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

too familiar....

same to me about 2 years now ...

dry skin that i try to peel it of with chamomile every time ...

But i think i got a solution

5 days now i put on twice a day after washing my penis a bit of almond oil .

No more dry skin there . I will

keep going and see

All of you need to look into vulvodynia which I believe to be a similar manifestation of our symptoms in women. Not only that, you all need to look into Tarlov Cysts. I have been dealing with this issue for years and finally think I figured it out. You need an MRI of your sacral lumbar area to look for these cysts which can cause pressure and irritation of the nerve roots. The nerves that originate from the sacral spine area (tailbone) are responsible for innervation of the genitals. I request anyone having serious pain and unexplained pain to look into this possibility. Tarlov cysts are more common in women than men, but there have been connections made between vulvodynia and the cysts. Its not a stretch to assume the same sorts of issues can also affect men.

Are you just referring to the pain or did you have the redness on the glans as well? I'm afraid these know it all doctors won't take me seriously if I mention vulvodynia....

Yes, redness, pain when touched and rubbing on underwear, etc. I urge all of you men with similar symptoms to read up on vulvodynia. Now there are multiple causative factors for that in women, but sometimes unexplained. Get an MRI. Look into Tarlov cysts.

have you had any relief from any treatments for this ?

I believe so. While I am not at 100%, I can honestly say that I can manage my residual pain and discomfort so far. I am trying a couple of different things including Amitriptyline, Famvir (I think there may be an HSV component which triggered this), and THC/CBD taken by mouth every night. With this, I have very ok days and am not in terrible inexplicable pain all day. It took me so long to find a doctor who would actually try and help me, and not just brush me off and tell me its all in my head. Gentleman, the pain, redness, and other symptoms are all very real and not in your heads. Take if from one sufferer, it is a long arduous road, but you cannot give up. There will be better days ahead.

I have a similar theory with HSV + HPV. I think contracting the HSV not long before contracting the HPV meant that the body was already down giving the HPV a chance to set in pretty hard.

The twinges and dull/sharp pains are pretty good sign of something with our nerves with HSV can certainly affect.

I am trying the opposite with THC and CBD. I have smoked MJ heavily the entire time Ive been dealing with this so I am planning on quitting to give my body a chance to fight at full immune function.

My plan is AHCC, Good Diet, Exercise, Stress Relief and try and get Veregen. I have an appointment with a new derm on the 26th and will address my concerns of atypical HPV causing the redness and irritation on my glans and see what he says.

The vulvodynia theory is very interesting. W me... the symptoms arrived so closely after oral sex that it's hard for it to be coincidental. Furthermore, my derm had a scrape & swab test for me that both came back w strain-specific HPV cultures. Lastly, i had never had a wart prior to this episode, & i developed 2 afterward (cauterized off).

Regarding cannabinoids... they CAN decrease immunity (many studies on this), particularly THC. Lidocaine & topical steroids have also been found to be immunosuppressants.

Anyone else think it's possible or probable that the redness/slight inflammation is a result of the ongoing battle between the immune system & HPV (which survives in the nerves indefinitely)?

I also believe there is a link between HSV/HPV and this terrible problem we find ourselves dealing with. The interesting this is I know I have HPV, even in the absence of warts or other similar symptoms. My wife, who was a virgin when we met, acquired HPV from me. The redness definitely indicates inflammation, or possibly nerve malfunction. When my flare ups have been at there worst, I had many concerning symptoms that all lined up with a form of neuropathy. Redness indicating vascular dilation and inflammation, changed in the temperature of the skin, sweating changes, ect. all in the area affected. The worst of it all was by far the pain. Pain when my boxers touched it, or rubbed the glans. Was pure hell.

Anyways, I have made it my lifes mission to figure this problem out. Far too many guys are suffering in silence with no avenues left for help. We cannot give up. The first thing we need is to identify people with similar symptoms, then start the process of elimination.

I believe you all should get checked for Tarlov cysts as that is something I have going on. I have also been closing in on an autoimmune disorder as well. If we can identify similarities between us, that may lend a path towards identifying the causative factor.

