Is this Balanitis? I'm 21, had it most of my whole life, no treatment has worked
Posted , 190 users are following.
Hello, I've seen a doctor many times about a mild condition I have on my penis glans, have been prescribed 3 different creams including Betnovate and a Hydrocortisone, a course of antibiotics and a swab which said I was clear and still the condition remains. I used to have a tight foreskin up until last year which is now sorted from stretching, and I think the condition began during my teenage years when I wasn't able to wash the glans. It often feels dry and can sometmes feel slightly painful when the foreskin retracts, almost like its rubbing and the sensitivity everywhere is quite high still, not sure if this is due to the condition. The urethra opening is always red and inflamed and red areas appear frequently around the glans itself. Any advise on what I should do would be much appreciated, have attached a photo too. Many thanks!
12 likes, 703 replies
davidh12391 Verstarix
Edited
Hey, just throwing in my 2 cents while I'm here reading
I have a very similar issue to a few of you in this thread, a few of which I'm speaking to privately in DM's. My symptoms are inflamation around the glans & meatus which hasn't changed appearance in 2 years now, it looks identical to a lot of the photos being posted on this thread. Mine stemmed from what I believe was friction burn off a fleshlight, I developed severe inflamation and developed a prostate infection, visited gp's / sexual health clinic etc was given anti fungals/bacterials and barrier creams all of which had zero effect, over the 2 years I have tried all the anti bac/fun steroid creams etc.
I developed a prostate infection and was given a month of ciprofluxacin which shifted my urge to p**s constantly, not sure if something has still lingered though. I visted urlogists/ dermotologists through the NHS none of which gave me a diagnosis, I've visted doctors probably 20 or so times now. Only last week I went to see Prof Bunker who was recomended to me who diagnosed me with LS, he gave me dermovate steroid cream which so far has had no effect, although I know it's only been a week but I'm not holding out.
Bunker said that LS is caused by urine disturbing the skin and that if dermovate doesn't work it's probably time for a circumscision, after reading about this forum and doing my own research with the help of a few people in this thread I do think it goes much deeper than that, and there's still an underlying cause, not just a simple case of pee disturbing the skin as I religously wipe after every time I go the toilet making sure there are no drops left, I have been doing this for over a year now with no effect to the skin.
My next step is to get a urine culture test done, I have had several urine tests done with the NHS although I'm not confident they were looking for anything other than STD's, (I was clear of all STD's also blood test was negative for everything + diabities) I wasn't switched on in the first few months of having this as I just thought it was a minor issue, obviously now I have realised it is not and having read all your issues regarding prostate and bacteria, I believe my case could be similar, there are a few other dudes I have been speaking to who also have prostate related health issues.
My other belief is that this could be an auto immune issue due to our personal health and lack of vitamins combined diet & hormones. I was linked to this https://patient.info/forums/discuss/maintenance-recovery-premise-from-lichen-sclerosus-635047 very informative post regarding LS and auto immune disorders, my diet is not the best and I'm certain I have a deficiancy, I also smoke which I've read messes with your hormones and autoimmune can be caused by a shift in hormones.
Not sure if this will help anyone & sorry if I'm rambling but feel free to ask me any questions I'll reply, I'm pretty certain I have the same issue as most of you on this thread
TR1NITY davidh12391
Posted
can you post your pics here or privately please?
ed68163 Verstarix
Posted
has anyone who is still looking to solve this problem had any other medical issues associated with these symptoms? seems none of us have discharge and nothing to be cultured. im worried an undiscovered bacteria is going to make me infertile or something.
antonio53024 Verstarix
Posted
Hi yall. So i went online thinking i would find the name of the condition ive had for almost half my life but to my surprise no one knows anything about this peculiar thing. I have a red inflamed meautus that ive had ever since i started masturbating when i was 12. Im 24 now and its still red but cause no pain, itchiness or any weird feeling at all. I always thought it waa normal and never decided to look into it until know and to my surprise no one knows what it is. Ive seen common things tho like how most of us had phimosis or some sort of hard to retract foreskin and i wonder if its related to that. i havent tried any creams or anything at all to fix it since it doesnt really cause any disconfort. I wonder if ita just a normal way for the meautus to develop in boys with phimosis or not. Will see an urologist soon tho and see what he says
ed68163 antonio53024
Posted
do you think its injury related? my urethra is red and inflamed. either from an infection from oral sex, or injury from opening up my urethra too aggressively and frequently. its been 3 months of come and go symptoms, urine cultures and std tests yield no signals of infection. have you found any ways to sooth the swelling? thats good youre at least pain free
antonio53024 ed68163
Posted
i think it maybe, at least in my case. The frenelum is red too, so maybe when i masturbate with my phimosis it irritated the meautus and whenever i pee it irritates it again therefore it never gets a chance to heal? It seems like it doesnt matter how you get it inflamed it just stays like that for a long time. Havent tried anything yet, im just waiting to see my urologist before i put anything down there.
maxpower2020 antonio53024
Posted
Is seems like some guys have cosmetic redness/inflammation on the glans and urethral meatus. While others have this accompanied with pain. Some have constant pain, others only during ejaculation and some have random periods of pain. Which makes this really confusing if it's one of multiple issues that are related or not at all?
Also correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like everyone experiencing the redness symptoms is uncircumcised or only partially. So probably a good idea to keep the foreskin retracted as much as possible to see if that helps with the redness.
Additionally how much redness falls within normal range? The majority of penises that you have probably seen are in adult movies right? The "actors" in these are specifically picked for their perfect penis aesthetics and are not the normal. Kind of like how you'll often see a perfect Brad Pitt face on TV , but in real life it will be very rare to see one. If you look at amateur adult home movies , you'll see that redness and other various skin integrity imperfections are not that uncommon.
