Last updated on August 19, 2020
Question:
Well, I have some small blister looking things on the shaft of my penis (the underside of it where it hangs down and touches my scrotum). I’m worried that they might be herpes. About five months ago I was with a girl and now this happens. First, my pubic region itched real bad for a few days, and at the point where the hair leaves the skin, I had some red specks like the ones pictured in your answer about pubic lice. They don’t really bother me much unless I’m moving around and there is skin-on-skin contact (between the shaft and scrotum). Even then it’s not too bad; it just kind of feels like a prickling. I’m hoping it’s just some type of jock itch or something. I’ve been using Lamisil on it, but it doesn’t seem to be working too well yet. Any help at all would be appreciated.
Answer
“Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away” (Proverbs 6:32-33).
When God gave laws to mankind, they were neither arbitrary or mean. Moses told the Israelites, “And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 6:24). God gives out laws because following them makes life better for people.
Did you notice in your question how you try to soften what you did? “I was with a girl,” but what you are saying is that you were having sexual intercourse with a girl for a period of time. You dumped her (or she dumped your) a while back even though you had sex with her. In addition, you call her a girl, but if you do have a sexually transmitted disease, then it means this “girl” has had other men’s penises in her vagina; in other words she is playing the role of a harlot or a prostitute even though she isn’t taking money for her sexual acts.
But that should have been obvious before you dropped your pants and put your penis where it didn’t belong. A woman who is willing to let a man put his penis in her and take the risk of becoming pregnant is highly likely to have done it many times before. But she might make you feel like you are the one and only or someone special because it stokes the fires of your ego and deceives you into thinking you’re a “man” because you can ejaculate inside a woman. “So she caught him and kissed him; with an impudent face she said to him: … So I came out to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you. … With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him. Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life” (Proverbs 7:13,15, 21-23).
I know, I’m coming down hard on you, but it is vital that you understand that you didn’t just pick up a disease from your fornication; you damaged your soul. That needs repairing too and it is more important that the physical damage you took because physicals disease only affect this life. Sin can affect you for eternity.
You need to understand that I can only makes some guesses as to what you might have caught. I haven’t seen what you see on your genitals, I only have your description to go by. Since Lamasil is an anti-fungal cream and it hasn’t made a difference, and I’m assuming you have been using it for several days, then we can eliminate a fungal infection — and your description doesn’t match jock itch anyway.
What you describe does match genital herpes, but there are some symptoms you haven’t mentioned. When a person gets genital herpes, which is caused by the herpes simplex virus, the initial symptom will be a fever accompanied by headaches and muscle aches. The fever usually comes between one day and twelve days after the infection. Most people mistake this for having influenza. And not all people develop the fever. A rash then develops at the point at which the infection was contracted. Small blisters form on the skin in a group and the area itches. The base of the blisters looks inflamed (red and swollen slightly). The blisters last about 1 to 2 weeks and then begin to dry out. The itching decreases as the blisters heal. Eventually, they fall off without leaving scars. Even after the blisters heal a feeling of pain in the skin persists for one to six weeks.
Herpes is highly contagious when the blisters appear. The biggest danger in this disease is that a person thinks they are over it because the symptoms disappear for a while. Then at odd moments it suddenly flares back up. Over time, the virus spreads along the pathways of your nerves, migrating away from the point of infection and becoming more numerous. Worse there is are periods where the virus goes through a “shedding” phase in about one-third of the cases where a person becomes contagious again but has no visible symptoms. These shedding phases generally occur just before or just after the blistering phase. In other words, the virus can be spread when a person doesn’t think they are contagious.
Here are some pictures of what herpes simplex looks like.
What doesn’t match in your description is that the symptoms usually appear in a few weeks of getting the disease, not five months later. But it is possible that you have had symptoms but were ignoring them or thought it was something else.
But even if what you have is something different or it is herpes simplex, you need to see a doctor right away. As with most STDs, the quicker you get treated the less damage these diseases can cause you. There are a lot of STDs that start out looking like sores on your skin. In the case of Herpes Simplex, there is no cure. The only thing the doctors can give you is a medicine that will keep the virus from replicating in your body. But once it is in you, it cannot be removed. The sooner you get it treated, the fewer viruses you have to deal with, but you will be taking the medicine for the rest of your life.