QUESTION
Recently, I received unprotected oral sex for about a minute. Less than seven days later I noticed a painful slit or cut between my head and foreskin. It went away four to five days later. About two weeks later, I noticed red itchy dots on my hands and they were sweaty, but nothing on my feet. I have been watching myself for anything else weird. Could this be syphilis?

ANSWER
A syphilis rash doesn't usually itch and usually occurs a couple months after exposure. The cut you describe doesn't sound very consistent with an STD, either, although in unusual cases, genital herpes can show up like that. Oral-genital contact is becoming a more common way that herpes is spread. The only way to know for sure what's going on is to get tested. If you're a sexually active gay man, we recommend regular STD checkups every three to six months. HIV tests are recommended every 6-12 months as well.

You can ask your doctor for an STD checkup, or if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can visit City Clinic, Magnet, or print out a lab slip yourself (syphilis only) at STDtest.org and take it to a LabCorp local lab for testing.

To your health,
Dr. K