Penile Rash/Balanitis Not Responding to Treatment

Thank you for the information. That's promising as I seem to be dealing with the exact same condition as your and the OP. I've tried every cream with no relief. Coconut oil has helped with moisturizing the glans but makes the redness more pronounced.

Anyone have any idea of what the version of this cream is called in the United States or Canada? (I'm located in Canada).

Thank you.

Triticum vulgare extract is wheat germ oil. You can buy it on amazon in Canada for under 10$. It's high in vitamin e so would promote skin healing and has some anti-inflammatory components.

Hey Jose, thanks for responding. OP here. Can you elaborate a bit more on your situation? What treatments have you tried before trying this new cream? Did you ever pin-point the cause? How are your symptoms after applying this?

Hey Jim, OP here.

Did you end up purchasing / trying this cream? How has it worked out for you? Apologies as I haven't been on here in quite some time. I'm still experiencing symptoms two years on.

Hey Max, OP here.

Have you tried it?

No I haven't, but I have tried much stronger prescribed creams like hydrocortisone which didn't make a difference. Some of my symptoms are similar to yours. A rash, although a slightly different pattern and doesn't seem as severe yet. Also the redness seems to stem from under the skin, if that makes sense. Redness/inflammation at the meatus of the urethra. Also, I don't normally have pain, but once in a while I'll get burning sensation and sharp pain while urinating, after ejaculating. This pain has actually been around for years, but would occur very seldomly so I never pursued the origin . The rash and meatus inflammation started about 7-8 months ago now.

Doctors I've seen don't know what it is. Now I'm thinking that it's perhaps a case of pelvic floor muscle/nerve dysfunction irritating the urethra and prostate (prostatitis). Ultimately causing irritation at the meatus and radiating to the glans. Hence, I started to do pelvic floor stretches and will see if they have any impact.

I attached a photo of mine for reference.

This looks like an overgrowth of commensal skin bacteria (i.e Corynebacterium) caused by an excessive use of antibiotics.

I would know since I had the same issue for a long time and only recently figured it out.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

Hey, keep us posted on those pelvic floor exercises. If it is indeed prostatitis, it should provide relief. Thinking of starting doing it myself.

What was the solution? Thanks.

Will keep updated, so far no difference after 3-4 days. Does yours look similar? And how long have you had the symptoms?

Yeah, mine looks pretty much the same as what you have. Have had these symptoms for a little over 3 months now, started when I had an unprotected sexual encounter in December of last year and unfortunately contracted chlamydia from it. Got the chlamydia part resolved no problem but the skin on the glans never recovered, if I don't put anything on it - it's dry, wrinkly, and has a red rash. Natural penile lubrication is nonexistent, the result is flaky glans skin. In some instances, I get this burning feeling after urinating as well as some trouble with pulling the foreskin back due to the dryness. It's especially visible when I sit in a bath with water, it almost looks like a burnt spot covering most of the head (the redness is static). Masturbation, moisture, underwear friction from morning wood make it worse. Multiple STD tests by the way, all clear.

Did some serious research on this and I'd be surprised if it isn't what's known as 'chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis'. Basically reactive arthritis with chlamydia infection as one of the main triggers. Main symptoms are mostly joint pain but skin rash is also a very common one according to Google. The good news is that it usually clears up on its own, bad news is it can take up to a year and in rare instances, it can become chronic. So my thinking is it's just a waiting game for us at this point. Fingers crossed it just goes away on its own.

Did you have chlamydia before by any chance?

Hey!! I had chlamydia as well, got it treated and i have the same thing a year later. Dry, red/splotchy rash on glans, burns sometimes or feels kinda hot (not to the touch), and itches sometimes. Mine looks way worse with an erection. I'd love to hear from you because honestly i think there's no way you and I don't have the same issue.

My initial symptoms started around December or January as well. I'm not sure if it was chlamydia since I waited too long to see a doctor and thought it would resolve on it's own. But I think it was some kind of STD because I would get random patches of irritation on the glans with flaky skin. However, this resolved on it's on and there was even a couple weeks after where everything seemed to be back to normal (see attached photo from January).

Maybe it is reactive arthritis, I don't even know what to think any more. In that case I assume an NSAID medication and an anti inflammation diet (ex: avoid sugar, greasy food) would benefit us.

Another thing I actually notice that I have as well are tiny red dots on the healthy skin. Not sure if these are normal or if you guys have these as well? I attached a photo but might be difficult to see. Looks like tiny red dots (capillaries?) that become more prominent if I press on the skin (they seem to be below the skin). They also seem to disappear at time (or maybe just aren't visible).

