Questions re: Diagnosing HPV vs. "Normal" Skin Tags?

Question

Hello,
I'm a 29yo Male. I have no health insurance, so I'm hoping you can answer some questions for me that might help me diagnose whether I have HPV or just normal skin tags.

All told, I have about 6-8 spots I'm concerned about. They are located on the shaft of my penis, th scrotum, and near the thigh. Several sources have indicated HPV will ALWAYS include warts on the TIP of the penis--since I have nothing near the tip, am I OK?

Next, my lesions (?) have been the same for a few years--no growth, nothing new, nothing disappeared. Is that typical of HPV?

Finally, I've read that VINEGAR will turn HPV warts white. I've tried applying common vinegar to myself, and seen no color change. Will HPV warts always react this way?

Thanks. Hope this helps some others, too.

Answer 1

Genital warts can appear all over the genital area not just the shaft and scrotum. They can appear anywhere in the genital area, even the butt and anus region. So, just because you don't necessarily have them on the tip of your penis doesn't mean that it's not genital warts.

What kind of lesions are you talking about? HPV usually doesn't cause lesions. There are over 100 different kinds of HPV and about a dozen cause warts and I believe it's 8 kinds that can cause cervical cancer.

As for the vinegar thing that's just not true. Doctors can use vinegar on a women's' cervix to detect abnormal cells on the cervix (typically caused by HPV). The cells on the cervix will "lit up" when vinegar is applied to them. This is called a coloscopy procedure. Please DO NOT use vinegar again on them.

You really should try and see a doctor about this. Maybe try Planned Parenthood.