Part of the skin on the head of my penis has become slightly red and is causing some pain/irritation.
It first appeared the day after I used a condom so I think I must have had a reaction to the latex or some other substance in the condom.
The tip of the penis became super sensitive and noticeably hurt whenever it touched my underwear.
The skin was and still is noticeably red close to and directly around the meatus. This redness gets worse and bigger after I've come out the shower or masturbated.
An hour or so after ejaculation, I get a slight burn/irritation at the very end of the urethra when I urinate and this can last for a few days before subsiding. This has put me off from masturbating as much now.
This has lasted for about 3 months now with no signs of improvement.
I saw a doctor and was prescribed timodine/hydrocortisone cream and this didn't have much effect and am slightly worried it may just make things worse so have stopped using it for now.
It almost seems as if the redness comes from within the skin rather than on the surface.
I don't think its balanitis as I haven't had that for over 12 years when I was a kid and that was with the usual smegma discharge etc, whereas this is just redness.
I've attached images to show how it looks straight after showering, which is when the redness is at its worst and the contrast between the normal skin colour and the redness can be clearly seen.
Looks like balanitis to me. If you're using soap or shower gel down there, that may be making things worse, though I don't see how the prescribed cream could make things worse
Some of these links may help:
https://patient.info/health/balanitis-leaflet
https://patient.info/doctor/balanitis-pro
Have you had any luck with a cure for this?
Je pense avoir la même chose et je n'arrive toujours pas à comprendre. J'ai une rougeur comme vous, mais ça fait aussi mal d'uriner et ça fait encore plus mal après avoir fait un acte sexuel. Si vous trouvez quelque chose, veuillez me le faire savoir, cela dure depuis des mois maintenant !
Any update?? I am having the exact same problem
Just to update I still have this, not much improvement.
Day to day it is barely noticeable, but with only a very slight redness near the meatus.
As soon as it becomes erect (masturbation) or after showering it flares up the same as in the pictures.
My doctor prescribed an anti-fungal cream which I have used for a week now which hasn't made a difference.
As I said before, I don't think this is an 'external/on the surface' of the skin condition.
It seems to flare up from within if that makes sense, so no cream is going to do a lot in my opinion.
Makes perfect sense, my symptoms are identical. Day to day it's hardly noticeable (some days more than others and feels irritated, other days almost nothing at all). After showers and sex or masterbation, red/pink and rash like identical to your pictures. Swollen / red meatus too.
Dermatologist gave me an anti fungal which I thought cured it, but after I stopped using it it came back and is worse.
Side note; this all started after a stopped taking doxycycline which I was on for 8 months for something unrelated. I feel like it has to be an effect from that since long term doxy use kills good bacteria.
Not sure what to do/what doctor to go to since they usual just dismis it as nothing.
Thanks for the reply John.
It's interesting to hear from someone in a similar situation.
It's funny you mention doxycycline; I've got rosacea and I was prescribed 100mg doxy by my doctor, but after doing some research I decided not to get them due to the possible side effects with that kind of dosage.
What I did find out was that 50mg doxy has the same effect on rosacea as 100mg but with less side effects. This is because at half the dosage, the doxy acts more as an anti-inflammatory instead of an anti-biotic.
Which results in less 'distruption' to the good bacteria etc.
Going back to the penile symptoms; my theory is if I were to get doxy on prescription at a lower dose, I would be more inclined to take it for my rosacea.
Since rosacea is kind of similar to what I'm experiencing on my penis, maybe the doxy would clear that up as well.
Which would kind of make sense after what you say you experienced with your doxy usage.
I just can't rest until I get rid of this unexplainable redness, it's driving me mad!
Salut, j'ai exactement les mêmes symptômes, pire quand je prends ma douche. Cela fait maintenant 10 mois que je l'ai. Cela me rend fou. Avez-vous découvert ce que c'était ou l'avez-vous résolu, s'il vous plaît ?
Hi, do you find that the inflammation occurs after prolonged sitting down? I have a similar pigment, it is definitely subdermal, and I find that it happens when I am resting on my perineum. Usually tingling accompanies this. I have been sitting on a U-shaped cushion, and found that this alleviates matters in the short-term.
Same thing going on. Last May started getting stinging pain there too. Turns out it was a digestive issue and got that resolved but I too have been on a heavy dose of antbiotics and have this irritation that seems to be sub dermal. Can not figure out what is going on, even have been trying man1man oil to build the skin up but I am not sure how itll work. Super strange how the irritation comes and goes.
Hi,
I am still very much dealing with this issue.
I've since been to a sexual health clinic multiple times in the hope of a diagnosis, but typically everytime I go, the redness isn't very prominent and they say everything looks normal.
I've done countless research online and the closest thing I can find that closely resembles my symptoms is Erythema ('superficial reddening of the skin, usually in patches, as a result of injury or irritation causing dilatation of the blood capillaries'
.
The blood capillary theory kind of makes sense as the degree of redness changes throughout the day, gets worse from showering (heat) and temporarily gets better when the skin is compressed.
Another general term would be a type of Balanits/Contact Dermatitus caused by irritants.
I'm experimenting with anti-fungal creams twice-daily, but with no improvement as of yet.
I totally understand how you feel as this has caused me anxiety and worry for some time.
I will update this thread if I ever find any improvement.
Salut l'ami, merci pour ta réponse, je l'apprécie vraiment. Je suis également allé chez le médecin deux fois et les deux fois, tu le sais peut-être, c'était à peine visible pour eux, mais ça devient vraiment rouge après la douche, le sexe ou la masturbation. Littéralement, ça me rend fou. La clinique ne t'a pas testé pour les MST ? Merci encore
Puis-je simplement ajouter qu'il n'y a aucune douleur ou picotement ou quoi que ce soit lorsque j'urine ou éjacule, juste visuellement exactement comme vous l'avez expliqué.
I've been tested for chlamydia and urine infections, all normal.
Also for a complelty different issue, I've had my bloods checked and even an mri scan. Again, everything came back normal.
So as of yet, I have been unable to obtain an official diagnosis.
Hi,
I've never noticed sitting down to bring on inflammation.
If anything, I'd say for myself, standing might possibly make the redness worse due to gravity/blood flow.
I find water/liquid to be the biggest aggravating factor.
Ugh! J'ai lutté pendant 2 ans avec ce problème exact. J'étais sous une forte dose de doxy pendant 90 jours il y a quelques années. Cela semblait s'être aggravé ou commencé à cette époque. Je me demande s'il y a un lien. Cela a été mentionné à quelques reprises dans ce fil. Merci à tous pour la transparence et la grande communication. Nous devons trouver le fond de cette affaire.
Salut les gars,
Problème très similaire, cela dure depuis un mois. J'ai essayé toutes les combinaisons d'antifongique et d'hydrocortisone, rien n'a fonctionné. Je ne pense pas non plus qu'il s'agisse de balanite car je garde mon pénis extrêmement sec et ça ne disparaît pas.
Êtes-vous circoncis ou non ?
I have the same thing going on too... I used a condom almost 3 weeks ago and ever since then I have developed a rash of some sort at first I thought I got herpes lol but there isn't any pain or blisters just red blotchy kinda dry skin and it gets worse when I take showers! When I first wake up it's hardly noticible , I went to the std clinic today and they said it was fine and they couldn't see anything.
Puis-je juste demander, l'un de vous a-t-il eu des ulcères ou des lésions dans la bouche ou sur la langue depuis que cela s'est produit ?