1) if the scabs were an active / healing herpes outbreak, is it possible/likely I could have gotten whitlow from that exposure? And if I did, would it recur somewhere else on my body or it would it stick to my hands? And
If the skin on your hands was intact, and you washed your hands prior to masturbating yourself, there is no risk of transmission here.
2) Since I washed my hands before masturbating myself with the same hand, did I eliminate the possibility of contracting it on my own genitals?
You did, and if the skin of your hands was intact, you also don’t have the risk of whitlow either.
Terri