Is this Balanitis? I'm 21, had it most of my whole life, no treatment has worked

Thanks for sharing. I just don't understand why doctors aren't able to help with this. Every doctor I've seen so far has told me that I'm fine, and yet the pain is ongoing. There isn't even any information online about this, aside from these forums and threads. It's maddening. Do you feel any pain, general soreness or aching down there, especially when you get an erection? And God forbid I ejaculate, the meatus lips are red and swollen for about 2 days. Even if I ejaculate without masturbating, I guess the semen being pumped through the urethra and shooting out pains the meatus every time, whether or not I'm rubbing the skin. I'll let you know what the urologist says tomorrow, but based on everyone's updates, I'm not optimistic he'll be helpful.

Hey Patrick been having the same problem, any luck finding out what it is/ the treatment for it from your doctor?

Hi Thomas, I'm so sorry to hear you're having the same issues, thanks for replying to me. Can I ask what your story is? What are your symptoms, what do you believe to have been the cause of it and how long have you had it for? The condition we have is only caused by trauma which triggers infection and inflammation again and again, appearing like a permanent problem. I, for example, have always had tight foreskin and February this year I tried to retract the skin while erect (something I can never do) and caused the trauma. The next day I woke up with fish lips at the urethra opening (the meatus). The urologist advised to stop using any kind of soap to wash under there, just warm shower water. He said a circumcision is necessary to help the penis glans breathe and the meatus to calm down, but the lips will continue to look pronounced. I've previously always just had a tiny slit opening. And he's prescribed some steroid cream (Betamethasone Valerate) to apply twice a day onto the foreskin and the meatus. This should help with the tightness and inflammation, he says. I really look forward to your reply. The thread has definitely brought me some comfort, almost like a support group for us.

So I have what looks like a red/ irritated meatus and I thought I saw some discharge and slight pain when I urinated since January, I at first thought it was a STD so I got all test and all were negative, I still didnt believe it and went back to my doctor and again everything negative. My doctor decided to give me doxycycline just to see if that would help the discharge and pain when urinating. And it did both are gone but the only thing that remains is the meatus is red/irritated some days worse than others. I am circumcised so I dont know if its different for me. but I was still worried about it so I then went to a urologist and he told me that everything looked normal to him. Im very confused because it has never looking red/irritated on the meatus.

Thomas, thank you for answering and I'm sorry for taking long to reply. I ended up obsessing over these types of forums and I got extreme anxiety and fear at night over what may happen to me. So, I had to take a break. You say you're circumcised, how do you protect or shield the inflamed meatus from running on your underwear? The only relief I get is getting to tuck my penis head into its protective foreskin and closing it tight

did you ever get this issue fixed? im a 18 year old virgin and this has really been killing my self esteem

Have you found a solution yet? I'm a 15 year old boy and im a bit scared because i have the same symtoms and it hurts sometimes when i pee and my foreskin used to be really tight and im a virgion so i dont understand how i got this and im kinda nervous to go to the doctor because im not comfortable showing my penis.

hey isaiah. Are you able to retract your foreskin enough to see the glans head? its important that you speak to your doctor about this issue. id suggest speaking to your parents and booking a doctors appointment. Trust me dont be ashamed, dcotors see much much worse stuff. The first time i did it i was anxious but after that i dont care at all, infact i just did it again today with a new doctor.

if your foreskin is tight he will be able to guide you on how to start stretching it and even offer steroid ointment to assist. its important that you are able to stretch your foreskin back so you can clean the glans with water as built up smegma (the white stuff) can cause infections if left built up.

i really wish when i was your age i did this as i was never shown how.

seriously as others have said do not worry about going to the doctors. I had to do it when I was younger than you. I still see the same doctor 25+ years later. Doctors are trained for these situations and will put you at ease. I promise you will feel better once you have been.

my foreskin used to be really tight but i kept on gradually pulling it back so i can clean that area. I thought a lot about it and id rather see a doctor then get an infection so i will make a doctors appointment today thank you.

any progress ??

please share

i had this condition since i was a kid and then got my tip of extended foreskin cutoff at 13 after that the glans was red, sensitive, a bit itchy and little wet always.. so i started cleaning it with water and silk cloth, slowly pulling my foreskin everyday very carefully and slowly and then i started sleeping without any pants.. that somewhat helped me.. im 21 now and it is just sensitive and redish,bluish and functions properly so far.. during sex there is some pain but it makes me last longer XD.. hope this helps

Hey pal, thanks for reaching out on this forum. The underlying issue we've found is trauma, under which falls vigorous sexual activity/forceful retraction of foreskin. Not STD's, or yeast infections or thrush or urinary tract infections - although they may be accompaniments that clear up, but we're always left with the inflamed meatus. I've been using my steroid cream for over a week now (Betamethasone Valerate) and it's brought me a little relief; the throbbing and stinging pain has slightly subsided. But if I masturbate/ejaculate, it's inflamed and the redness of the meatus lips ends up smearing all over (almost like a clown's lipstick application went awry). You say you've had this for 2 years? What are your symptoms? Are you having sex comfortably? Do you feel it's worsened with time?

Thank you in advance for your reply. Just a quick word of advice, don't overly obsess over these forums, they can cause extreme anxiety and fear because some problems are worse than others.

so at first it started off as being a pain on the glands and as one does they Google things before seeing a doctor. applied some anti fungal cream and it made things worse. i have been using an over the counter canesten cream for the last two weeks which seems to ease the pain a good bit but I hope i don't have to use this for the rest of my life. Also I am from Ireland so to get steroid creams i have to get a prescription from a doctor. I've tried steroid creams and they seemed to make things more red and sore so stopped. Also steroid creams make blood capillaries wider so long run can lead to erectile dysfunction which I really don't want 😂. Now my penis the gland can be very red especially at the tip and it seems dry. The foreskin gets red and irritated with masterbation and sex. Condom sex is very sore but no condom sex is fine most of the time but after a session of sex i will have to give myself a break to recover the skin and head. but yes i do think it has worsened in time as it seemed to spread over the head and foreskin more.

I try not to worry about it but it can be very stressful and make me easily annoyed. More of a frustration of not knowing what it actually is and what can actually heal it. I also used a double concentrated moisturiser for the skin which seemed to work a little but came back again as always.

I have the same problem but my pain didn't last for very long. I assumed it would go away eventually but its been staying for little over 3 years now. I don't really have any symptoms other than a bump. I have never had any sex in my life because i am very young, so I really don't understand how i got this.