[Question #1480] Large Pimple on Penis 2 months after contact.

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94 months ago
 2 months ago I kissed and for the first time received oral sex, from a girl who later told me she's had cold sores before. I got what a believed to be oral herpes 4 days after contact with her. ( Extremely sore throat, fever, what appeared to be cold sores on both sides of my mouth.) But it was hard to tell because I was already sick before the encounter. I immediately freaked out that It had also been given to my genitals simultaneously. For the past 2 months I checked my genitals every hour in an OCD fashion and found nothing, silly I know. HOWEVER, last week my nightmare came true and I discovered a large pimple in the middle of penis shaft.  I popped it and it behaved exactly like a pimple with puss coming out, healing without scabs or pain. I was extremely scared because i was experiencing a cold at the time(sore throat, congestion).  It was Friday, so I had to wait 3 days . I went to an STD clinic, but they said the bump had healed for too long to test it, but it was "probably normal". I went to multiple clinics showing them pics of the pimple and every nurse said I had nothing to worry about and we all get pimples "down there". However, when I read online from others experiences it's a totally different story and I have read examples very similar to mine. And this timing is so strange because I have NEVER got a pimple on my shaft. Blood testing would be useless since I may already have hsv1 (many family members have cold sores) .  Looked almost identical to this http://en.allexperts.com/q/Dermatology-1011/2012/5/pimple-cyst-penis.htm
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
94 months ago
Did you see any medical person when you had what you believed to be cold sores on your mouth?  Were they on the inside of your mouth or outside?  How long did that last? 
The picture that you attached showed not herpes but a classic pimple on the shaft of the penis.  Herpes lesions, if you do acquire new genital herpes from a cold sore, would normally show up 2-10 days after the encounter. And herpes lesions generally do not have pus in them - they have clear fluid, like a water blister - indeed, usually a group of water blisters.   Having something show up 2 months after an exposure is very unlikely to be herpes.  Also, it was good that you took pictures to show clinicians that cared for you because sometimes, it's too late in an outbreak for a clinician to get a good idea of what was going on earlier.  Since all the clinicians you showed it to believe it was not herpes, I suspect it was not. 

Terri
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94 months ago
Thanks for the reply. I have 2 huge concerns. #1. The fact that I got a cold right before the pimple really concerns me. Also the fact that I've never had a pimple on my in my life and only after my first sexual exposure. Do you think this was just the craziest coincidence of my entire life? Since there's a 40% chance i will never have another genital outbreak (hsv1) and won't be able to get it swabbed, Should I just go on with my life and assume  I don't have genital herpes and carry on with my sex life hoping I don't spread it? Also, I made a bad mistake and did not see a medical professional specifically about cold sores, just my soar throat which I received penicillin for. I suspected/hoped it may have just been angular cheilitis from my sickness because it was only on each side of my mouth right where they say angular cheilitis occurs. But after I saw the bump on my penis it made more since. PS. here is a picture of the pimple right after I popped it 
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
94 months ago
Sorry, we don't allow pictures to be downloaded unto this site.  So you saw someone about your sore throat - did they see what was going on in the corners of your mouth also?  It certainly could be angular chelitis; if you get it again, you could certainly have it checked out.  Also, it would be HIGHLY unusual with a first herpes outbreak to only have lesions in the corners of the mouth - I would expect if you have never been infected before that you would have lesions in more places, if you were going to get lesions. 
It certainly could be your first pimple - the first pimple has to come some time, right, and it could be that you got some mild skin bacterial infection from her mouth that caused the pimple.  There are other things besides herpes that people can get from receiving oral sex.
You might want to consider getting an antibody test for HSV 1 when you are about 3 months out from the encounter and see what you see.  More than half the US population has HSV 1 so no big surprise if it is positive.
My honest opinion, just from what you've said here, is that you did not acquire HSV 1 from this person, not orally or genitally.  But that's just my opinion, not fact.

Terri
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94 months ago
Thanks for your opinions on my situation and this will be my final question. So you think me getting sick again right before/during the pimple on my shaft similar to my suspected cold sores was just a wintertime coincidence? Also I do plan on getting a blood test, I just fear that if it comes back positive I will think even deeper about the lesion that appeared on my genitals. Thanks for your help.
 
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
94 months ago
I do actually, think it is a coincidence. 
If you think testing will increase your worry, you certainly don't have to.  To me, the lesion in the first picture looks nothing at all like herpes.  And as I said above, the circumstances and symptoms just don't fit well.  If you do test and you are positive, you cannot know that this pimple on your penis is herpes, for sure.  Please don't jump to conclusions.

Terri
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