I've had these white bumps on my penis foreskin since I was 14 and I am now 16. I've never been sexually active but plan on having sex with my girlfriend soon, but I do not want to make an embarrassment of myself.
The reason I have not gone to the doctor with this, is because I find it rather embarrassing and would rather see if I could solve this myself, before having someone look at my penis, and would rather not notify my parents of this.
Hello David, one slight detail is that most people would refer to the area you have the bumps as the shaft of your penis.
Now as to what they are - certainly your age at which they first appeared would suggest the smaller bumps are natural development due to the process of sexual maturation (puberty some refer to it as).
However, certainly the larger one, lower down your penile shaft does look a little suspicious, as potentially the second largest one could also be.
Are you sure the larger bump appeared at the same time as the rest?
What you also need to be aware of, and take the correct action on is that when you have issues like this - even when they are on your genitals, or at sometime in the future it may be really embarrassing to explain that you may have caused yourself a problem, such as on your penis - you must seek the help of medical professionals, such as your own doctor / GP.
This is certainly what you need to do now - there may be a simple explanation for the larger bump - but you must get it correctly identified and the correct course of action taken from there.
Please do not do nothing. So, take some really deep breaths and either decide you are going to contact your doctor yourself, or involve a parent in the process ....
Hi Wee_Dugie
First of all, thank you for your response.
So, you said the largest one, and potentially the second largest one, could look a bit suspicious. What do you personally think this could be?
And if I were to contact my doctor (Whom I don't even know who is as I haven't seen my doctor since I was 7-8 years old), is there any way to do so without notifying my parents as I would like to keep a private matter like this, well.. private.
So I asked you for further information - if you want further comment on the specifics of what you have answer this: Are you sure the larger bump appeared at the same time as the rest? In terms of what medical professional(s) you see - in what country do you live?
No I'm not 100% sure they appeared on the same time, but they did appear around the same time.
I live in Denmark.
Hi they could sebaceous cyst you should visit your GP for proper diagnosis and for treatment. There no need to be embarrassed you don't have to tell you parents everything just tell them you want to see the doctor and that it is something private your dad will probably understand you could just say to him and don't be worried about showing you GP
To conclude: you need a medical professional to check the larger bump for you, you need to do this soon, rather than leave it for another time. Sorry, I have no knowledge of health services in your country - if you are in full time education there are often health professional contacts who you can contact for advice on what to do about getting checked. Otherwise ask a trusted family member how you find out who your family doctor is. Many country's have sexual health services and many of these do particular sessions for younger people who may otherwise not get the help they need - try to find if there are services for young people in your area
Alright, thank you for your help. I will try pulling myself together and seek professional help.
Do you happen to know what I could do about getting rid of those smaller bumps?
So you either have a health condition or a skin condition that are potentially causing the larger bumps, it is possible the smaller ones are linked to this as well. However, at 16 YOA the smaller ones are most likely linked to the sexual maturation process - see them in this way: they are nature's evidence that you are becoming a man. You do NOT get rid of them - they are most likely a natural part of your penis and in fact you may get a whole lot more of these developing in the next 10 years or so. What your penis looks like when you are 27 YOA is likely how it will look for the rest of your life - my suggestion would be review what you think of the bumps when you are 26 to 28 YOA - most medical professionals regard the removal of things that are naturally present on the genitals as cosmetic only
You can also see that my penis is pretty dark at the top for some reason. Do you think this is related to the bumps? And what could this be?
What I see in the photo is simply pigmentation variation - this is particularly common across the human body, but is more so on the genitals. What I see - and what a photo shows is not always what you can see on your penis in front of you - is skin colour variation either side of your penile raphe - which is the wiggly raised line that goes the length of your penile shaft - and this is very normal. Such skin colour variation can occur anywhere on the genitals but is more common at the top of the shaft and on the glans / head of penis in males. So no, not related to the bump - the larger bump looks like a cyst. As I asked, if this were something recent, in terms of the last few months or weeks, then it would be quite common. However, if you are pretty sure it has been there for around two years then, in terms of your longer-term health, you need to get it checked that this has a simple cause, and if it is problematical, you need to get it sorted, sooner rather than later.
Still need opinions on this.
Hi again and thank you for your previous help.
I saw a nurse (As the doctors weren't available) and she told me that it's probably just a sebaceous gland or hair follicle. She also described it to a doctor (Although the doctor was not in the room herself).
I was wondering if you think this is correct? I'd like to note that the bump is different when my penis is erect. It is slightly larger, harder (when you press down on it you can really feel the bump) and it's more red at the bottom and white at the top, and when i visited the nurse it basically matched the skin color of my penis and was a little smaller. This is why I think the nurse could have mistaken it for something it was not, especially because she's just a nurse.
She also told me that it likely cannot be removed by anyone, which of course frustrates me a lot as this is probably the least attractive thing you can look at and it's just embarrassing and I feel like it's holding me back from having sex. Do you think it is true that it cannot be removed at all or is there some way I can have it removed?
I realize I'm questioning most of what this nurse said, but I just don't feel comfortable with her answers as she's just a nurse and because the bump looked a little different when the nurse saw it.
If anyone else wants to answer feel free to.
UPDATE:
I saw a nurse (As the doctors weren't available) and she told me that it's probably just a sebaceous gland or hair follicle. She also described it to a doctor (Although the doctor was not in the room herself). Is this correct or was she wrong? (Reason she could be wrong written below) _ I'd like to note that the bump is different when my penis is erect. It is slightly larger, harder (when you press down on it you can really feel the bump) and it's more red at the bottom and white/yellow-ish at the top, and when i visited the nurse it basically matched the skin color of my penis and was a little smaller. _ This is why I think the nurse could have mistaken it for something it was not, especially because she's just a nurse. She also told me that it likely cannot be removed by anyone, which of course frustrates me a lot as this is probably the least attractive thing you can look at and it's just embarrassing and I feel like it's holding me back from having sex.
Do any of you have any idea if this is true and if not what could my treatment options be?
I realize I'm questioning most of what this nurse said, but I just don't feel comfortable with her answers as she's just a nurse and because the bump looked a little different when she saw it.
The only medical specialist who can answer questions such as can anything be removed would be a Urologist - this is who you need to get to see
How do I see a urologist? Do I need a doctor to refer me to one or how does it work? _ Also, the nurse told me I could write an email to one of the doctors at my family's clinic and she would describe what it looks like to them and they would tell me if it's possible to have it removed or not, but even if I did this, she still didn't get to see what it normally looks like when my penis is erect which is different.
Do the email as the nurse suggested that way you at least get direct contact with the doctor, you could also check whether you can include the photos you have posted here in your Forum Post In terms of future potential contact with a Urologist, ask the doctor if they will refer you. If you want to access a Urologist yourself, and again depending on how your health system works, you can often access these via Sexual Health / STI Clinic services - many countries also have Genitourinary Services based at hospitals or town / city centres which you can access yourself without a doctor referral Do an online search for Genito-Urinary Services near you = the town city you life in or nearest to
Alright so I contacted a doctor and she referred me to a surgical clinic. I could not attach pictures in the email, so the only thing she had to base it off was the nurses description of it while it was flaccid. Is a surgical clinic the right place for me?
Also, I forgot to mention to the doctor that it's different when it's erect, probably because I ran out of space so I didn't think much of it.