However, if you have constant pain, no idea what it could be. Prostate, neuro/muscle-related, some unknown bacteria/fungus?
ed68163 maxpower2020
Posted
im comparing what my urethra used to look like and what it looks like now. i was checking it before the pain and redness came in, i had risky oral sex and think it could be related to that, or from me checking too much. but i am circumcised. also my redness comes and goes, it seems ive irritated blood vessels because the redness if like veins. also it stings more after i masterbate. which i was being careful doing before but now im going to try not to do to see if my swelling redness and occasional pain go away. does anyone know if the urethra takes a particularly long time to heal? i read here that some doctor recommended honey as a topical cream because its anti inflammatory and antibiotic properties. i might consider cortisone cream to reduce redness. ill continue to post here as i wait for more urine cultures
mukund83050 ed68163
Posted
Does this pain or inflammation affect the urine flow? Has your doctor recommended to take urine flow test?
ed68163 mukund83050
Posted
yes the inflammation causes a weak stream. ive never heard of a urine flow test but ill inquire about it, thanks. ive only sat down and had productive conversations with two doctors, my GP and infectious disease dr. all the other doctors refer me because they dont know what to tell me, and at the end of those good conversations they just tell me its just in my head. one nurse testing me in the beginning said "knock on wood ya dont have herpes" when she denied me herpes testing, after i inquired about a blood test for hsv. this whole experience has blown a hole in my trust for any medical professional.
my symptoms are much worse after sex, im trying to be hydrated at all times, no sex or masterbating, and using coconut oil and honey on the outside of my glans when i can. hopefully these actions will help with symptoms are at best, heal my bruise/tear/strain in my urethra
maxpower2020 ed68163
Posted
@ed68163
Can you post a photo of your glans?
Also, I guess you have probably already explored possible auto immune skin conditions with your doctor like LS or eczema?
TR1NITY Verstarix
Edited
Anyone with same/similar pictures? having this for over 4 years, all seems to be originating from the pee hole. Best is to post pictures to match with each other. I've been through 2 or 3 turnarounds with variety of doctors, not having idea what is it. I'm psychologically finished, can't really bear it anymore with no hope after 4 years of visiting doctors.
Glans (penis head) is very dry (you can see wrinkles caused by dryness) and urologist cannot find any bacteria cultivation on it. I tried urologist (several of them), allergy doctor, dermatologist and also I've been exercising pelvis muscles exercises for half of year. These pictures are from this morning and I think i'm finished for the rest of my life.
ed68163 TR1NITY
Edited
do you use coconut oil to moisturize? me and you definetly have different conditions but healing the penis is the same goal, im sure lots of tips to relieve pain and stress can cross over
glikkon33 TR1NITY
Posted
4 years of this is too long and you're not out of options until you've done circumcision. Discuss with your doctor about getting it done because it sounds like you got nothing else to lose based on your last sentence.
maxpower2020 TR1NITY
Edited
Yours reminds me of a fungal infection. But you have visited so many doctors so I'm sure they have explored this option countless times already (creams and pills)? And you also have lots of pain associated with it, looking at your previous posts?
As Glikkon suggested, circumcision might definitely help. Or at least try keeping your foreskin pulled back as much as possible throughout the day. Another suggestion I could give is try sitting in a bath with salt water. Fill a bathtub 1/3 of the way and put in 1 cup of salt, then soak for 30-45 minutes. Through the process of altering osmotic gradients, salt kills a lot of bacteria and fungus. This is why in medical settings, wounds are always cleansed with saline solution (aka salt water). Not sure if that would help but doesn't hurt to try.
TR1NITY
Posted
Thank you for your replies. I may try coconut oil and salt bath, but I'm sure circumcision won't help as I'm 100% positive the problem comes from urethrea hole a spreading out between glans and foreskin. Also, I remember 4 years ago when it started, that it started with little redness on tip of glans and spreaded all across glans.
j1106 TR1NITY
Posted
hey Trinity. from the looks of your pictures i have the same thing. one thing that is different is that after about 2 years the redness had transitioned to my foreskin also and after a trip to new york my foreskin and penis became so inflamed that i got circumcised. just wondering does the penis glands sting/burn at times. i have this problem. unfortunately the circumcision didn't work for removing the pain on the glands but it did help a little bit. also within the last few weeks i have been moisturising with coconut oil. if you are from Europe. in 'boots' you can get a tub of it for about 10 euro. it definitely has helped in keeping the redness down a bit and the pain is not as frequent. hope this helps. if you want to talk in further detail let me know.
j1106
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also to add some doctors have said it could be eczema. i still look for answers and in hope this can be cured.
for anyone who happens to read this. have you tried Chinese/herbal medicine. i am going to try this route next as i feel modern medicine has let us all down.
k801 TR1NITY
Posted
very similar. does any of you guys have any discharge at all or any particles in the urine?
TR1NITY
Posted
thanks j1106 and k801. Not very visible from these overbright pictures, but there is redness from tip of the penis (urethrea opening) that spreads in triangle shape over the whole top of glans. I remember, 4 years ago, this redness started to appear near urethrea opening and spreaded lower / over top of glans, not so visible on the sides of glans. Due to this it also irritates foreskin from inside... basically the space between glans and foreskin. However, I believe, the problem comes from urethrea.
I do not feel any pain while peeing, or on its own. Only, when irritation gets worse, I can feel swelling... I'm going to search for medicinal coconut oil today and will try to apply. Also last week I'm also trying typical over-the-counter remedies for possible Urethrea/Urinal problems. That's something I did not try yet. I doubt circumcision would help as the problem is not between foreskin and glans, but coming out of inside. However, I do not observe any discharge, or discharge in urine.