White Bumps on inside of foreskin

[omega19]

Hello. I had unprotected sex with a person three weeks ago. Two weeks ago I noticed several clusters of white bumps on the inside of my foreskin. They are slightly raised, appear in clusters around the rim of the foreskin and several of them are individual as well. The clusters have veins coming from them; they are not getting bigger, nor do they hurt.

I went to a doctor, and the doctor said they could be warts, but they could also be pearly penile pauples, or sebaceous glands. If they were warts, they would be far too small to treat. I haven't had fever or any other symptoms, other than redness around the urethra (which I've always had) and a burning sensation when I urinate, but only my first urination in the morning.

I just wanted to ask this question online to get a second opinion. Any help would be appreciated. I could take pictures if requested. Thank you.

[omega19]

Thank you very much, Doctor. This puts me at ease, and I'll be recommending these forums to people should they need advice. Thanks again!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Topical medications can cause itching in the area to which they are applied.  So can local fungal infections ("jock itch") which might get worse with the use of steroid cream.  My advice would be to ask your doctor. If there is a rash than wasn't there before, your doctor should see it.  (It is not an STD however).  EWH

[omega19]

That does make me feel better; however I'm quite itchy down there as well. It happens mainly when I think about it, and I was appling a steroid cream down there for the redness that the doctor perscribed for two days. Could that be a symptom of the cream?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

The bumps that you describe sound far more like normal penile structures (pearly penile papules, sebaceous or other glands, etc) than they do genital warts.  If they have been there for over a week without changing, they are not HSV.  My advice would be not to worry.  

As for tests, getting tested for HPV will not help.  In this case visual recognition is the way to go (BTW that they appeared a week after your exposure also makes it unlikely that these are warts --too soon).  There is a blood test for HSV which can be done but I would not recommend it in this case.  Should you want one if the future, you need to get a gG-protein based type specific test such as the HerpeSelect (focus technologies) or Biokit.  There are many other tests but they are less reliable than the type specific tests.

Hope this helps.  You need not worry.  EWH

[omega19]

I'm sorry; I should note that I had urine and blood tests done, and I tested negative for everything they checked, but I'm not sure if you can do that with HPV or herpes. Thanks!