Hello Doctors,

22 yrold male, all sex happened at my university.

March 2017: Protected sex with woman of unknown status. Realized after that condom had broken but not sure for how long.

October: Unprotected vaginal sex with two different partners, both times was drunk and could not get erect so there was very little penetration, maybe none with one partner.

December and January: Unprotected sex multiple times with a friend who claimed she was tested, not sure if hsv included.

February: Unprotected sex once with another friend who said she was tested, not sure if hsv included.

April: Protected sex once and unprotected sex once with a girl who was tested for everything in January but had with three friends since.

 

The next day after last encounter I noticed a somewhat circular cut (sore?) about midway down shaft. It was red with dried blood around it white on the inside when I spread the skin, and it seemed to be a little bit wet (when I squeezed the skin a clear liquid came out). It was not crater-like or well-demarcated, but just like the top layer of skin was gone, and didn’t really look like the herpes ulcers online. I believe it scabbed up later that day, and was definitely scabbed up the next morning. I think it was gone by Friday or Saturday (Saw it on a Monday). When I went to my physician I described it and she said the white color on the inside could be layer of skin underneath or white blood cells, and the liquid was produced to clean wound.

Questions:

1.    Could this be a recurrent outbreak from one of the above encounters? Does the speed of healing and other symptoms match up?

2.    If it was a recurrent outbreak, could there have been a blister I didn’t notice that was opened during the intercourse the night before? I hadn’t inspected myself in the couple days leading up, but I likely did the week before, and I masturbate frequently so even if I am not inspecting my penis I get some pretty good looks while I do my business or use the bathroom. I also showered before the sex the bathroom was well lit and I didn’t seeing anything while I urinated, but I wasn’t looking closely.

3.    Could it be caused by friction (the cause my doctor guessed), and what other causes could there be that are not sexual? I have had circular cuts on my penis a couple of times before that have also scabbed up, one of which was three months before I was tested for hsv and everything came back clean. I should also mention that I did not wear underwear all weekend, only jeans, and I usually wear underwear, so irritation definitely could have occurred.

 

Thank you!

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Thank you for the response. I gave blood for the IgG today (and HIV, I know it is very unlikely but I am a sexual hypochondriac and constantly overthink these things so I would rather get that out of the way), I will let you know the results when I receive them. I have a couple more questions if that's alright.

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I apologize I don’t think I was clear with what I was asking in #1, I may have worded it wrong.  If my symptoms were a recurrent outbreak, would there have been a true primary outbreak soon after I was infected? Or can an outbreak that appears months or years later truly be the first time a person exhibits symptoms, but still be called “recurrent” because the person was infected at some point months or years before, just never showed any symptoms? The literature I’ve read has really confused me on this concept.  I should add that I took an igG I’m December of 2016 and everything came back negative, so if my recent symptom was an outbreak it would have to be from one of the encounters I mentioned in my first post. I definitely would’ve noticed a primary outbreak in the days following any of those encounters, so since I didn’t could this still be a recurrent outbreak related to any of them? Please let me know if this does not make sense, as I know I am writing a lot, and I will try to condense it. I know we are allowed only two extra posts, but after you respond to this post, would you like me to post my results of the igG once I receive them? Thank you again!

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