AboutJordan Expertise My name is Jordan and I am an Epidemiology student at the University of Oklahoma. On top of that I am finishing my bachelors in M.D.S. public health and my minor is H.E.S. (health and exercise science). I have had many classes entirely devoted to sexually transmitted diseases, I am starting my independent study focusing on S.T.D distribution based on demographics, and have had a lot of hands on experience at the clinic that I am currently employed. I believe that sexually transmitted disease are a part of life, like any other non-sexually transmitted disease and can be controlled with knowledge. I would love to share this knowledge with anyone that is seeking it and encourage anyone that needs it to just ask, because I would love to help.
Since this is a public forum, please refrain from using any personal information of yours or anyone else.
Question Hello. I went for comprehensive STD testing in February, as I test regularly and my most recent partner had told me days prior that he had genital warts. The gynecologist conducted a pap smear, and swabbed my gums. She also conducted a bi-manual and visual exam. Everything came back negative (HIV, HPV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea) . A month later, while showering I felt a bump on my anus. After further inspection I found two more internally. They did not hurt, but felt hard and were smaller than a pencil eraser. I went back to the same gynecologist, two days after (April) and told her of the three bumps I found. She did a visual, external examination, but did not check me internally. She told me they were skin tags, not warts. She then used a spray to "freeze" them off. The treatment was very painful, and caused light bleeding, that still to this day, has not stopped. The bump seemed to have gotten smaller, but has not gone away. And within a week after the treatment I noticed another. It has been almost 3 months and more and more are appearing. I probably have about 18 external ones right now. I have not Checked internally because the first one starts to bleed anytime the anus seems to stretch. Was I mis-diagnosed? Or is it possible to get an outbreak of skin tags? I have not found any on my vulva or not outside of a 1 inch radius of my anus. I don't have insurance, and between the two visits I already have a $521 bill at a sliding scale state clinic. I would like to know if I am possibly just being paranoid, as I have already seen her twice and have been told I do not have HPV, before I incur another bill.
Thank you SO MUCH for your time,
Lisa
Answer This is actually a rather common question. Many people confuse skin tags for HPV warts and vise versa. It is difficult to say for sure whether or not you are experiencing warts or skin tags, but I do not believe you are being paranoid, because it does sound a bit like a diagnosis that was made to early. This means that if you are experiencing HPV symptoms then the test was done prior to antibodies being introduced into your system (this would result in a false negative) and the visual exam may also of been early (this would result in the warts looking like skin tags). Usually a health care provider and easily tell the difference between a HPV wart and skin tag, but they do not always look like the pictures on the Internet (cauliflower like) and internal exams can be a bit difficult. Since the grown rate of these "skin tags" is so large, I would recommend you be re-tested. It is still possible to get an outbreak of skin tags, but it is usually not as severe as you are describing. I understand that the cost is very high, so you may want to consider just getting tested for HPV and forgoing the physical exam unless the test comes back positive. This will help control the cost. Another option for lowering your cost is checking with planned parenthood (www.plannedparenthood.org) you can do a search and find a clinic near you.