I had a similar looking raw skin lesion as you but on the other side of the base. Although mine had clustered circle like spots. If you google 'circinate balanitis', it'll be similar to what it looked like except not on the glans itself like most pics show but at the base of the glans mostly on the foreskin like in your photo. It went away within a week. I also had really bad testicle and lower abdominal pain, both of which went away on their own.

Here's an example of what mine looked like, except the cluster size was similar to yours:

And this is what that cluster skin looked like up-close with those skin circles:

Those other red spots you pointed out in the 2nd pic show up on mine when erect. Maybe they're supposed to be there? It's been so long that I forgot what my penis looked like when it was still healthy. It's definitely not the same. Erect penile head should be uniform in color, mine has an uneven spray of red and bright blotches all mixed up together.

By the way, good call on an anti-inflammatory diet. I've already been eating a lot of vegetables but also need to lessen sweets and greasy foods.

Don't stress about the red dots, they're normal so nothing unusual there.

@glikkon33

@Steves80

Do you guys have the redness at the urethral meatus?

Maybe we do have the same thing. Keep updated if you find something that works/helps or resolves on it's own. So far I'm doing the pelvic floor exercises, will start to incorporate more of an anti-inflammatory diet and Vaseline on the glans.

Yeah, same kind of diffused redness concentrated at the urethral meatus. It's more red if I don't put the healing ointment I've been using (Aquaphor) which isn't doing much except for keeping it moisturized.

There was a guy who said that Aquaphor helped him get rid of the issue entirely in this thread here:

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/psa-aquaphor-gold-737669

To be honest, it most likely went away on its own for him after 7 months.

Will keep you updated on whatever unfolds.

I've tried eucerin cream without much change to the redness. I think they are all pretty similar (eucerin, aquaphor and vaseline) when it comes to effect on skin, but might try aquaphor as well since I've heard it mentioned by a few people now.

Just looked up the main ingredients of eucerin cream and the ingredients are identical - petrolatum, mineral oil, ceresin, and lanolin alcohol. Feel free to try it out but don't hold your hopes up high. Looking at when I ordered it, I've been using it for exactly 3 weeks without much change to the rash.

I'd use the cream which you already have and save the buck.

Forgot to mention, I watched a video on reactive arthritis on YouTube and another common symptom of it is called 'meatal erythema' - that's the proper medical term for the red and inflamed meatus.

This once again points to this same autoimmune disorder where our own immune system attacks otherwise completely healthy tissue.

Thanks for the tip on the creams. If it is reactive arthritis (also known as reiter's syndrome) it's a good idea to get tested for HIV since sometimes both are associated. And if you detect HIV early it can even be cured in some cases. I was tested couple months ago, but sometimes it's not detected in the blood until several months after.

Of course very small probability that it's HIV. In fact might not even be reactive arthritis since we don't have any of the other symptoms associated with it (at least I don't.) Could just be some kind of non-specific dermatitis of the penile skin that's reacting to something. As I said early though, at this point I'm open to it being anything LOL.

Just to chime in, my glans biopsy came back Non-specific dermatitis, so just inflammation they couldnt find a cause for. if it IS dermatitis i'm not sure what my skin is reacting to though.. i dont get bumps or fluid or sores, the rash never clears up and steroids didnt help so it being eczema seems like a stretch. its just a splotchy rash no matter what i wear or how hard i have avoided products with scents or irritants in the last year.

As I said early though, at this point I'm open to it being anything LOL.

Not open to HIV I hope lol That thing is pretty scary.

Idk, I've been tested for everything after almost 70 days since the time of exposure. Chlamydia positive, that's it.

From a web search:

• Modern HIV tests are able to detect most infections within a month of exposure.
• The window period for detecting HIV by antibodies/antigen test (vein blood draw) is 18 to 45 days after an exposure.
• 99% of HIV-infected individuals would be detectable within 44 days of exposure.

@morgan08

And yours looks similar to mine? Compared to the photos I posted above? With the urethral redness?

There are lots of dermatological conditions that modern medicine doesn't have a cure for, and you just have to learn to live with it I guess. Rosacea is an example since some people don't get relief from oral or topical medication. And the only solution is to control symptoms by avoiding certain activities, foods or getting laser therapy which destroys blood vessels therefore reducing the redness. Maybe something similar is occurring in our penile region?

