this bump appeared under the skin on the base of my penis about a week ago. no pain. feels like normal skin, just a lump beneath. thoughts?
Given the location there are 2 things this could typically be: an ingrown hair that may infected, and a penile cyst.
You can tell the difference by feeling it, for a hair follicle it will be hard and have no or little movement to it - for a cyst it will feel quite mobile and soft and can be easily be pushed into the main body of your penis.
To me, it has more of the appearance of a hair follicle that may now be infected.
A cyst you simply leave it to fade on its own, and this can typically take 4 to 9 months as long as it is not further irritated. For an ingrown hair some say to remove the hair, but eventually the hair would break through the skin, or if the infection worsens, eventually it would produce a pus that would need to be drained and treat with liquid antiseptic. At this point it would be easier to remove an ingrown hair as the skin is already broken