I'm worried that somehow I contracted herpies recently or had it for a long time and never had symptoms very often.

I'll discribe what is going on right now and then give a little past on me.

Recently my penis has developed sore bumps at the base of the shaft, but no scabs. They appeared shortly after me and my wife started having sex again after she got pierced throu her clit & hood.

I know for a fact that she has been faithful to me and I have been faithful to her. (We have been together for five years now.)

I never had this happen to me before and I'm worried that she will think I am up to something if it turns out to be herpes. (She flips-out about this kind of stuff.)

But I suspect that it may be a few other things instead.......

1. She has had a yeast infection recently and it cleared up on it's own a month ago.

2. I have been under alot of emotional stress lately and there were a few "strange reactions" I have had in the past to stress.

3. My mother carried the herpies strain, but sposely I did not contract it from her.

4. WHen I was 18 and under alot of stress, I developed Shingles across one side of my ribcage once.

5. Another time under stress, I developed what seemed to be a cold sore on my liponce or twice.

6. I have had the Chicken Pox twice in my life.

7. I have had only 4 sexual partners in my life and the only one I ever had unprotected sex with is my wife and the partners were previous to her.

I'm pretty sure I carry type 1 Herpes seeing I had chicken pox twice in my life, but can it react like type 2 at times?

Also, I have sensitive and a metal allergy and is it possible I'm having a bad reaction to her piercing?

1. DH got a yeast infection that way years ago. He is always worried it will happen again. From his experience, I would assume that you would KNOW if it was something like that. He was burning, itching, and drippy. He'd be so upset to know I posted that!!! He took diflucan and was fine within a few days.

2. I don't know what kind of strange reactions you've had, but stress can trigger an outbreak. So it is possible that, like you said, could have had it a while with little to no symptoms (I have NEVER had an outbreak! so it's possible!)

3. You did not contract herpes from your mother. Whoever told you that, trust them. Neonatal herpes is a very devestating and deadly disease. You would have been incredibly ill as an infant. Without treatment, you would have only had a 20% chance of surviving and that would be with very severe impairments. So rest easy and know that it is totally unrelated.

4. Shingles is Herpes Zoster (there are 6 herpes viruses that infect humans). While there are a lot of similarities, I don't believe they are similar enough to appear like genital herpes on your penis if your infection was on your ribcage.

5. Coldsores are typically Herpes Simplex 1. You can have it anywhere, but most commonly orally. It is becoming pretty common genitally and can be passed through oral sex. While the theory says that it is highly unlikely to have hsv-1 in both locations b/c of antibodies, there are several here (myself included) who will tell you they DO infact have hsv-1 both orally and genitally.

6. Chicken pox is Herpes Varicella. It is not the same virus as HSV-1, so I don't think that having chicken pox twice would indicate that you have HSV-1 (although the coldsores do). While it's strange to have had it twice, it is definately not unheard of. however, I don't think it would be related to anything that looks like genital herpes.

7. By protected sex, I assume you mean you used condoms. That is really important! But unfortunately, doesn't always offer protection from herpes because it is spread by skin to skin contact. Many people get it near their thighs, anus, pubic hair, etc. And like I mentioned, lots of people get it from oral sex.

I also doubt it would be due to the piercing, unless she got stuck with a cheap piercing. They tend to make those things out of pretty hypoallergenic metals, kwim? And how do you typically react to metals that you have an allergy to? Bumps?

While the usefulness of testing is pretty controversial among some people, I would say get tested. Chances are you are positive for HSV1, but that's pretty common. If nothing else, have a doc check it out.

As always...someone please correct me where I am mistaken or misinformed!

I figured it out. IT was a yeast infection (aka Jock itch).

My symptoms just did not fit right for a Herpes outbreak, so I went hunting around and found a type of yeast infection that fit what I have. I started treatment for that strain and guess what........... I got relief and it starting to clear up almost right away.

The type of yeast infection is most likely "Candida albicans".

I told my wife today that I started treatment for my jock itch with good results and got her to treat herself for it too. As a secondary measure, we are both treating our feet for it too seeing her feet have been itching lately. And this type of fungus can effect the feet.

I'm betting what happened was that her piercing agervated what yeast was in her and when we started to have sex, my body reacted to it more than her's was reacting to it.

Either way, after starting treatment for it, we both are feeling more comfort.

Glad everyone is feeling well again!