she isnt infected yet? im sorry for my rant and thanks in advance for your advice.
I can post pictures if that would help your advice at all.
Description: The bumps are on the shaft of my penis right along the circumcision line. some are round, some are flat. the main one im concerned with is the size of a needle tip and is raised and hard. you cant stretch it which sounds like the descriptions i read online. i have been having alot of protected sex recently and they seem to have become inflamed due to this. one of them is starting to have a white tip that wasnt there before. sometimes they are shiny but they are skin colored for the most part. i can post a picture if you would like to see.
at the end of last summer i used liquid nitrogen and salicylic acid at home and burned them off for about 2 months once a week and they kept coming back in the same spot. they are unchanged for the most part, but i have been having protected sex with a new partner and they seemed inflamed due to irritation.
I have asked the doctors to just burn them off but they say they wont do a procedure if its not necessaryI have graduated college so no more school clinic, and i have been to the all the free/low cost std clinics in my area. I have had 6 tests so far but my mind is not at ease.
My question for you doctor is, what do you suggest i do at this point? i dont have access to a dermatologist until atleast the fall to get another opinion so im going to have to wait. im also very confused as what to do with this new partner which im very interested in . should i find an excuse to drive her away, maybe she isnt infected yet? im sorry for my rant and thanks in advance for your advice.
I can post pictures if that would help your advice at all.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your question.
Unfortunately, I cannot help very much, if at all . We do not examine posted clinical photographs on this forum. No distant, online expert can or should try to make a definitive diagnosis. We can only provide general guidance. In addition, this forum is not intended to but guidance on any and all genital skin conditions. This is strictly for STD problems, and it seems clear you have no STD.
There is little doubt that six examining clinicians cannot all be wrong, especially if one or more of them is experienced in STDs and genital health. Therefore, it is almost certain that your genital skin is entirely normal. If you want a final, definitive opinion, consider seeing a dermatologist. But based on what you know so far, you can expect no difference in the outcome. If such an evaluation also is normal, you're just going to have to accept it.
Finally, I certainly agree that no doctor should treat the "bumps" just because you believe they are not normal.
So my advice is that you do your best to accept the clinical diagnosis we have had, stop examining yourself, and move on with your life without worry about general warts or other STDs. If you find this difficult, professional counseling maybe order. It really isn't normal to be so resistant to reasoned, science-based advice.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
Unfortunately, I cannot help very much, if at all . We do not examine posted clinical photographs on this forum. No distant, online expert can or should try to make a definitive diagnosis. We can only provide general guidance. In addition, this forum is not intended to but guidance on any and all genital skin conditions. This is strictly for STD problems, and it seems clear you have no STD.
There is little doubt that six examining clinicians cannot all be wrong, especially if one or more of them is experienced in STDs and genital health. Therefore, it is almost certain that your genital skin is entirely normal. If you want a final, definitive opinion, consider seeing a dermatologist. But based on what you know so far, you can expect no difference in the outcome. If such an evaluation also is normal, you're just going to have to accept it.
Finally, I certainly agree that no doctor should treat the "bumps" just because you believe they are not normal.
So my advice is that you do your best to accept the clinical diagnosis we have had, stop examining yourself, and move on with your life without worry about general warts or other STDs. If you find this difficult, professional counseling maybe order. It really isn't normal to be so resistant to reasoned, science-based advice.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
thank you for your quick response, but do the symptoms sound like GW to you?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
"do the symptoms sound like GW to you?" Obvioiusly NOT!
That you need to ask this shows you either didn't read my reply or didn't understand it; and confirms the high level of anxiety also revealed in your main question.
That you need to ask this shows you either didn't read my reply or didn't understand it; and confirms the high level of anxiety also revealed in your main question.
I do have high anxiety unfortunately. thanks for your answers. I believe one of the bumps is progressively getting larger and becoming very fleshy, so im going to go in for another check up by my school doctor. i hope they accept me even tho im not attending the university any longer.
My life has been destroyed by anxiety about this issue. my medical school entrance test is in 2 weeks and all i can seem to do is search online for pictures of warts. I dont want to have gave this poor girl anything because i care about her so much and the guilt is absolutely devastating me.
I dont know if you still see an update on old questions but if you could insert any input or answer i would greatly appreciate it. thank you
My life has been destroyed by anxiety about this issue. my medical school entrance test is in 2 weeks and all i can seem to do is search online for pictures of warts. I dont want to have gave this poor girl anything because i care about her so much and the guilt is absolutely devastating me.
I dont know if you still see an update on old questions but if you could insert any input or answer i would greatly appreciate it. thank you
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
With an enlarging lesion, I agree with your plan to be reexamined. If no longer eligible for care by your student health clinic, you could find a private dermatologist; or perhaps your local STD clinic. However, based on all the available information, I still doubt that you have genital warts.
