Hi, I've had genital herpes for 15 years. It's always presented fairly typically. Blisters form, crust over, and disappear. Sometimes some scarring is left in the erectile tissue, but very little.
Recently, I had an outbreak that appeared very differently. The first sign was a small "bruise" not much bigger than a match head. It seemed to be well under the surface of the skin. The appearance of the bruise coincided with fever, aching like a normal OB, but of greater severity. The bruise grew in size until it was around 5-6 millimeters across. Another developed not far from it, and joined up, making it 10mm across in that direction. Then one small blister developed on the surface of the skin after a day or two. I should stress that all this occurred on a spot of "virgin" skin away from where my OBs occurred for 15 years.
The bruised area then "died", becoming a scab of hard black material. Quite large as I've described, and around 2-3mm deep. The scab/necrotic skin stayed on the large sore for weeks, eventually falling off to reveal an unhealed wound. The wound took 3 months to heal and left a crater of the same size.
Since then, I had two small "normal" OBs in this new area. Blisters that crusted over. No OBs in the old area. Now, six months later, I have the black "bruising" OB occurring again just next to the crater. Smaller, but appearing to be killing the skin again. I'm terrified that the eating away of my penis will not stop.
Has anyone else had this. My doctor thinks it is a herpes outbreak with a bacterial infection overlaid, but he didn't see it before it broke through to the surface. How can it be bacterially infected under the skin? To me, it seems like a herpes blister is forming a few millimeters under the skin, rupturing blood vessels and then killing the skin above it. Is that possible?
Desperately seeking a diagnosis. I can't find anything like it online.