Keeping The Foreskin Pulled Back - More Hygienic? (correction)

Thank you for your reply Wee_Dugie.

Ok so my idea was rather sensible (about keeping the foreskin back as long as possible at least now that I have the infection).

The truth is though, as you said, that:

1. the feeling of your bare glans touching your underwear is a bit weird.

   The glans of an uncircumcised penises is a bit sensitive especially when the penis is at flaccid state.

   (However, I assume that having your bare glans touching your underwear is something very usual for circumcised penises so it must be doable for an uncircumcised penis in this respect)

2. In many cases the foreskin will get back by itself and cover the glans (after some time while you are sleeping or walking) so this method won't probably work for much time during the day.

   These days, I chose to work from home so that I can control that because it is rather crucial for dealing more effectively with the infection (although still while I am sleeping I cannot do much to stop the foreskin from covering my glans again).

Lastly, you said "most stop using the antifungal too early" which is probably what happened to me.

I used the antifungal cream for 5 days (only twice a day though and in small quantity) and then my penis was looking rather normal (eg not much irritated/inflamed spots/areas) but then after 3 days then the whole irritation came back and now I use the cream again (3-4 times a day and in rather bigger quantity).

However, to be honest, I am not sure that it is healthy to use this kind of cream for more than 3 (or even 2) weeks consecutively therefore it depends on how you define "too early".

Do you have any specific recommendations on this?

I checked with my local pharmacist recently and the basic usage of an antifungal is 2 weeks - as I suggest, most males would not use it for that long, they are likely to stop when symptoms first go. The best thing to do is to follow the detailed instructions in the pack, but the basic guise for most antifungals is 2 weeks for an initial infection.

For re-infection, or starting to use an antifungal again I would check with a pharmacist, most are only too glad to give helpful advice.

As in point 1, eventually you get used to the different feeling, it is still there, just you do not notice it as much.

2. There is a way to sleep at night with your entire foreskin retracted with the complete glans exposed. Yes, it does not always work, but I often wake in the morning with my foreskin still fully exposing the glans. If you can sleep on your side, or practice doing this what you need to do is place your scrotum - quite carefully of course - at the back of your legs, draw all the loose skin of the shaft of the penis and carefully position this with your scrotum at the rear of your legs, apply a slight pressure so that the glans are fully exposed. It may take a bit practice but once you master doing this without injuring yourself (testicles I mean) then the glans will stay exposed most of the night.

Regarding for how long an antifungal cream should be used (let's call it point 3 to make it easier to refer to it):

Yes, 2 weeks was what my GP said when I went for the diagnosis.

As I said, I used the antifungal cream for 5 days (only twice a day though and in small quantity) and then my penis was looking rather normal (eg not much irritated/inflamed spots/areas) but then after 3 days the whole irritation came back and now I use the cream again (3-4 times a day and in rather bigger quantity) for almost a week now.

Therefore, in total I have used the cream for almost 2 weeks (although with a break as I said).

The last couple of days (when I kept also my foreskin pulled back as long as possible) the irritation and redness is basically gone but still if you observe the penis very thoroughly some small areas (eg at the top of the glans) are slightly more red which concerns me because it may mean that if I stop the antifungal cream then the infection/irritation/redness will come back.

Therefore, I am in a sort of a dilemma on what to do since also I am reaching the 2 weeks limit.

I am more thinking of going to a GP rather to a simple pharmacist to tell me how to go on with this.

I do not know if you have any better suggestions?

Regarding point (1), yes finally I may get used to it etc as I guess men with circumcised penises got used to it although obviously the majority of them were "practicising" for a lot more time (since most of them were circumcised young).

Regarding point (2), your suggestion may work although I find it a bit risky (in terms of minor injuries) and I do not know much it will maintained while sleeping.

I will try various positions and see what happens.

P.S.

Thank you for answers and help thus far in any case 😃

Yeah, I don't know about the start-stop nature of using an antifungal, you would be best guided by a Pharmacist, Doctor or Dermatologist on that.

So what you have going on at the top of the glans or elsewhere suggests you may need to get the next step-up in medication from a general antifungal, so again a Doctor or Dermatologist would be the people for this.

In terms of the sleep arrangement I suggest, yes you do quickly learn how to ensure things are placed in a position so that nothing feels crushed or otherwise, so what you find is that the scrotum stays in a comfortable position and the pressure placed on the penis between the legs ensures the head of the penis is exposed most of the time.

Yes, the crucial point is being able to comfortably sleep on your side for a number of hours - one further thing I do to help this is to place the upper-leg slightly behind the other, and of course not injuring the testicles or anything else. Once you have things comfortably out of the way you know exactly how to achieve this the next time .....

I have done this regularly when I suffer a bout of balanitis and it does seem to relieve the problem. It does take a bit of getting used to but you'll be surprised how you can train your foreskin to stay back after a while. I also own a Joker correction ring which I bought off ebay. This is a latex ring that simply sits around the ridge of your glans (i'm lucky that mine is very wide!) and it keeps the skin from rolling forward all day long.

Ok thank you, I will have them in mind.

Ok, it sounds a bit extreme to me but it may help so I may do it. Thanks 😃

James, thanks for detailing your experiences. I knew things like correction rings were available - only no one has ever said they have used one in this Forum ....

I only purchased one after someone on another forum somewhere recommended them for balanitis problems, which I get occasionally. I has the ring on for a week and it caused me no discomfort at all, most of the time (apart from when I was having a wee!) I forgot it was there.

Ok sounds good. I will look for it online to see what is available. Feel free to suggest something specific.

Although, by the way, you may have not felt any discomfort from the ring but I suppose that you felt from your penis glans touching your underwear or trousers etc.

Because I do when I have my foreskin is pulled back but I assume that after some (quite long though - keratinisation does not happen from one day to another) time I may get used to it.

I think keratinisation takes a very long to occur so my glans is still soft. The rubbing on my underwear wasn't really a problem either as cotton is very soft, you soon get used to it. I only tend to use my Joker ring when i've got a bout of balanitis though, it really does the job for me!

Hey there. i'm currently using antifungal + steroid cream (nystatin & triamcinolone acetonide). this is the third type of antifungal cream I use to try and treat this persistent balanitis i have. when you retracted your foreskin, did you do it immediately after applying the antifungal + steroid cream? i ask because i think it's a little weird to apply the cream and then keep your foreskin retracted so that the glans, which is covered in the cream, is touching your underwear. or did you mean you did a certain number of days of the antifungal + steroid cream treatment WITHOUT retracting foreskin, and then after that treatment phase was complete, you started retracting your foreskin? i'm on day 6 right now of using the nystatin & triamcinolone acetonide, but decided to start retracting my foreskin on day 5. i couldn't help it. i'm desperate to do whatever it takes to get rid of this annoying crap that won't go away!!!