Recurring balanitis, anyone else get this?
Posted , 3 users are following.
I've suffered with recurring balanitis on and off for a few years now. Without warning my foreskin will go red raw around the ridge that rolls up to protect the glans and become sore and tight. After a few days it goes away and the red skin flakes away and all goes back to normal. I had tight foreskin as a teenager which didnt loosen when erect till I was about thirty but it hasn't given me any problems until 3-4 years ago. I do not use condoms and definitely have no STD's. Anyone else similar that has any easy answers?!
0 likes, 6 replies
james16984
Posted
the tight ring when its retracted
gaganplus james16984
Posted
Just remove the foreskin while bathing and wash it for 15-30 seconds with normal water and then dry it and then you can retract it back. Although, don't use soaps or any other chemical products. This method helped me. I hope it helps you too.
james16984 gaganplus
Posted
thank you for your reply, much appreciated. I shower every morning and clean my glans with warm water in the shower then let it dry for twenty minutes whilst i make breakfast. This just appears randomly and goes in a few days. Its stopped stinging now and progressed to the itchy phase which drives me mad!
Wee_Dugie james16984
Posted
James, here is one of my guides on the typical causes of Balanitis, check it out and see what you think:
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Penile Hygiene, Red Spots, Irritation & What to do
On the head / glans of the penis the most common cause of red spots is something that is causing irritation to the very sensitive skin. For a sexually active male who does NOT use protection the most common cause of irritation is yeast / fungal infection derived from penetrative vaginal sex.
It is also possible to develop a fungal infection without sex, however this is linked to poor hygiene practices and is avoided through regular showering, change of underclothes daily, and for someone who is sportingly active or does gym workouts where sweat is a regular occurrence, then again, sports clothing needs to be changed on a daily basis for freshly washed ones.
After this, irritation can become an accumulative issue, and almost anything in contact with the skin of the glans / head of the penis on a regular basis can cause this. Here the most common irritant is soap, shower gel, and for someone using condoms regularly, these can also become an irritant. Most often the problem becomes evident when someone changes soap, shower gel, switches to a different brand or type of condom, or uses a different lube for sex or masturbation on the penis.
However, sometimes nothing in particular seems to have triggered the problem, in these instances you quite literally have to exclude everything from contacting the glans / head of the penis - and this includes all the things I have already mentioned, particularly soap and all forms of body wash.
Always use water only to wash the glans / head of the penis - during a shower, do not apply anything to the penis, wash everywhere else on the body first and fully rinse any cleansers from the body. Spend sometime using the running water to fully rinse the entire groin area, and in particular, the glans / head area of the penis. After washing or showering make sure the skin on the entire penis is 100% dry by using a clean dry towel that only you use.
Once you have put the good practices in place, you may not notice any difference for 5 or more months, depending on how long the source of irritation has been experienced by the skin on the glans / head - for many males, the problem is down to an accumulative effect, and even when the sources of irritation are removed, symptoms of irritation such as lumps, bumps and spots can take an extended period of months to completely fade away, of which, 6, 7 or even 8 months is not unusual.
james16984 Wee_Dugie
Posted
Thank you for your reply. It's really strange how this just appears overnight occasionally when i shower the same every morning and wear the same brand cotton briefs every day. It seems to follow the same pattern every time though. Flares up suddenly, goes red and sore, cracks and goes incredibly itchy then the skin peels off and i go back to normal. I sometimes wonder if its due to my foreskin being tight until i was nearly 30.
Wee_Dugie james16984
Posted
So, a Dermatologist would probably say you have some form of contact dermatitis - simply, a chemical (most likely) that your penile skin is in contact with is causing this level of irritation.
I have experienced all the things you have detailed in your post - the approach I had to take was not to think about a single root or 'rougue' cause of the issue. I began by not using soap on my penis, then excluding shower gel, skin creams and lotions went, then lubes for sex, even baby oil for masturbation. I excluded all these things one by one and reached the conclusion I had to eliminate everything, other than water for washing the penis with. As I say, I tried several things together - there was some improvement but this was inconsistent.
The other thing I would suggest is an essential is getting liquid soap flakes, you use this in a washing machine in the normal way instead of soap power or blocks - exclude ALL forms of additives such as fabric conditioner. Use this to wash your briefs in, if you wear sports shorts, then wash them in it too. You need to have clean towels that ONLY YOU use, washing them with the liquid soap flakes would be a good approach.
Just to comment on where you say: " the tight ring when its retracted " - this may suggest there is insufficient blood flow to the glans, particularly in the non-erect state. However, some men's glans do take on a purple appearance - I would suggest if you saw a Urologist about this they would likely suggest you get circumcised.
You could do stretch exercises to the foreskin to see if that would help the situation - this you can do in the shower - you would likely need to do these 3 or 4 times a week, but you can do them at shower time. I can give you web site details for you to check that are on Wiki How ...... ?