Lesions and cuts. Arms and shoulder.

[sickornotsick]

Hello Terri,

Hope you have been well. It’s been quite some time since posting here. I originally reached out to you because I was (and still have been) feeling ill unfortunately. I had genital and oral symptoms initially. I have some specific questions I wanted to ask your opinion on, some about me, some about herpes in general.

Quick background, had sex with a new individual about 10 months ago. I see red lesions appear on my groin and penis. I took all the STD tests and IGG HSV-1-2 tests and all came up negative. I take the western blot through your clinic months later and show positive for hsv-1.

Since having symptoms in my genital, anal and oral areas, I’ve been having symptoms in many other places. Most prominent has been my arms and shoulder.

On my shoulder, I’ve had a few lesions appear. It starts off becoming very itchy and these circular lesions appear. They are red, raised, blister and begin to heal. They only last 5-7 days. I’ve had 2 lesions appear in the past two months. Accompanying the circular lesions on the shoulder are cuts that appear within a few centimeters away. They just appear spontaneously, looking like a big cut or a series of small and also heal in 5-7 days. New cuts and lesions continue to appear on and off.

On my arms, they start to itch like crazy and both red dots and small cuts begin to appear (cuts not shown in images). It looks like a trail of red dots—sometimes turning into cuts, sometimes just disappearing. They do not blister open and weap liquid. They also keep reappearing, several in the past few months.

Other places where I’ve seen lesions including my forehead, eyebrow, thigh and groin. The lesions don’t all look the same. Some look like the circular one shown, some look like a red irritated hair follicle that last around 7 days.

Now my questions:

– Looking at herpes that appear in non-traditional areas, Herpes gladiatorum have auto inoculation come to mine. Have you ever seen herpes lesions in the arm and shoulder area?

– What do you think these lesions could be in the images uploaded?

– Generally speaking, in your experience, is Herpes gladiatorum more severe than genital or oral herpes HSV-1?

– Are there any extra special precautions that you tell your patients when diagnosed with Herpes Gladiatorum?

– How often does Herpes gladiatorum shed in comparison to oral/genital? Is it more aggressive or the same or less?

– Why does gladiatorum spread from location to location so much easier than other types of herpes strains?

– What I’ve read about genital and oral herpes is that the first year tends to be the worse and symptoms/outbreaks tend to decrease in severity and frequency overtime. Is the same true for Herpes gladiatorum?

I appreciate you taking the time to answer the questions. Having someone to turn to for medical advice like this is really special. Thanks again, hope you are having a great day.

[Terri Warren]

Wow, these are very odd looking lesions. They don’t look at all herpetic but I can see why you are concerned about them. Have you seen a dermatologist about this? if not, I think you should go in when they are very active.

I do not think these are herpes at all.
In my experience, which is limited with herpes gladiatorum, which is so named because it is pretty much limited to wrestlers, recurrences are infrequent. Did you do something like wrestling that you think these are herpes?

I could not say how often it sheds because thick skin like arms and shoulders do not shed as does genital skin

I am not at all aware of herpes gladiatorum moving around more than oral or genital herpes. All herpes infections can move in the nerve group in which is was initially acquired. Again, did you do something to acquire herpes in these odd places, all over your body?

Terri

[sickornotsick]

Thanks Terri. I don’t wrestle or do any contact sports. I had sex with a CSW that started all of these crazy symptoms so think it’s infectious in nature. Sex was with a condom (vaginal) but not for oral. Before my lesions appear, I do have some prodrome like symptoms like tingling, throbbing, itching, achiness and heavy fatigue.

I haven’t been able to schedule appointments with a dermatologist at the same time I’ve had a lesion. Something I will continue to try to do. That’s why I’ve been taking photos to ensure I have some sort of documentation as these symptoms progress, heal etc..

I do have one lesion in my groin. It’s gotten more red and irritated over the last couple of days. Wanted to see if you had an opinion on what this lesion could be. See attached. Again, so much activity all over my body. The small cuts are strange, I’ve never heard of anything that can cause recurring spontaneous cuts besides herpes, but this is all new to me.

I don’t know why it’s traveling. The arms, shoulders, head are all new to the last few months. The first months were groin, anus and oral only. Now I feel like it’s all over. I’m not rubbing one area and then touching another so don’t know whats going on.

[Terri Warren]

Honestly, I have no idea what these are. If I had to take a wild guess I would think bacterial. Try another derm office if you can’t get in to yours quickly. These need evaluation. I seriously doubt that they might be herpes!

Terri

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