Patrick Bateman - Mine occured right after oral sex also. Literally the next day. Wether this is becuase I contracted something or because of the extreme anxiety that came after it I don't know. My first symptom was a very very sore glans when something touched the side of it. Before the oral I had never felt that sensation on my glans even in high combat martial arts and grappling etc. Dan19568 is right in saying this MUST be a nerve issue as there is no sign of a cut or scrape where the pain is felt and sometimes it is hard to immediately replicate. Ie. you feel that sharp pain and then touch there again and cant really make it happen again. That has got to be nerves either from a prostate issue, spinal entrapment(or cyst) or a HSV/HPV induced nerve issue.

Bateman, have you ever had issues with HSV in the genital region? Also, to answer your question I definitely think it could be an inglammation caused by immune reaction to HPV.

I am also not going to give up until I am back to normal.... how could I? It is great that we have got this thread active again. I will follow as much as possible and update after my derm appointment on the 26th.

Temperature of the skin is a good one I haven't mentioned yet.... My glans often feels very cold and looks like it is lacking blood flow.

The skin also seems to have lost elasticity and gets dry and wrinkled after erections.

This must be an indication of bloodflow or nerve issues or possibly the surface of the skin changing due to hpv and losing its regular characteristics.

in short, yes, I completely agree with your theory about this condition being part of an ongoing battle with HPV. Inverse Psoriasis and HPV have been linked and I have been confirmed as having a "low-risk" strain of HPV (through biopsy of warts on my groin skin folds and through my wife's pap smear results). I have also confirmed I have mild inverse psoriasis in my groin which showed up in conjunction with the warts.

Given all the recent activity on this thread, I have been devoting brain power to some old theories I developed awhile ago. In detail, I have been developing a parallel theory with HPV and HSV being vaguely similar in respect to DNA/ RNA (as per my dermatologist). I believe the treatments that are effective for one may also be somewhat effective for the other. Things like the arginine vs lysine ratio and certain antivirals, etc. I have been tested for HSV1 & 2 in the past and the results were negative.

Case in point, I recovered on a bad bout of deseminated shingles in May and had to use antivirals (Valacyclovir) before it spread past the few areas it already had. I did notice that the skin on my glans seem to improve somewhat after completing that prescription; to the point where I have to only moisturize once a day or every other day.

So now, I've ordered a lysine lip treatment for cold sores that I have going to try applying on the small remaining area on my glans for a week leading up to my semiannual dermatologist visit (along with a daily application of Chaga oil). Alternatively, if that doesn't work, I am going to ask my dermatologist if she'd consider putting me on a second regimen of Valacyclovir to see if I get further improvement.

Wish me luck, perhaps it will improve further. I'll report back if it does.

Chiming in with my info. The coldness is very interesting. I too feel cold in my glans and testicles from time to time. My wife touches it and says it feels normal to her, leading me to believe that it is a nerve issue, not a bloodflow issue. Honestly thought that part might be in my head.

I have this redness, but have never had a wart or sign of HSV. It is possible that it could be either/or, but my doctors won't test for HSV (since the tests are iffy and most people would be positive for some strain of it) and HPV since I do not have any warts. My derm did suggest a biopsy after the first medicine I tried failed, but HPV was never a shadow of a thought. I did confirm that they will look for all kinds of stuff in the biopsy (bacteria, cancerous cells, viral signs), but as mentioned above, even if it IS a strain of HPV, it cannot be treated well at this time, so why go through the pain of the biopsy?

Speaking of which, any of you that have had a punch biopsy on your glans (not a wart or herpes lesion), how bad was the recovery and did it ever heal back to "normal"?

i have the exact same symptoms and gut issues have developed after this episode. the redness like red lips around meatus. its sometimes hardly there rhat you would not notice. A bit smelly than usual when masterbating. more like a fish odour. i have tested for all the possible STD out there and negative. i belive irs fungal too, if I eat too much sugary things,. i get a bit itch in my stomach, just near the groin

Interesting about the gut issues. I have gut issues myself including GERD and IBS. Very irregular bowel movements. The redness for me is mostly on the top of the glans and around the urethral opening. However when its really angry at me, it seems to be more widespread.

Sounds very similar. I will

keep this thread updated as best as I can. Truly believe this is a fungal/gut issue.

I also experience cold glans and the dryness with erections!