@glikkon33

Look up the World Health Organization HIV fact sheet it says:

"Acute HIV infection - In some individuals, the test for the presence of these antigens may not be positive until 6 months or longer (although this would be considered unusual). This time -- during which people can be highly infectious and yet unaware of their condition -- is known as the the window period"

Not saying we have HIV, but doesn't hurt to test again haha.

I see. At least it says it's very rare (from WHO):

'After exposure and infection with HIV, most people will develop detectable antibodies to the virus within 3 months. However, it can take as long as 6 months for this process (called seroconversion) to occur in a small percentage of people. It is very rare for this process to take longer than six months.'

Are you going to get retested then? There are some home self test kits that you can purchase off of Amazon for $35-40 and it takes just 20 minutes to see the result. Maybe I should get one just for peace of mind.

If you are sexually active, I think it's a good idea to get tested for all STDs at least every 6 months, but that's just my opinion. I'm also in Canada, so it's free.

This looks pretty much identical to what I have. Two years now. Does it also burn and sting when you urinate or ejaculate?

What tests have the urologists given you?

How does one test for this? I had an ANA test done recently and it came back positive. Currently waiting to see a rheumatologist.

There's an active group on whatsapp that I found. It's kind of a balanitis support group. All the guys in the group have balanitis, and we all share what we've been tested for, what's worked and what hasn't. I've been dealing with this for two years now and doctors can't find out, (as of now) what is going on, but I'm still going to appointments. If anyone reading this is interested in this group please message me.

For reactive arthritis? A rheumatologist should be able to help. Here's what the description says on this site:

No test can confirm that you have reactive arthritis. The diagnosis is based on the typical symptoms which follow an infection. However, tests including blood tests and X-rays may be done to rule out other causes of arthritis, such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis.

How were you able to get an ANA test? Did you request it from your primary care doctor? Keep us posted on what happens at your appointment with a rheumatologist. I'm thinking of going to one too.

I had to request it from a GP that I've been working with to solve this. I'm also awaiting on a referral from a rheumatologist as well.

I haven't seen a urologist, only a bunch of regular doctors who's treatments have ranged from corticosteriod creams to antibiotics and just suggestions to leave it alone and do nothing. The last doctor I saw said a referral to specialist (uro,derm,etc) would be 9+ months due to the corona backup. Don't really feel like paying 400+$$$/visit to see a private urologist/derm, who will probably just prescribe the same creams at this point.

I very rarely have pain/burning/stinging when urinating/ejaculating. However one thing I've pinpointed now is pain when riding a pedal bike. Yesterday, I went on a bike ride and would get an intermittent sharp burning stinging in the urethra. Which I guess would suggest some form of prostate involvement being the source. And afterwards the redness on the glans seemed to be worse as well.

Interestingly, if you look at the sub reddit for prostatitis and search for keywords like, "red" and "urethra". You'll find that quite a few people that have been diagnosed with prostatitis say they have urethral redness/inflammation and a rash on the glans.

Regarding what you mentioned - the first line of treatment for prostatitis is usually a 6-week course of ciprofloxacin. I saw a urologist who seemed to dismiss my redness and said it was within "normal range" which I completely disagreed with. He then prescribed me the aforementioned 6 week course - without doing any additional diagnostic tests.

Perhaps it's worth it for you to try and explore treatment with a urologist.

As far as I know, you can test for prostatitis via a seminal fluid culture, or a prostate fluid secretion test - he did neither of those. I did do a urethral swab with a dermatologist, and that showed enterococcus faecalis and staphylococcus haemolyticus. I took 10 days of ampicillin for it, and it did nothing. The test result showed that the enterococcus was susceptible to that particular antibiotic.

I've heard that prostatitis does cause some redness - but I don't want to be taking 6 weeks of antibiotics for no reason. There is also chronic-non infectious prostatitis, and the only treatment for that is pelvic floor exercises.

As things stand right now - I'm waiting on another set of urine cultures from an infectious disease specialist, and I'm supposed to do another seminal fluid culture this coming week. If that doesn't work, I've really run the gamut. It's been two years and I've thrown almost every cream imaginable at this. It's unlikely it's fungal, and bacterial treatments haven't worked, unless these latest cultures reveal a tricky bacteria like ureaplasma.