And if it turns out to be a genital wart after all, it still should not be a cause of such extreme anxiety. Genital warts are an inconvenience, not an important health threat. And whether or not you have warts will not make much difference in whether your partner will catch HPV or warts in the future. HPV is so common that having contact with known-infected partners is no more risky than having sex with anyone else.
Take a look at the thread I have linked below, for a more detailed discussion of why genital HPV should never be cause for anxiety or alarm.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/HPV-Transmission/show/1522088
And if it turns out to be a genital wart after all, it still should not be a cause of such extreme anxiety. Genital warts are an inconvenience, not an important health threat. And whether or not you have warts will not make much difference in whether your partner will catch HPV or warts in the future. HPV is so common that having contact with known-infected partners is no more risky than having sex with anyone else.
Take a look at the thread I have linked below, for a more detailed discussion of why genital HPV should never be cause for anxiety or alarm.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/HPV-Transmission/show/1522088
thank you for taking the time to respond to me. There is a state STD clinic that i will go to tomorrow. i will report the results.
By the way i have read your research and throughly enjoyed it. Especially on a subject so common, yet so under-researched. I hope the medical school thing works out for me so i can maybe one day continue in your footsteps.
the information you provide has help my anxiety, as im sure it has with hundreds of other people. thank again
By the way i have read your research and throughly enjoyed it. Especially on a subject so common, yet so under-researched. I hope the medical school thing works out for me so i can maybe one day continue in your footsteps.
the information you provide has help my anxiety, as im sure it has with hundreds of other people. thank again
UPDATE:
i went to the state clinic today. the NP said it is most likely nothing, but put on some TCA and told me to go back next week. im gonna tell my partner because i dont feel like it is right to lie in a situation like this. and if she decides to leave then that is completely fine with me and understandable.
i went to the state clinic today. the NP said it is most likely nothing, but put on some TCA and told me to go back next week. im gonna tell my partner because i dont feel like it is right to lie in a situation like this. and if she decides to leave then that is completely fine with me and understandable.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Just be sure to tell your partner the truth: that you probably don't have genital warts, but are being treated form them as a precaution.
That will end this thread. Take care.
That will end this thread. Take care.
Hi dr. Handsfield. I know you said this thread is over, and im not sure you will see this. But i just have one more question.
After all of this the new doctor i saw told me they might be HPV and there is a good chance they are. I have slept with my current partner around 10-15 times. All protected except on instance.
I have informed her about this and am not planning to continue to be sexually active with her in fear of transmitting anything to her.
Here is my question, is it most likely that i have already infected her? considering that my lesions are all on the circumcision line and completely covered by the condom? she has given me unprotected oral sex many times.
If you could please leave any answer i would greatly appreciate it. I am riddled with guilt and sadness. My MCATS are in a week and i havnt been able to study one bit.
After all of this the new doctor i saw told me they might be HPV and there is a good chance they are. I have slept with my current partner around 10-15 times. All protected except on instance.
I have informed her about this and am not planning to continue to be sexually active with her in fear of transmitting anything to her.
Here is my question, is it most likely that i have already infected her? considering that my lesions are all on the circumcision line and completely covered by the condom? she has given me unprotected oral sex many times.
If you could please leave any answer i would greatly appreciate it. I am riddled with guilt and sadness. My MCATS are in a week and i havnt been able to study one bit.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
If you have warts, then you can assume you were infectious for your partner for a few months before the warts appeared. Indeed, she would be a likely source of your infection. In either case, you can assume she is already infected with the same HPV strain. However, oral HPV generally isn't a concern.
I stress that I remain doubtful that you in fact have HPV. With 6 previous health care providers believing you don't have warts, it was a mistake to seek yet another opinion. My guess is your doctor believes HPV is a
"possibility" primarily because you pressed the issue, that he doesn't really believe it is likely.
In any case, that will end this thread. I would encourage you to re-read my comments above, plus the other thread I linked, which together give the reasons that being "riddled with guilt and sadness" is an overreaction to a minor medical issue -- even if you have warts, which you probably do not.
Take care. I'll have nothing more to say.
I stress that I remain doubtful that you in fact have HPV. With 6 previous health care providers believing you don't have warts, it was a mistake to seek yet another opinion. My guess is your doctor believes HPV is a
"possibility" primarily because you pressed the issue, that he doesn't really believe it is likely.
In any case, that will end this thread. I would encourage you to re-read my comments above, plus the other thread I linked, which together give the reasons that being "riddled with guilt and sadness" is an overreaction to a minor medical issue -- even if you have warts, which you probably do not.
Take care. I'll have nothing more to say.
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.
