Extremely wrinkled, shiny and dry skin on glans for more than two years

no not really. it just stays wrinkled.

I'm taking a normal diet. Nothing unhealthy. Hard to believe diet can affect my penis so adversely

Thank you so much for the advice. Much appreciated. Yes I am ready to put in the work and commit to it if that means I can get a normal penis again. You said Clobetasol is my best bet but isn't it a steroid. I'm worried if I applied it for too long it will do more harm than good. The dermatologist himself said to only apply it for 2-3 weeks and then stop. So what after that? What should I continue doing so that in 8-9 months it will be back to normal?

Also yes I'm only washing my penis with warm water, no soap. But should I also refrain from masturbation or any sexual contact? And why does it look even worse than before? It's so much more wrinkly now than it used to be before the medication.

So yes, you have a few questions only your Dermatologist can answer

I am giving my recommendation based on me being a user of Clobetasol for 10 years or so.

Normally a medical professional will say something like 'try this for 2 to 3 weeks and get back to me' - this is to check that a medication is doing what it is supposed to do, and whether any problems have been encountered that would suggest a different medication would be better.

So as I detailed in outline previously: the condition of the skin on your glans is so severe I would suggest you would need to kick-start the recovery process for 3 or 4 months by using the Clobetasol for this period of time.

Of course the Dermatologist will guide you - they may suggest a less powerful steroid after a period of time - I would say the initial period is so important, as otherwise, while some healing or repair may take place, the skin will never get to the point where it is as healthy as it once was.

And yes, abstaining from masturbation and sex will help the process - as the healing process progresses there is no reason why you cannot fade these back in - I would suggest something like this: once every 3 weeks, if you get no worsening of symptoms, every 2 weeks, then once per-week.

The reason for this is the friction encountered by the skin during masturbation and sex - if you do unprotected sex you may pick up an infection and this would delay the healing process, or even set the process back by some months.

Even worse? Again you would have to look at what your penis has been in contact with and whether some of these need to be removed from being used or exposure to them.

You need a simple a benchmark to work from as possible - this would be water, and, my suggestion would be to use only 1 of the creams after the initial 2 to 3 week period, my suggestion would be the Clobetasol, but the dermatologist may guide you otherwise on this.

Do you have another appointment (phone or in-person) to consult the dermatologist who gave you the most recent medication ..... ?

He asked me to follow up with him in a month and it's only been 7-8 days since I have started applying the medication. So I'll follow up him once after 2-3 weeks.

Again thanks for all that you shared. It was pretty helpful. I really hope Clobetasol is the answer to my problems. I'll get back to you if I the condition gets any better or worse.

From your photos your condition does look very severe.

I just wanted to say something about clobetasol. one of the urologist I consulted recommended me to try it for 10 days and I did.

Recent dermatologist I consulted asked me specifically about "how long have i used clobetasol?" and told me "not to use steroid cream ever again on genital area."

There are non steroidal n efficient creams such as "tacrolimus or pimelcromilus". But usually doctors prescribe those when everything else doesn't work.

As wee_dugie said you can use clobetasol but you need to find balance about how much n how many times you should use. otherwise it might cause more damage than cure your problem.

If you are trying anything new, just first check it with your doctor first. So that you can be sure about its results.

There is also "aquapor" which is used for baby skin. you can use that but do check it with doctor first. There is a post on this forum who cured his lichen sclerosis with aquapor.

So on next visit, do ask questions about these creams to your doctor.

Also read a little about the and their effect it might.

Yeah that's why I'm so reluctant to use clobetasol because the dermatologist told me my glans skin was ruined because I applied too many steroid creams in the past (i did that unknowingly to get rid of a very stubborn fungal infection) and then he went ahead to give me one of the highest potent topical steroid to apply. And I can see how my skin has become like 100x worse, cracked and wrinkled since applying the cream. I will most likely apply it for this week and then stop.

I'm also applying tacrolimus which you mentioned. I read its such as effective as a steroid without the harmful effects of the latter but I have applied that also without any improvement. I'm currently applying it also along with clobetasol and Venusia Max cream.

I have read about aquapor too. It's in my list of things to try to get rid of this hell. I'm supposed to follow up with him in 2-3 weeks. Hopefully I'll get more clarity on the situation then.

Thanks for the response btw. Are you also facing similar issues?

Are you using multiple creams at the same time?

Yes, I'm facing some issues but not similar to yours.

you can check my forums post on my profile about my issue.

Okay I'll check.

And yes I am. As I have mentioned in my first post I am applying a mixture of Clobetasol 0.05%, Tacrolimus 0.03 and Venusia Max cream 3 times a day. That's what the dermatologist suggested.

So here is my final input on this: as I stated, I have used Clobetasol for around 10 years and I have never experienced any side-effects, and yes for you it may be best if you use it for a relatively short period of time then switch to a lower strength steroid should the Dermatologist suggest that is necessary.

My understanding is that the Clobetasol you are using should be the opaque / clear rather than the white version. In simple terms white versions are used to treat conditions present on the skin such as a stubborn infection whereas the clear versions treat conditions of the skin itself.

However, what you are dealing with needs to be dealt with in the long-term - you are going to see minimal if any change in a matter of days I would suggest - and yes the Dermatologist would be the best guide on what topical applications to use on an ongoing basis ....

The cream I'm using isn't really clear. It's kinda white-greyish. Also from today I have stopped using it because it was making the skin way too wrinkled and itchy, I got scared. Even the skin on the penis shaft below the glans got shiny and wrinkled. It feels so damn wrinkly and rough to touch. I guess what you have been using is different because no way I can imagine using it for 10 years.

I think I'm gonna stick with applying just Venusia max and Tacrolimus for 1-2 weeks and check with my dermatologist again. Kind of losing hope here. I guess I'm stuck with this for life.

So, I stated I use the Clobetasol, which I have no choice as to whether to use or not as I have an incurable genital skin condition.

My suggestion is you need to use the medication you were prescribed by the Dermatologist exactly as directed otherwise the Dermatologist will not be able to judge the impact of what you have going on with the treatment they have given you.

Be guided by what the Dermatologist wants you try you with as working with them on an ongoing basis is likely to be the ONLY way you can get control of this and put the things in-place for a long-term recovery. You will NOT achieve overnight success on this