The only other angle I'm looking at at this point in time is the autoimmune angle. I did test positive for an ANA test, so I've gotten a referral to a rheumatologist. I may see additional urologists down the road - depending on the results of these latest cultures. It's also worth noting that I did a GI-MAP test, which I had to pay extra for. It's a comprehensive analysis of a stool culture, so that might provide some interesting insights.

I started this thread two years ago and promised that I would continue updating it. I'm really determined to find a cure for this, it's impacted my quality of life and mental well being profoundly.

I reread the whole thread and it seems like you have seen the top specialist in this field and they haven't been able to figure out so that's kind of upsetting. And looking at your photos again, it does look almost identical to mine. You also mentioned that certain times, especially when flaccid, the redness can look very minimal. This is the same with mine. However, as soon there's an increased blood flow (erection) it flares up, even without any kind of physical friction.

That leads me believe it has to be something neurological related. If it was ulceration from rheumatoid arthritis or damaged skin on the glans from a fungus or bacteria , the redness would be consistent and wouldn't improve?

You're right there are many forms of prostatitis. Some with unknown origins. There's also new antibiotic resistant bacteria. However, in your case another thing that's making me doubtful that it's bacterial is the length of time that has passed. In 2 years time the bacteria would have overgrown in the prostate/urethra leading to some kind of discharge as well unbearable pain from tissue necrosis in my opinion.

You also mentioned that you get cold sores, so you are possibly positive for herpes 1 or 2. Could that be somehow related to this? Since the HS virus hides in the nerves, I've been reading that it can cause neurological irritation as well urethritis. But would need an expert to give input on this.

It's the same for me. When I go to appointments and they inspect my penis everything seems fine. I have to explain that symptoms get 1000 times worse when it's erect, even without friction like you mentioned.

That's what makes this situation so odd, among other things. I've had it for two years and symptoms / the appearance of it has stayed pretty consistent throughout.

There are cases of people having localized infections, like a localized UTI for many years, but there are only a few types of bacteria that cause this, ureaplasma being one of them - so I'm currently trying to rule that out. But I agree, if it was a more serious infection it would have spread to my kidneys already.

I've gotten cold sores (HSV-1) since I was a kid, which have reduced in severity and frequency over time. I also treat them with an anti-viral cream and they go away fairly quickly. I doubt its related, but it's worth asking my doc about next time I see him.

Looking at your pictures Max, mine condition looks very similar, so hopefully we can get to the bottom of this. How is your urine flow? Most of the time mine looks like someone pressed a their thumb over a garden hose, giving it a "flat" consistency. I never had this problem before balanitis.

@jack05468

I haven't noticed much difference with urine flow, however I never really paid much attention in the past. I do notice that there is a bit more post void dripping. Like after I finish voiding, I'll stretch the penis and more will dribble out like it's getting stuck somewhere along the urethra. But I assume, this is probably normal to some extent. I've also only had about 4-5 months of urethral inflammation/glans redness so it might become worse over time. Did your pain and weak urine flow start right away (2 years ago) or did the urine flow decrease over time?

Did you ever have a CT scan or a cystoscopy? Since the weak urine flow is a definite sign that there is some kind of blockage whether it's inflammation (urethral or prostate) or some kind of growth (tumor, cyst, etc.)

Herpes is complicated and I don't think it's well understood even among experts. HSV-1 can be transmitted to the genital regions. The reason I think there might be some relevance, is because it all started for me after a sexual encounter. Not sure if that's the same for you?

My issues with urine flow happened over time, but they've stayed pretty consistent over the last year or so. I actually did have a cystoscopy done, and they found that everything looked completely normal.

I also have a little bit of that post void drip, almost like the last few drops are stuck near the top, it's not exactly a pleasant feeling.

I had unprotected oral sex about a month before my symptoms started appearing, but penetration was protected.

I've had multiple standard STD tests done, and everything came back clear as well, I even specifically tested for trichomoniasis.

Right now I am just waiting on an additional urine culture to check for ureaplasma, and I am going to do a semen culture to rule out any bacteria in the prostate (I've done one already, was negative, but doc wanted to do another).

Hmm, the weak flow and post void drip would all suggest some kind of blockage but your cystoscopy was normal. Another reason could be weak bladder muscles and this could again propose a neurological cause. For example men with multiple sclerosis (MS) have all kinds of penile conditions due to nerve malfunctions. Might be a good idea to do daily kegel and pelvic floor stretches. That's what I'm doing now and don't thing think it can hurt even if it's not the cause.

Mine also started about about 1 month after unprotected oral sex.

Good luck! Keep updating if the urine culture finds anything.

