Two years ago I experienced an unwanted sexual encounter. I was pressured into performing oral sex on a man (I am a straight woman). The event upset me greatly and caused significant distress. I was initially very paranoid about having contracted oral HPV and checked my mouth for symptoms compulsively. I was tested for everything I could be and all results came back negative. About 6 months after the event, I noticed a small bump on my upper lip. I didn't notice it looking straight at my face from the normal distance, but up close I could definitely see a raised bump that was the same color as the rest of my lip and with a small dimple in the middle. I panicked and removed the lump myself with scissors. In the months leading up to this, I had been applying hydrogen peroxide and A&D constantly and I convinced myself it was just irritation from bothering my lips so much and using so much hydrogen peroxide and A&D. I also had what I assumed was a stress rash above my lip - felt like a burning sensation and my upper lip swelled uncomfortably. The growth never came back and I have not experienced any similar growths. Now that 2 years have passed and I have seen a counselor to deal with the trauma and stress, I am hoping to figure out what the lump could have been and what to do moving forward - specifically what are the chances it was a papilloma or something unrelated to HPV. 

Thank you for your help and kindness.

I'm sorry for your taumatic, stressful experience. I wish you success in working through it. I hope my comments contribute to that goal.

There are many potential causes of a skin bump, on the lips or anywhere eslse. A single bump of the sort you describe probably was not a wart; and oral warts after performing oral sex are very, very rare. That's not to say you could not have acquired HPV during the unfortunate event you experienced. But if you did, it would be in the form of a non-symptomatic throat infection -- and most such infections never cause symptoms or disease and are cleared by the immune system. As to other specific explanations for the oral bump, I'm not the best resource -- a dermatolgist could make a more reliable guess. (But it still probably would be no more than a guess.)

I also need to remind you that, assuming you have otherwise been sexually active, it is likely you have HPV from that (or those) relationship(s), even if you don't perform oral sex on your partners. Oral HPV is quite common, and i s no more common in people who do or do not perform oral sex on their partners (or only slightly so). Having HPV, often several times, is a normal, expected consequence of being sexual. Oral infections are less frequent than genital, but still very common. In the event you ever are diagnosed with an active HPV infection, oral or genital, it probably will not be from the sexual assault you experienced.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

Thank you very much for you response. Everything is very clear and I understand your comments. In reading the responses to other messages, I believe I know the answer to my one follow up question, but will ask just to be sure.  I hope to have an honest conversation about past sexual history with my future partner, including this experience, but I am wondering if this bump needs to/should be disclosed. I would certainly not wish to hide anything from my future partner but given the nature of the bump I am not sure how pertinent that information would be, if it should be disclosed at all. 

Thank you again for your help.