Penis hygiene after (sort of) healed yeast infection
Posted , 4 users are following.
I was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with balanitis probably caused by yeast infection and I used a cream (miconazole, nitrate, hydrocortizone) for 2 weeks.
So now I am 5 days without the cream and my penis looks and feels rather normal.
It does not have any (at least obvious) redness and it is not any sore at least when I do not touch it or when I touch it gently - I have not done anything more intense the last 3 weeks with it (for example sex) where it may feel sore so I am not sure.
Before being affected by yeast infection I had a rather good penis hygiene but in general I was not thinking too much about it much because I was always fine with respect to this.
Just to give you a bit more context, I am 27 years old.
For example, some rather "controversial" things that I was doing for my whole life before being affected from yeast infection were:
cleaning my penis head in the shower - I take a shower daily - with a face wash
Because of being a face wash it was not that strong (as dish or hands wash) but it was a bit strong actually.
I now use an emolient.
cleaning my penis head in the shower with a face wash by rubbing the face wash on my penis instead of just patting it.
Sometimes or even usually not entirelly pulling back my foreskin when cleaning my penis at the shower but pulling it by let's say 80% - i.e. the base of my head was not showing
Cleaning my penis head after masturbation or sex with fragrance wipes (which may be a bit strong for it) or even not cleaning at all and then in both cases sleeping for the whole night and getting a shower the next day in the morning or even the next day at night.
Wearing quite tight underwear which make the whole genital area pretty warm and hence the facilitate the developement of bacteria.
(Actually I was doing this even when the weather was very hot for consecutive days or even weeks)
Never pulled my foreskin back to "give some air" to my penis head and avoid any infection growing (eg while sleeping or while reading at home or even at work as long as possible)
However, despite all these things, I never had any problem with my penis or any infection really.
But at least now these days that I had (and still have a bit?) the yeast infection, I did almost the opposite from what I describe at the points above and in general I was very very careful with my hygiene - I am having my mind every 5 mins on my penis condition in order to avoid any infection coming back.
For example, regarding (5) and (6), I was not even wearing an underwear at work and I was wearing pretty loose trousers so that my genital area does not get much warm and I was trying to keep my foresking back as long as possible even at work to "give some fresh air" to my penis head.
**I am wondering, will I get back to my previous state where my penis was not affected by any infection despite some "controversial" things that I was doing (although anyways I will change some of them because it is better) or I will always have to be super careful with my penis from now on?
**
1 like, 20 replies
kim12266 grand_poete
Posted
u should not wash your penis with soap or wipes or anything like that as they can dry out the skin and cause irritation you should only use water nothing else face wash is for wat it says on the label for the face not the genitals using any of those things on skin thats irritated by yeast or anything like that is not going to help your situation its only going to further irritate it
grand_poete kim12266
Posted
haha ok thank you for your answer but I mention at my post that I do not use these anymore and the question (see the very bottom of the post) of the post is a bit different.
kim12266 grand_poete
Posted
ye mabe thats why its now healing dont go back to those and just use water to keep clean theres being clean and theres being to clean
kim12266
Posted
in answer to your question will it go back to normal is yes as yeast is not permanent and does go away pretty quickly when treated just make sure u dont slip back into old habits
grand_poete kim12266
Posted
Cool, although I suppose that if it actually entirely go away then even if I go back to my old habits ( I won't - I am just saying for the sake of the discussion) then I will be fine since I was fine even with these habits.
And to be honest, regarding (5) and (6) of my old habits I will probably go back to them because it is not that easy to consistently avoid them.
kim12266 grand_poete
Posted
those are not good hygiene techniques they are most likely contributions for the reason your skins irritated in the first place ...tight underwear on a hot day?? ..on a normal day tight underwear is not recommended wear loose boxer shorts
grand_poete kim12266
Posted
My yeast infection was probably caused by unprotected sex with my gf (who was probably having thrush herself).
I have been wearing tight underwear for my whole life before and nothing really happened.
And in any case, what is the purpose of trunks then etc.
Otherwise we would have to wear only boxers.
grand_poete
Posted
See here for more info: https://patient.info/forums/discuss/how-do-i-know-that-my-yeast-infection-is-healed--716793?page=0&order=Oldest.
kim12266 grand_poete
Posted
thrush is not an std so cannot be passed on by sex
kim12266
Posted
most men wear boxers
kim12266
Posted
yeast lives naturally on the skin its when the balance is upset that it starts to have problems and it overgrows thus causing a yeast infection
grand_poete kim12266
Posted
"It's possible for thrush to spread during sex, but it's not an STI. However, both sexual partners may need thrush treatment to prevent re-infection. Re-infection from a female partner is common."
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/thrush-in-men
grand_poete kim12266
Posted
I doubt that too especially for men 30+.
grand_poete
Posted
The last message goes to what you said "most men wear boxers".
kim12266 grand_poete
Posted
then it would be an std
james16984 kim12266
Posted
I never wear boxers, i've always worn briefs (quite a large proportion of older guys do!). As long as they are good quality cotton there will be hardly any difference down there. Most younger men wear trunks nowadays which are usually tight fitting to keep everything in place. I wouldn't use anything but warm water to clean the glans though, I learnt that after getting balanitis a few times as it irritates the sensitive skin that's under there. I always dry the head with a towel after showering then leave it to dry naturally before getting dressed for the day. As long as you don't share a house with strangers there's no problem "letting it hang out" for twenty minutes!
grand_poete james16984
Posted
Yes, that's my point.
I do not think that many 30+ years old guys wear boxers (and it makes some sense because it is a bit more a habit of young people).
Ok I may do only warm water although I cannot resist using at least an emolient - it is hard to believe that something is cleaned only with water (imagine us doing this on our body - we would be dirty after a couple of days).
Regarding drying, I agree.
In any case, as I mention, my question at my post is different ("I am wondering, will I get back to my previous state where my penis was not affected by any infection despite some "controversial" things that I was doing (although anyways I will change some of them because it is better) or I will always have to be super careful with my penis from now on?").
As I have said, I was having all these quite "bad" habits and still I had literally no problem with my penis (no balanitis, yeast infection) until I had unprotected sex with girlfriend and probably from it I was infected.
I was thinking that since her STD test was clean then there will be no problem with unprotected sex but you see that finally there is at least a minor one (yeast infection) - I will think about it again before having unprotected sex.