I initially ruled out HPV as all the doctors laugh it off stating it doesn't appear in this format. Awaiting results of DNA sequencing so if this comes back with nothing Im only left with HPV

If it is somehow HPV or HSV related, there's no cure for either. And if yours looks like Jack's (or mine) he's had symptoms for over 2 years and done every test that is available.

Only other options will be holistic approaches like diet and stretches/exercises.

Have the pelvic floor exercises been helping at all? Multiple sclerosis is a diagnosis I haven't considered, and I doubt it's that but I will keep that in back of mind.

I actually received a call from my doc who said we should forgo a second semen culture in favour of a prostate secretion test, so I'll be doing that in a couple of weeks. He wants to completely rule out bacteria in the prostate and that's the best way to do that.

I will keep this thread updated if I receive any new info / a diagnosis.

I didn't mean that we have multiple sclerosis, just that people with the disease (MS) have various penile conditions due to nerve malfunction. So far I haven't noticed any difference with the stretching and kegels which I do for about 45 minutes/per day. However, I have noticed that the area is extremely tight/inflexible so hopefully it will loosen up after a couple months of this routine.

I've been reading on various urology conditions and found this which might have some relevance to you or others. I can't post links (since they get deleted by moderators), so I'll just copy and paste, but you can find all this information online.

Male genital dysaesthesia.

Male genital dysaesthesia is a form of cutaneous dysaesthesia and describes a sensation of burning, heat, irritation, discomfort or increased sensitivity to touch of the penis, foreskin or scrotum. Some men with genital dysaesthesia also find wearing underpants or sitting down difficult. Symptoms may be very stressful and interrupt sexual function and/or sleep. The affected areas may appear redder than normal.

Cause and some pathophysiology.

The sensations are due to overactive nerves in the affected skin.

Symptoms due to compression of nerve fibres on their pathway from the spinal cord may be similar, for example pudendal nerve entrapment. In this case other symptoms such as urinary symptoms or disorders of sexual function may occur.

Redness is caused by vascular hyper-reactivity, perhaps due to release of vascular activating substances from the nerve endings in the skin.

Additionally the pudendal nerve neuralgia can occur from a viral infection like herpes or physical damage from excessive sitting or cycling.

Some associated signs include: Pain after orgasm/ejaculation, urinary frequency with full bladder, urethral irritation etc.

Perhaps there is some relation to what we have. Do any of you guys have redness of the scrotum skin (ball sack) as well cause that could be sign I think.

@maxpower2020 I had underside scrotum redness when I had testicle and lower abdominal pain that appeared months after treating chlamydia. There isn't any redness now though.

In regards to testicular pain, my urologist said it was most likely due to irritated genital nerves post infection. While that's nice, he completely dismissed all the other symptoms that we all share here.

Interesting you mentioned that Max - because a dermatologist I saw did say that this condition could be a possible cause. I suppose it's still an option for diagnosis - if this additional urine culture comes up negative for ureaplasma and if the prostate secretion test doesn't turn up any bacteria. I'll be sure to keep this thread posted on the results of those tests.

I did have redness on my scrotum at one point, followed by extreme itching (some of the worst itching I have ever experienced) but that has gone away and hasn't come back.

I still occasionally get scrotal redness. I guess it is due to irritated nerves and could be a lot of causes.

Have you tried any antibiotics in the past? I think if it was bacterial related and you took antibiotics you would have noticed some improvements?

I took Ampicllin for 10 days, for the enterococcus faecalis, it did nothing for my balanitis symptoms - the test indicated that the bacteria was susceptible to the ampicllin.

I guess it's complicated with bacteria because there are so many antibiotic resistant strains and they are mutating as well, similar to viruses. But what does your current doctor say? Is he confident that it's bacterial since he's probably seen thousands of live bacterial skin infections in his lifetime of practice? Or he's just as confused as us?

It's also strange that I have virtually the same cosmetic symptoms of balanitis and urethral inflammation/redness, but essentially no pain.

So results back in. All normal bar one entry which is high levels of Staphylococcus lugdunensis. Odd one, naturally found on skin but can be cause of UTI. Will see what doctor says but after this give up!

this genital dysaesthesia i think this very close to my case ,it is caused by a cup of milk dropped on my underwear and i didnt wash it right a way ,i have the burning sensation on a red spot on my glans from 45 days and if it is reduced or stoped .masturbating makes it worse and it restarts to burning for days.

