Expanding annular lesions

Hi, and thanks for taking the time to read this. Don't know why it never occurred to me to seek opinions in a place where others might've had some lived experience, but here I finally am praying that someone will be able to offer some insight to give me the knowledge and/or piece of mind I seriously need. So...

It began just over a year and a half ago, when i noticed an asymptomatic, raised reddish ring in the area under the foreskin and below the glans. with no feasible external cause, i promptly freaked out and went to two walk in clinics; the first tested for STIs with results all negative, the second the doctor assumed it was ringworm and prescribed an antifungal. Without application instructions or historical knowledge of proper use, i applied what was probably too much and the lesion quickly ulcerated, becoming terrifyingly red and raw. A third GP suspected herpes; negative, chalked it up to "dermatitis", echoed by a dermatologist a month later whose advice was to just "use hydrocortisone until it goes away". Right. By now i had long quit the antifungal and much of the glans and preputial skin was dry and flaky.

For all this time i was traveling domestically, and by now i had an indefinite trip through western Europe arranged. For better or worse i ventured on, ignoring to pursue treatment, and actually things began to look much better save for the fact that the ring had been slowly but gradually expanding. This was worrisome, but still no symptoms, so i pressed on. But. After an (unrelated, im pretty sure?) UTI, i decided to quit and return to my native land to get connected with a regular healthcare provider for sanity's sake (a couple of other separate issues i wanted looked into).

Upon return i tried applying some coconut oil as i had heard good things and thought it couldnt hurt, especially given i found myself back in a dry climate suddenly. But lo and behold it began to cause redness, and fearing ulceration i promptly quit after a few days. soon after, i wasnt so thrilled when the new doc went right for ringworm and prescribed a different class of antifungal, which this time simply didnt do anything, good or bad. Her second idea was clobetasol nightly for two weeks or until adverse signs; after one, the ring had essentially cleared up, so i decided to use it one more night to finalise, which caused redness where the ring had been leading me to promptly stop.

After some months of normalcy, once again the borders of the reddish ring began to reappear, further out than when it was last visible. Saw two more dermatologists who both diagnosed it as granuloma annulare, the first saying clobetasol was far too strong, prescribed desonide, and said to biopsy if ineffective; second backing desonide but saying as GA is benign and self limiting, biopsy may not be worth it. so i got and used the desonide, which helped a bit but there was still redness, which one day appeared way up on the glans in a very different presentation and was (and still is) off and on.

Move up to this fall, when suddenly a small node appears right on the glans, which starts to slowly expand in a ring shape again...then another nearby, with which it coalesces...then another cluster of about four to the right...and then jump to a cuople lf weeks ago, where what i believe is the slightly thickened skin of the underside of the initial lesion reaches where the inner and outer part of the foreskin meet, causing banding and tight discomfort when pulling back all the way (far beyond the glans)...AAHHHH.

This most recent development prompted me to start trying to get another examination, only to be beautifully timed with the storm that is covid. so hoping to finally have an initial virtual assessment this week, which will likely just be a useless screening upon the realisation they need to see it in person. in the meantime ive been back at anxiety-inducing dr. google, which did lead me here. it would be so beneficial to connect with others over this even if it doesnt magically lead to the ultimate perfect knowledge. ill be adding photos in a later edit but i first just want to get the post up asap since im writing on a tablet which has a bad habit of crashing the page and deleting my progress. thanks to anyone who reads this draft!

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