Blotchy red rash/irritated skin on penile head (lasted for over 3 moths now)?

Posted , 410 users are following.

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.

16 likes, 1576 replies

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  • Posted

    I have a similar issue. Does anyone have experience using Tacrolimus/Pimecrolimus (like Elidel) creams to treat similar conditions? Thanks.
  • Posted

    Has anyone tried Listerine + cotton balls on the skin?
  • Posted

    Hey everyone I have a similar issue to everyone here. I have a redness on my penis glans for more then a year, it does not hurt, does not sting, no blisters, no sores, no discharge, no smell, no peeling or flaking, nothing but a redness that sometimes gets a little more red or bigger after masturbation or showering but quickly goes back down in a day after applying coconut oil or a moisturizer. I am uncircumcised. Went to the doctor and was on fungal topical cream and fungal tablets for a couple of weeks and didn't go away. Have to go back to try a steroid cream. Thinking it is a form of psoriasis as there is nothing but a redness. It makes me scared to get with women and have sex with them because it makes me subconcious althought it doesn't effect my performance I'm scared of giving it to them even thought i dont think its contiguous. Does that sound crazy? Pictures will follow shortly

    • Posted

      It also does not hurt or feel uncomfortable from masturbation, oral or sex.
    • Posted

      Hi, my symptoms are 100% the same as yours, nothing at all except redness, worse after showering, sex, masturbation. I’ve had mine also for over a year, mine came within 2 days from a one night stand, involving sex,  did yours come after sex? Thanks
    • Posted

      Yes mine came after oral sex. Have you been having unprotected sex or oral sex since you've had it? And is it contagious that you know of ?

    • Posted

      Hi again, yes having regular unprotective sex, but no problems at all from my partner so very confusing. 
  • Posted

    Ive had this problem for 6 months now. Pretty much the same as the OP. I can't wear any underwear with a seam as if it rubs on my glans it is very sore. I have to wear tight seamless underwear that keeps my penis away from my trousers flies as its too sore to touch anything. If I wear loose boxers, the friction drives me nuts moving about and rubbing on clothing. Im circumcised, which makes things worse I think.

    Ive found slight improvement if I dry myself with toilet paper each times I urinate as if a drop remains it seems to make the pain much worse. I seem to dribble at the end of urinating now which Im sure never happened before. I think this is related. Does anyone else have this? The meatus was swollen for a while but seems to have settled down now.

    I was diagnosed with a yeast infection and given Daktocort cream which didnt cure the problem. Ive tried hydrocortisone cream. This seems to make things worse after a while. Ive tried antiseptic cream. All to no avail. Any cream I try seems to work a bit initially, but then makes the irritation worse so I have to stop. Last time I went to the GP he wasn't interested as it wasn't totally red raw and said it was a bit sensitive and to put vaseline on. Obviously this made no difference. 

    The redness/rash I have is much more visible when I urinate sometimes. Does anyone else have this? Im going to have to take a photo as I urinate to show my GP otherwise when they look it doesn't look that bad and I get fobbed off. When I mentioned it to a doctor, they thought it was increased bloodflow to the penis when urinating, but when I get an erection the rash is not really visible.

    It tends to improve slightly some times and then comes back. I haven't worked out the reasons why.

    Heres my thoughts what it could be:

    fungal infection that is hard to shift - although I have tried daktocort and canistan cream to no real effect

    prostate problem - I have prostatitus about 15 years ago which has never 100% got better. This could explain the penis pain, but not really the rash

    Nerve damage - pudendal nerve damage somehow? Would explain the sensitivity but not the rash

    contact demititus - could be, but i use mild washing powder and soap and have used the same for years so don't get why it would start now

    some sort of skin condition - psoriasis maybe? Also I had surgery on my groin a fair while ago and the skin on my penis head got very dry for a while as a result of swelling etc, but that was about 6 months before this problem started so Im not sure its related. 

    good luck to everyone in finding a cure. Please post if you do. Please reply if anyones rash gets noticeably worse when urinating. I can't find this anywhere else when looking on the internet.

    • Posted

      I notice that when I urinate my penis glans change , turns darker and feels leathery and rough, once I'm done it returns to it's soft normal texture. What was your experience, did you have a risky sexual exposure 6 months ago?

  • Edited

    Pictures after the shower. Area which has redness is highlighted with a circle in the last photo. I guess its hard to tell from photos but i can see it when i look at it.
    • Posted

      ignore my Hirsuties Papillaris Glandis lol

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