[Question #3826] HPV
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86 months ago
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I have recently been concerned that I may have acquired an HPV infection. I am a 28 year old male. I had much unprotected sex with my ex girlfriend about 8 months ago, unprotected sex with an unfamiliar girl 5 months ago, and protected with another unfamiliar girl 2 months ago.
I have always had sebacious cysts on my scrotum since I was young. One month after the second girl. I noticed two small lesions on my front left side of scrotum, i thought were different, one very tiny hard to see and one about 1mm. They looked like a small patch of dead skin and easily scratched off leaving a tiny spot of open skin. They did not bleed at all. They are very close to the base of a hair/follicle. They then healed and looked similar to before, except less dry, they are just like a tiny spot with a thin layer of skin that easily scratched off. Went to a dermatologist, and they were diagnosed as cysts. He also said they were to small to worry about. I don't believe they are cysts because cysts Iv had before go away when opened and drained. I think maybe something to do with the follicle or gland though. I did apply white vinegar for 10 minutes to them once and didn't notice any changes. Do you think these could be warts?
Then I also noticed a lesion about two months later on the back of my scrotum. It did not look like a cyst. It looked more like a skin tag or a wart. It was very small also about 1-2mm. It was skin color at first. When I noticed it I picked at it slightly and it instantly turned dark brown almost black. Later I scratched it off in a panic. I noticed a very tiny hole where it was. It bled very little. I have not noticed anything else since. In your opinion could this have been a genital wart? Or does it sound more like a skin tag?
I have been trying to decide how to move on from here, and what the right thing to do is. I really want to start dating again. I have been trying to improve my health and immune system to hopefully clear a possible infection. My question is
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
86 months ago
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Welcome to our Forum. I'll be glad to comment on two topics. First, the questions of whether the lesions you noted were HPV. The short answer is probably not and if they were, they would be unrelated to your encounter about a month before as a month is quite early for warts to appear. It seems however that you are spending a lot of time and energy looking for possible warts which, in our opinions is not a good use of your time. The scrotum and genital area has many cutaneous irregularities - cysts, bumps, etc.- most are normal and the scrotum is an unusual place for warts to appear. Further, you mention at least three possible sexual contacts, thus, on a statistical basis, whether you can see them or not, you probably have HPV. This brings me to my 2nd point.
The second point is that HPV is just not something that it is productive for a normal, sexually active person to worry about. Many
studies show that when persons become sexually active they acquire HPV very
rapidly and that within three years of a person's first sexual encounter over
50% of persons, even those who have had only a single partner, have HPV.
It is now conservatively estimated that over 80% of sexually active Americans
have or have had HPV. Virtually all
sexually active Americans acquire HPV at some time in their lives (even those
who are monogamous!) and from a medical perspective for all but a
fraction (a small fraction of 1%) of those who infected the disease is nothing
more than a nuisance- sometimes cosmetically, sometimes otherwise. Further,
if the idea that HPV is an STI upsets you, you need to get over that
idea. As noted above, virtually all sexually active persons get this
chronic viral infection so, unless you are feeling guilty because you have had
sex with more than a single partner in your life, for practical purposes, this
is just part of being a sexually active person. It is for these reasons
that we continue to urge our clients not to get overwrought by the possibility
of an HPV infection. HPV is not a good reason to curtail normal sexual activity
I hope these comments are helpful. EWH
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