What are your symptoms? You mentioned in another post that palmers (cocoa butter?) alleviated your symptoms?

i have exactly the same symptoms, what looks like balanitis and sore, enflamed urethral which is not generally painful, but i'm aware of it. The balanitis symptoms becomes very much more apparent when the penis gets bigger. No creams help, in fact, i think the prolonged use has just irritated the head. If i go without stimulation for a while, it almost looks normal when flaccid.

Two things i'd point out though are, 1/ it appears like there are subcutaneous lumps on the head, like burst blood vessles, these look like a rash when no longer completely flaccit. 2/ I've also realized that these symptoms started after i'd had sex with Viagra.

They could be un-correlated, i don't know, but i wonder if taking Viagra can make the blood pressure in your penis so great, it causes this damage and then we've subsequently been inflaming the skin by applying multitudes of creams to treat fungal or bacterial infections that aren't actually present.

Alleviate as opposed to sort sadly. Yes it has helped with the 'cracking' that seems to have occurred.

Symptoms have been ;

Case of Epididymitis

Rash on head of penis in the main under foreskin with discolouration and what looks like cracking, shiny appearance at times.

Pain (at times quite a lot) in the main from head of penis

No issues like some with Urethra and zero discharge

Can you guys check your blood test results, do you have a low white blood cell count? I checked mine from this year against last year's and my WBC is really low.

Some autoimmune diseases will tell your body to attack and destroy its own WBCs.

A few diseases and drugs can cause low WBCs, but I would get tested for HIV if you haven't been recently, since that's the main function of the virus (to destroy the WBCs).

My levels aren't low. But best to check with doctor cause depends how low it is? Cause generally very serious conditions like AIDs and blood cancers cause really low numbers...

Appreciate the reply. I brought that up with my primary care doctor and whether I need to get retested for HIV. We'll see what he says..

Do you have test for psoriasis? Because genital psoriasis causes similar system

Hi guys, I posted yesterday regarding really similar issues here. The images above look very similar to my glans when it flares up. Red patches that have occasionally ulcerated. All STD tests are negative, including HSV 1 and HSV 2. I try and keep on top of the dry skin with E45 wash but if I miss even one day the skin on the glans can peel off, leaving red patches behind. The area that flares up is always the same, it's the side where my foreskin is slightly tighter. I rarely get pain but have tried all the same creams as above, so antifungal (did have a few episodes that seemed to be more candida based), these helped, as did oral antifungals, for a short term only. Every time I use this the skin will peel away leaving slightly red, shiny skin underneath, this then settles down. My only diagnosis so far has been a dermatitis type reaction. Of course when I saw the ulceration I was incredibly worried it was herpetic, however they last for only 24 hours, perhaps 48 hours max, and I've now had 3 blood tests for HSV 1 and HSV 2, all negative. Same for all other STDs, including HIV. Check out my other post for more details, just sort of good to see other people are having the same issue as me to be honest. Would be great to get back to a time where the skin felt normal, but I don't think this is likely. Oh, and same as above again following masturbation or sex, always worse, some redness and red spots, some red patches, same area, left hand side where I think more friction happens due to foreskin, and always this area that will ulcerate (although this has only happened 3 times in the past 3 years).

Hello Max, my issue looks similar to yours. Have you had any luck in resolving it yet? Moisturizer helps keep mine less irritated.

I've been heavily researching this as well for when I do go to a urologist after COVID-19 gets a bit less severe. I decided upon making my own thread since I wrote a lot and didn't want it to get buried in one of these longer threads. I've tested for a range of STD's including herpes along with trichomonas and mycoplasma (asked my GP to test for these two after reading through threads on here). I got tested twice over a few months, and all came back negative both times, the specific ones tested I also listed on my thread. Anyone feel free to view my thread since I compiled everything there.

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/recurring-red-rash-and-red-bumps-on-penis-head-and-over-three-months--749431?page=0#3757996

)People .. This is something we have both been looking at and something left field .... has any of the guys out there suffered from Iron Overload caused by genetic (usually abdomen and liver pain show first etc). Reason i ask is coz their is some evidence that a gene (seemingly related to the iron gene) is involved in reactive arthritis ... (Google genetic marker HLA-B27.)

BUT .. when we look the pictures online it seems RA is thick skin on the penis, but most people talking abt sensitive and no large thickened skin etc. His other symptoms is pain in bladder (no inflammation by MRI) and aching finger and other joints (RA?)

just throwing this out there ... Jen