Resolved question:
Hi,
I am a 25 year old male,
I had a bump appear on my penis shaft around 8-9 months ago, which I showed to my GP she originally said it could be a small cyst or gland, after re-evaulating this bump with my GP after a month she said it could be a wart and was not sure and told me to go to the GUM clinic, who specialise in it.
I then went to two GUM clinics to find out what the bump was, the doctor at the first clinic said it was a variation of molluscum and did not look like a wart and did assure me of it being molluscum, at the second clinic the lady looked at it with a light and magnifying glass and also said it does not behave like a wart and is not a wart and then sprayed something on it to remove the molluscum. this was done over 2 months ago.
My main concern is that I am confused as to what the lesion was, even though the GUM experts assured me it was molluscum
1. Does the lesion look like it could be a molluscum?
2. As the bump is now gone and a biopsy was never taken is there any way of testing to find out if this was a wart?
I have provided pics of the bump after it was sprayed in the clinic.
Thanks
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Dermatologist
Hello,
Thank you for your medical query at DoctorSpring.com
I apologise for the delay in the reply.
Yes, it does look like molluscum from the pictures you sent.
As the bump is gone, it confirms the diagnosis, as the warts are recurrent and not at one place.
May be you can provide me more detailed history of how did you acquire it? It is sexually transmitted in either case, it will help me come to a conclusion better.
Regards.
I am not sure how this bump developed I was concerned as its appearance changed and believed it was a small gland, In the past 2 years old patientI have been with two girlfriends. Who I asked during our relationship of anything both said they have not had any problems.
Is there a way of getting the area the bump was in tested now? So this looks like it was sexually transmitted?
Hello,
No, molluscum once treated won't be positive in the tests.
From the images, it looks like molluscum. What was the final diagnosis of the doctor who sprayed the bump?
Regards.
The two doctors diagnosis was that it is a molluscum and it may have come from anywhere i.e sharing a towel or swimming pool, so I am not sure if it is a sexually transmitted bump?
I am also quite worried about what the bump was and think about it often as there was no clear test done i.e a biopsy. and the doctor decided it was molluscum and sprayed it to remove it
Is there no way of having a test taken for that bump now?
Regards
Your doctor probably applied some acid or sprayed liquid nitrogen( cryotherapy). This actually burnt the lesion and led to blister formation followed by resolution of lesion. For molluscum and warts, the treatment remains same. We can cauterise the lesion, apply acid or do cryotherapy.
Biopsy is never done to differentiate between a molluscum or wart. Once the lesion is gone, there is no way to know if it was a wart or molluscum. Such lesions can be diagnosed very easily on clinical examination. If you have any pic of the lesion prior to getting it treated, please send it to us for diagnosis.
I would also like to assure you that even if diagnosis couldn't be made, you have been treated adequately.
Regards.
Yes the doctor did cryotherapy, and did diagnose it as molluscum, I was just very skeptical about the lesion itself, would there be a way of ever knowing if it was a wart or molluscum? as im hoping it is not a wart, does it look like it is sexually transmitted? or could this have appeared from another possible way.
I do not have a photo of the lesion prior to the cryotherapy, would it be best to take the doctors diagnosis of molluscum as they had seen it before the cryotherapy?
Thanks in advance
Hi,
Thanks for writing back.
Now there is no way of knowing, whether it was a molluscum or a wart unless a new similar lesion recurs. A molluscum or wart over genitalia usually occurs through sexual contact. It might occur without the same, provided such lesions are present over other body parts too.
I would advise you to go with the diagnosis of your doctor and consider it as molluscum contagiosum.
Hope this helped.
Take care