Recurring Red Rash and Red Bumps on Penis Head, and over three months.

Posted , 27 users are following.

Hello everyone,

I'm just about 30 years old and I am uncircumcised. My foreskin is a bit tight, but it is easily pulled back when flaccid. I've been having this same issue for a few months now. My meatus (urethra) looks slightly inflamed. There’s a red rash of red bumps that show up on my penis head and it varies on where it shows up from time to time. There is no discharge anywhere. I’ve noticed it can get worse after taking a hot shower/bath/masturbation.


Pictures provided below without using anything below.

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Picture after using Nystatin below.

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Picture after using CeraVe moisturizer below.

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Possible remedies

Nystatin 100,000 unit/gram topical powder - helps keep the redness down when applying regularly.

Diflucan - haven’t tried yet, but might help, apparently it could have worse side effects than the above though.

Diflucan vs. Nystatin

https://www.rxlist.com/diflucan_vs_nystatin/drugs-condition.htm

CeraVe moisturizer - applying this 2x daily helps keep the irritation down to a minimum.


This unknown issue started occurring a while back around June. On 07/02/2020, I got a full STD test with blood and urine that all came back NEGATIVE for the following;

Chlamydia trachomatis RNA, TMA, Urigenital

Neisseria gonorrhoeae RNA, TMA, Urigenital

HIV AG/AB, 4th gen

Hepatitis B surface antigen

Hepatitis C antibody

HSV 1 IGM screen (herpes)

HSV 2 IGM screen (herpes)

RPR (DX) w/refl titer and confirmatory testing (syphilis)


Later that month, my symptoms were not improving, on 07/23/2020, I went to a GP and he looked at it and said it is just a case of balanitis/jock itch. I went to the store and got Lamisil like he suggested. However, I didn’t notice much of an improvement so I then filled the prescription he gave me for (nystatin 100,000 unit/gram topical powder).

I’ve read many forums like this one searching for answers as to what it might be. I also read online that balanitis could last for a month or so. It has been going on a few months now, but It’s still not gone, so I went back to the GP again on 09/21/2020 and did a urine test for the two listed below not previously tested for after it being mentioned on some forums here as a possible cause, but both came back NEGATIVE, specifically the following two;

Trichomonas vaginalis RNA qualitative TMA, males

Mycoplasma genitalium, realtime, PCR

Trichomonas is hard to detect from what I’ve read. If I’m not mistaken, a urine sample is better than a swab test concerning the detection rate.


Within the week of 10/05/2020, I did another full panel STD blood and urine test for peace of mind, and it all came back NEGATIVE again. The below list was what was tested. However, it didn’t include herpes, but I tested negative for that a few months back anyways.

RPR (DX) w/refl titer and confirmatory testing (syphilis)

Chlamydia trachomatis RNA, TMA, Urigenital

Neisseria gonorrhoeae RNA, TMA, Urigenital

Hepatitis C antibody

Hepatitis B surface antigen

HIV AG/AB, 4th gen

Trichomonas vaginalis RNA qualitative TMA, males

Mycoplasma genitalium, realtime, PCR


To sum it up, The nystatin powder helped to keep the redness down, but if I stopped using it then the red spots/redness came back. This makes me think it is some kind of fungus, but I’m still unsure because moisturizer also seems to help keeping inflammation to a minimum?

Another guess I have is that it could be a chronic case of zoon’s balanitis?

Some people here think it could be a strain of HPV (could last a few years)?

My GP also suggested circumcision possibly, but I’ve seen others on here that are circumcised that also have issues like mine and I’d rather not go the route of adult circumcision anyways.


11/07/2020, latest update: I stopped using Nystatin back around the beginning of October, and instead, l just put CeraVe moisturizer on my penis once or twice a day. I’ve noticed the redness doesn’t get inflamed and there’s less occurrence of red bumps. I am holding off on going to a Urologist my GP referred me to for the time being. I’ll update this post later if I find out what else it could potentially be when I end up going to a urologist.

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  • Posted

    Hey Stressful,

    I have the same condition as you, I had sex with a girlfriend about 3 months. She tested positive for chlamydia, ureaplasma, mycosplasma and candida. After the day of sex with that girlfriend I had a boil in the glans, not itchy, then a rash, painful and stinging, no itching, burning and wet urination in erythema, but I promptly treated it, giving until now the painful urination is gone, the erythema is no longer wet and painful, but they persist. I have used a lot of topical creams such as: tetracyclin, kentoconazole, canesten, fucidin H, Silkron, Betaderm-neomycin, coconut oil, but the erythema persists, most visible after erection and masturbation. I asked my treating doctor but she doesn't know why. I am currently on flucort n cream, but still not improving significantly. I do not know what is wrong, stuck

  • Edited

    Hi Sir ... you dont mention if it is painful or itchy or whether you either had any possible exposure to either irritant or disease b4 it started. What i mean is ...

    Could be that if you had a week of overindulgence then the skin may be slightly irritated / inflamed ---- any thing yu added to it like creams etc can cause it to go into overdrive and the bad cycle of inflammation / cream / dryness etc starts.

    but ... it can also be that a sudden thing caused it to start to get inflammed -- like lube etc.

    i have battle this with my b/f .. in his case he had history of over use of lube and etc and it became sensitive .. then he self medicated ... now it wont settle down ,, Jen

    • Posted

      I'm still unsure what it is, but it has significantly improved over the months since my last post. It does sometimes gets irritated and a few red bumps appear and then I'll apply a bit of moisturizer and it'll look better within that same day. It still looks redder than it used to be in areas, but otherwise, it's not painful or anything. I've since stopped using moisturizer daily as well.

  • Edited

    My conclusion is that it's an irritation of some sort that got triggered by something. I never did end up going to a urologist or anything yet since it has improved, but I'll admit that I am curious as to what it is exactly and might end up going sometime this year, but also I think it'll just be diagnosed as a form of balanitis. It now normally looks redder around the rim of my head and in the middle going towards my urethra and around it from what I could tell. image

    • Posted

      I have gone through this and I have the exact same thing. Is your sperm count low as well ? due to the inflammation ? This is my biggest concern that i am dealing with.

  • Posted

    any updates here guys? have had the same problem for 6 months now (after recieving unprotected oral). tested negative for stds and all treatments make it even worse. not sure what to do anymore

    • Posted

      nope i havent, im in canada so they only test if you actually have a breakout. ive tested for everything else tho

    • Posted

      Hey bro, it might be a prostate infection which is very hard to capture in a urine culture and sometimes it doesn't even show in your semen culture. Try talking to a urologist and he will do a physical exam to see if your prostate is not in normal shape.

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