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.

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  • Posted

    Can i ask, has anyone had unprotected sex since they had these symptoms? if so has this had any impact on the other person. I have abstained for a few months as dont want to lass this on so would welcome any input. obviously i can use a condom but just curious if this impacted women in anyway?

    • Posted

      Hi, I still have this condition and my doctors couldn't figure out what it was either and pretty much just gave up with me. I've been with my partner for 6 years and we have unprotected sex. She's had no adverse effects at all. She was diagnosed with endometriosis a year or so back and whilst they were trying to figure that out, she had every test under the sun. (full sti, smears, biopsy etc) they all came back negative. (it's worth noting that she had the symptoms of endemetriosis way before we got together. So my problem can't have caused that.) She thinks that it's all in my head and that it looks normal to her.

    • Posted

      Thank you for your input.

      Mine was from a sexual encounter (oral), well things went wrong a few days after. Ever since the tip has been inflamed, comes and goes and similar to some of your pictures. Some other issues too.

      I have had sti checks all clear, but read so much it could be HPV or some strand of herpes although not my top suspect as been around for 4 months and not subsided or traditional symptoms.

      One test came back for Ureaplasma so thats something ive considered.

      Ive tried thrush cream and steroid cream and currently taking Doxycycline (only day 2). No improvement yet and read others have had no joy with it, but i'm desperate and would try anything.

      Thanks guys

  • Posted

    Hey guys. This group has not been active for a while ? Any success stories or new thoughts?

    • Posted

      No success sadly, the hunt continues. My latest train of thought is exploring MG. Most standard tests don't cover it and whilst I have been tested the reports I've read on it say its difficult to shift and test for but if read the symptoms align with a lot of the commentary from members on here.

      Would be intrigued to hear from someone with a medical background on its potential to cause these symptoms

  • Posted

    Has anyone been tested for Mycoplasma Genitalium or been trated with Moxycyclin?

    I might be clutching at straws but some symptons ring true. I tried Doxycycline but no joy but apparently this doesn't work alot of the time as its a resiliant disease. Also test not offered as standard and also hard to find.

    booked in for a MG test next week so will see. I bought Doxycycline online without test as desperate to beat this.

  • Posted

    okay fair play, just clutching at straws i guess. Im struggling with it all, spoke to so many doctors and lots of people effected just at a loss as to what it is. Potentially HPV? although suggested it to doctors and dont believe it could be and told they cant or wont test. Another thought process is trauma related, mine came from a rough unprotected b******b but not sure how this would impact down there. Guess i will keep trying to look in to it. Herpes is a consideration with a few cases I see but again doctors seem to disregard as not standard symptoms and persistent. I think 60-70% of the population have it so even if tested its hard to pin back to this. Sorry just thinking out loud as it has ruined everything.

  • Posted

    i just saw another urologist earlier this wk.

    he did a prostate check and it there were no issues noted. he did an ultra sound of my bladder and it showed i was t emptying my bladder all the way. so he has prescribed me yet another round of antibiotic "bactrim" for 4 wks. He also put me on Flomax and Urecholine and said those should help me empty mg bladder fully and atop the constant urge of feeling like i need to pee.

    i havnt actually started the meds yet and after taking so many antibiotics i am skeptical to take anymore. i am going to start flomax tommorow tho and see what happens then phase in urecholine if im not getting any results with flomax after abt a wk. not particulaly fond of the side effects of any of these meds.or taking meds daily.

    ill keep you all posted.

  • Posted

    hey guys so i wanted to let you guys know i may have a break through. my dr scheduled me to have a MRI done to my pelvis, looks like there is a utricle cyst! this is huge after trying everything under the sun, and also can cause the symptoms we have experienced. These can form due to bacteria which we could have picked up from unprotected sex. my next thought was a biofilm

    which makes it near impossible for antibiotic to penetrate into the bacteria because it is surrounded by a biolfilm. i toy with this idea because i do have a sticky biofilm in my mouth which happened around the same time. that could also be due to the fact constipation from

    the cyst has disrupted my gut flora which has messed up the flora in my mouth. im

    hoping for relief after treating the cyst. have an appointment on the 28th with urologist

    • Posted

      • I don't follow your story, so I don't know which symptoms you have. But an infected utricle cyst in the prostate region could explain urethral irritation, eventually leading to balantitis.

      • The bladder is just above prostate, so pooling of urine in the cycst could occur causing infection. I don't think it would even need to be an unprotected sexual encounter.

      • Could also explain GI issues since there are rectal and pelvic nerves in this region.

      • Keep us updated.

      image

    • Posted

      i agree 100% and if you look at symptoms of that particular cyst it gives constipation and rectal pain as a symptom. -also the cyst can impeed the urethra causing pain, urination problems, and that post void dribbling some people have

  • Posted

    hey I’m sorry you all are dealing with the same thing. I have had mine since August 2019. I thought it was worth mentioning because my symptoms are not identical to yours and neither is my rash, it isn’t as bright but it covers just about all of the head of my penis except the very front near the frenulum, That part is still a more healthy purple kind of color.

    Mine 100% started after unprotected sex. I was diagnosed with chlamydia and treated for a couple weeks, now I test negative but between contracting the virus and being given copious amounts of antibiotics this issue never went away with the redness, dry skin, burning and general soreness at this point. it gets much worse with erections or any friction/touching on it. even getting deep red underneath when I pull my foreskin back.

    I have been extremely careful to avoid sexual contact even masturbation for months, drying very thoroughly and avoiding any type of chemical, fragrance products, or even regular soap. no improvement.

    I also want to mention that I have had a similarly resistant issue for about eight years on my scrotum, it is a prickly itching kind of feeling and I have never been able to get that under control either.

    I recently saw urology and dermatology again and had a skin biopsy done of the head of my penis as well as on my scrotum, which came back as "non-specific dermatitis" for both.. not too helpful. The pathologist did not see bacteria or any type of fungus in any of the layers of skin examined.

    I wish you all the best of luck with this, I have been very depressed lately as I cannot be with a woman physically and I have other medical issues as well. Hopefully the information I gave will be relevant to somebody and maybe one day we can all get this fixed.

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