Hi I was wondering how long it takes for herpes to new full on outbreak. I have this red mark on the shaft of my penis. It's on the tip when foreskin is over penis. It loOKs rash like and sometimes itches. The thing is sometimes it looks worse sometimes better. I've had it for about two weeks now. And it showed up after a risky interaction. I went to a doctor and he said it doesn't look like anything but couldnt swab it because it was Sunday. So I was at ease. Then it came back worse so I went again. But this time doctor said it was nothing because it was barely visible when I went. Does this sound like herpes? I don't know what to do. It is bothering me enough to be irritating. But doctors brush it off. What can I do?

Home / Answered Questions / Hi I was wondering how long it takes for herpes to new full on outbreak. I have this red mark on the shaft of my penis. It’s on the tip when foreskin is over penis. It loOKs rash like and sometimes itches. The thing is sometimes it looks worse sometimes better. I’ve had it for about two weeks now. And it showed up after a risky interaction. I went to a doctor and he said it doesn’t look like anything but couldnt swab it because it was Sunday. So I was at ease. Then it came back worse so I went again. But this time doctor said it was nothing because it was barely visible when I went. Does this sound like herpes? I don’t know what to do. It is bothering me enough to be irritating. But doctors brush it off. What can I do?

Hi I was wondering how long it takes for herpes to new full on outbreak. I have this red mark on the shaft of my penis. It’s on the tip when foreskin is over penis. It loOKs rash like and sometimes itches. The thing is sometimes it looks worse sometimes better. I’ve had it for about two weeks now. And it showed up after a risky interaction. I went to a doctor and he said it doesn’t look like anything but couldnt swab it because it was Sunday. So I was at ease. Then it came back worse so I went again. But this time doctor said it was nothing because it was barely visible when I went. Does this sound like herpes? I don’t know what to do. It is bothering me enough to be irritating. But doctors brush it off. What can I do?

We find that symptoms to the herpes simplex virus (HSV) can show up 2-21 days with an average of 6 days after it has been passed to you. It is also common for people to get no symptoms when HSV is passed to them.

The difficult thing with herpes is that some people get the classic outbreak of fluid filled blisters and open sores but at other times it can be milder and hardly noticeable. On the other hand it is really common to get normal blemishes on the penis for example things like pimples, friction wear from sex and masturbation, mild yeast infections under the foreskin etc..

The new HSV PCR swab tests are really good at picking up herpes. It sounds like you are really concerned that this symptom you are having could be HSV. If you still have the symptoms I would recommend going to an STI clinic or get a second opinion from another doctor, if in doubt to what is going on they could just do a HSV swab test to see if it is HSV or not.

Have a look at our clinic finder if you are looking for a clinic in your area.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

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This answer was posted on September 8, 2016.

This answer was updated on February 7, 2022.

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