Hi - I asked a question earlier and have a f/u specific to herpes. Situation was body grooming at massage parlor followed by a handjob. The masseuse was fully clothed, the electric trimmer was questionable and two disposable razors that appeared to be unused were used to shave my pubic region. I took a herpes test at 4 weeks and 7 weeks and Igg for both were negative. I’ve had what I think is balantis since 11 days after this occurrence. No sores, just inflamed and burning sensation with dry skin. I’ve read balantis can be a symptom of herpes and I am uncircumcised. I’m meeting with a urologist in a couple weeks but anti fungal cream made the visible symptoms go away but there is still discomfort. Understand the challenges with Igg testing and I don’t want to keep testing and risk a possible false positive. Do you have any suggestions or think additional testing is needed? There is a lot of misinformation out there and I’m trying to make sense of it all. Thank you! 

Nothing you have written here presents any risk for the acquisition of herpes.  Absolutely safe.  And I can't think if anything that happened that would cause you to have balanitis either.  I would not say that balanitis can be a symptom of herpes, exactly.  Balanitis describes inflammation of the head of the penis, most commonly caused by a fungal issue.  While herpes can appear on the head of the penis, when it does, it is almost always accompanied by lesions on the shaft of the penis as well.  ---

Thanks Terri - I know it’s weird to ask a healthcare provider to recommend against testing but it sounds like you don’t see a need based on what I shared correct? Please feel free to close thread after this.  Thank you!

Correct, I see no need to test, especially with the high rate of false positives on the herpes IgG test.---