Male Genital (Penis) Lichen Sclerosus

Hi everyone.

There is hope! Let me tell you how I have come to live comfortably with Lichen Planus on my penis. This has been a long road of trial and error and I hope this will help many people out there suffering.

First off, this is a horrible disease and I suffered painfully for years. It complicated my life tremendously and there is very little information online to help or manage properly.. Doctors don’t really know enough about this condition to properly advise treatment either. I went to at least 5 dermatologists including the very best in Los Angeles at UCLA and Cedar Sinai. I even turned to eastern medicine…Chinese herbs, etc. I understand that everyones body is different but this is what worked for me:

FINALLY, I found a regular treatment to manage my condition so I don’t live with pain and I can have regular sex without much issue at all. Sex aside, I’m not in constant pain which is a literal life changer.

Right now (and for the last 6 months) has been using tacrolimus ointment (0.03%) 3 times consecutively weekly. I apply Sunday Night, Monday Morning, and again Monday Night. Lichen Planus has the tendency to move around the area slightly (this occurred about a year into my disease symptoms), so I always apply to the areas that it has occurred in the past. Important note: tacrolimus can sting in a very similar way to the way Lichen Planus stings when used in excess. You can easily mistake one pain for the other. It took me a year to figure this out! The 3 applications in a row that I mentioned has worked for me. The tacrolimus will keep the rash from coming back aggressively in a very significant way.

However, if the rash does come back, use a steroid to knock it down first and then apply tacrolumis only when the rash is down… applying tacolumis on the rash can be very painful and should only be applied when the rash is down. Don’t let the rash linger, you must knock it down. I currently use Desonide cream. Important note: this is a cream not an ointment and can rub off with clothes. I make sure to apply and sit in bed without anything rubbing off the cream for at least an hour. You can apply the steriod twice daily until the rash is down. Once in the morning, once at night.

Another steriod that can be used is Triamcinolone 0.01%. The forskin is sensitive so I wouldn’t recommend anything stronger than the 0.01% option. I also prefer the ointment over the cream because it doesn’t rub off as easily with cream. Important note: the skin can get used to steroids and begin to create a resistance and the effects can dissipate. If this happens you can simply switch to a different steriod… such as Desonide. I prefer Desonide as I mentioned above because it seems to be more effective and quicker for me.

Long time steriod use without breaking (more than a week…2 max if you absolutely need to) can damage the skin or create enlarged blood vessels. Be careful of this! I was applying steriod repeatedly in one area thinking it was Lichen Planus and wanting to prevent the spread of the rash. It turned out to only be an elegarged blood vessel due repeated steriod use. Please be careful of that as I’m still managing the damage in that area as I used steriod cream for about a month and half straight. Don’t make the mistake I made.

All in all Tacrolumis rhythm is where you want to get to without any rash recusance at all. The only pain you’ll feel is barley any pain at all during the days you apply the ointment. This is not a big pain and completely livable in my opinion. Using stronger Tacrolumis can be painful after years of use… it’s been a learning curve for me, but the 0.03% has been my secret weapon and ultimately my solution.

Remember, this is an autoimmune disease. The root cause is likely your lifestyle…perhaps a combination of many things all having to do with how you live… You can to make sure you do other things to make everything more manageable. Get into good shape. Excerise, eat clean and stay away from inflammatory foods such as gluten and sugars. Get good sleep, meditation and try to keep your emotional stress in good balance. When these things in my life get out of balance the rash is more persistent. Your body is telling you there is something wrong… it can be a strong motivator to get things in order… I hope this helps people out there! I’d love to hear of your journey and please let me know if I can be of any help. I am not a medical expert, just a man who has come through the bad times and still managing the disease day-to-day.

hey man first i wanna say from all my own research this stuff is manageable but hopefully this lady will be understanding because thatss something that i worry about as well with my girlfriend

i have lichen planus of the penis

im honselty not sure if i have lichen sclerosus

ive been feeling some burning in the tip of my urethra and was wondering if thats something you experienced as well

im only 22 and trying to find as much information as possible

also join the support groups on facebook they have been a huge help for me and are normally more active

i hope you find the answers youre looking for

goodluck and remember that things will get better

Hi guys, about a year ago i came on to this forum when id lost all hope... but i now feel the responsibility to share how ive went into almost 100% remission of this awful condition.

im a 24 year old guy whos been suffering from LS for about as long as i can remember. throughout my younger years it presented as merely a tight foreskin, but as i matured out of that, it became much more alarming.

Throughout my late teens and early 20's i developed the most horrendous white patches on my glans which tended to constantly crack after any type of sexual activity and leave me with horrific blood blisters on my glans for weeks on end. id scour the internet for hours trying to find out what it was with very little joy. my confidence was non existent because of this and i thought id never be able to be in a relationship with a woman, or find love etc. due to it being so unsightly. im assuming these are all feelings that many of you reading this are famliar with.

so at the height of my depression, i came to find this forum and was overjoyed to find many other men struggling with what i thought was the worlds rarest disease, tailor made just for me, to make me miserable and alone as i must have been hitler in my former life haha...

this relief was short lived though as the general consensus seemed to be that this was essentially chronic and progressive, and just something id have to learn to live with. that was until i remembered how i cured my phimosis, which seemed too simple for this manifestation of the condition, but my only actual source of successful data.

years ago i simply made sure that my foreskin came in to contact with as little urine as possible, as i very strongly believe that for most cases, urine is the culprit.

so, this may seem a little unorthodox, but my miracle cure, after trying pretty much everything else you can think of, it to keep your foreskin pulled back 24/7 (if possible). this essentially simulates circumcision and keeps the area dry. within a couple of months the white patches which had been with me for around 7 years, had shed away like a mild case of sunburn.

my glands are now around 99% clear and no sexual partner has ever noticed. i no longer get any injuries or tightness. my daily routine is to wash my glans with just water and dry thoroughly, sometimes using a hairdryer. also make sure you dry your glans after each pee, preferebly with unscented toilet roll, and try to squeeze every last drop out before youre done.

wondering if you dealt with any urinaty strictures?

hey man, look into carbon dioxide laser treatment. i cant find much research on it, but the results look promising. I haven't been officially diagnosed, but i'm sure i have it myself. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16809261/

Hey Matt - same here! I'm 37. this is the only place online where there is anything written by men. ive been reading as much as I can online. so much unknown information. I have to say, i pushed and pushed and got referred to the main penis doctor in the UK (not sure if you are in the UK?) and he has monitored it sporadically over the last 16 months. ive tried various creams. not much works really. barrier creams help a little. BUT i went today and they said a circumcision has the best results. it reduces hugely chances of it getting worse as you get older. They mentioned it initially but wanted to see how i went. my symptoms arent terrible but its soul destroying, it irritates and is uncomfortable. happy to chat more about it. its important to share stories. men dont speak up enough.