Sticky foreskin/glans makes retracting foreskin over penis head uncomfortable
Posted , 53 users are following.
Whenever I have sex or masturbate, I find that I experience discomfort when my foreskin moves up and down. I think this is caused by the inside of my foreskin being sticky. This means that the foreskin doesn't glide smoothly, it kind of peels down like a sticker when I retract it over the glans.
This isn't caused by any fluid or discharge. I used to use soap to clean my penis but for a while I've just used water as I read this was preferable, however it hasn't got any better since the change.
My penis has always been quite sensitive and it is still sometimes uncomfortable when the exposed head rubs against clothes, which tends to happen occasional when wearing boxers as my foreskin is relatively small and sometimes retracts behind the head on its own. I used to think that my discomfort was caused by the foreskin being too small and have worked on stretching it before, however I am now thinking that without the stickiness it would function okay.
I am 21 years old and used to produce a lot of smegma before I started actively washing my penis but I don't get it any more.
Any help would be much appreciated, this has been causing me considerable distress.
It's really hard to describe, almost like the skin is sticky or tacky but not wet. When I retract the foreskin with my fingers, it doesn't slide down instantly, it kind of slowly follows.
p.s. circumcision is certainly not a valid answer at this stage so please refrain from any such debate.
Edit: I have also tried proper lube before. While this helps for a couple of minutes, I find it quickly dries out/becomes thick and makes the discomfort worse.
Another thing I have noticed is that my penis head has a textured feel and does not look as smooth as other uncut penises I have seen.
8 likes, 76 replies
julian51851 matt27183
Posted
Not sure of the quantity buddy. Each capsule was about 1cm long by 0.5cm across. To be honest you only need a few drops out of each one so the size probably doesn't matter too much. I just pricked the capsule used what I needed, binned what was left and used a fresh one the next time (that way there is no risk it has "gone off" or got contaminated). If it's any encouragement I am now cured and haven't had any more trouble for well over a year. Good luck. J
dip47256 julian51851
Posted
Ok so its been 2 or 3 months since my last post where i was just finished trying coconut oil and about to try simple vitamin e cream and also protopic.
Vitamin E - Tried it a couple of days after writing my last post.
A small hole developed under the head and didn't heal up for 2.5 months. It has finially healed.
I don't think this was specifically related to vitamin E cream but just to how fragile my skin is down there. It often tears during sex but heals. It is the 2+ month healing time that worries me.
Anyway I also tried protopic a could of weeks ago. Everyday for 5 days then left it a number of days and tried it on any flareups.
My verdict is it is good and i can see how it may benefit some people. It is a very thick greasy cream.
Also very hard to find in my area and very expensive.
I stopped with it and I feel like things have improved quite a bit but I am not sure if it was because of protopic or because I stopped constantly putting things on the area.
Maybe it needed a good break.
Today I went to a docotrs and he had a look.
It is looking much better.
Anyway I told him doctors keep giving me fungus cream to me and it doesn't help. He seemed to be understanding and then proceeded to give me a script for econazole nitrate 1% antifungal cream.
However with things going well I am not going to try it.
I did also buy the evening primrose caps and tonight was first night pricking the caps as mentioned above.
I will put 2 drops every day or 2 and see what wffect it has.
I am 100% out of ideas now.
I will mention that I also started taking curcumin, vit E, probiotics, cod liver oil as well which maybe helped as well.
I will give it a few weeks and report back on the evening primrose effects.
Word of advice.... Whatever your using, use it very sparingly.
Hope this knowledge helps someone
julian51851 matt27183
Posted
dip47256 matt27183
Posted
I think best I leave it all alone awhile.
I am scared of that returning.
Was just googling the ingredients of the cream this doctor gave me yesterday.
Sucralfate/zinc/copper.
I have a lot of scar tissue there from it splitting open many times from sex.
From what I am reading of these ingredients they also sound promising.
I may try it one day and report if any good.
julian51851 matt27183
Posted
Sounds like a good idea to stop using it if it is irritating you. I guess not everything will suit everyone. I hope your new cream is helpful. Whatever treatment you decide on it might be worth persevering for a period of time as changing too frequently doesn't always give things time to work and may be confusing in terms of what is / isn't any use. Good luck! Julian
dominikcro matt27183
Posted
I've had the same problem for years and never managed to solve it. In fact, I've had it ever since I started retracting foreskin and cleaning the area (since I was 12 or 13). For years I though that I had some very mild form of phimosis even though I could fully uncover the glans both when flaccid and erect, but eventually I noticed that my foreskin is not actually tight at all because I did an experiment where I managed to put a whole finger in between my foreskin and penile corona! So I think that it is highly unlikely that I have phimosis because opening of my foreskin is quite bigger than circumference of my glans. Also, I highly doubt that this is infection of some kind since there is no itching, swelling, redness whatsoever. It appears as though my penis doesn't produce enough natural lubricant so that my foreskin doesn't glide well. Strangely enough, when I'm very sexually aroused, this problem seems to disappear due to lubrication of some kind and consequently my foreskin glides pretty well. When I'm not aroused enough and try to masturbate It can still cause slight discomfort. Please tell me if someone found a solution to this problem. What could this be?
dominikcro
Posted
I forget to mention that I suffer from a Seborrheic dermatitis, so I think it might be related to this somehow. Even though I don't develop usual symptoms of this dermatitis on my penis (it's usually face, scalp and chest area), maybe the hormonal imbalance behind this disease is also responsible for this condition. Any ideas?
julian51851 matt27183
Posted
I think you are on the money linking it to your eczema / dry skin condition. I have similar skin problems and have had similar problems with my foreskin. Evening Primrose Oil worked for me but I guess any moisturiser / oil could be beneficial. Julian
shaun98183 matt27183
Posted
Hey guys, I also suffer from the same exact thing you are all describing. Doctors always say it's a fungal infection but the antifungals never work. I've had multiple blood and urine tests for STIs that all come back negative, also a swab test. I've had this for at least a year now and I spend every day worrying about it. It has completely killed my sex life and my penis looks awful compared to what it used to.
I also think that the problem was caused from excessive use of soap/bodywash on the head of the penis. I used to wash it with the stuff every day, perhaps it has damaged the glands?
I also have bumps that cover the head and are noticeable when erect, I was wondering if you have the same?
I'm going to try using a good oil as suggested and hope it works. It just seems so hopeless at this point, and no health professionals seem to have an answer.
Hopefully this thread is still active because I really want to get to the bottom of it, and wont feel as alone with this problem anymore.
julian51851 shaun98183
Posted
Hi Shaun, the problem is tricky and it does seem hard to resolve.
I no longer use soap / shower gel etc on my dick - just water, which provided you wash regularly seems to keep things clean and fresh but without making the problem worse.
Evening Primrose Oil did the trick for me and since it cleared up I have not had a recurrence in over two years.
I wish you good luck, don't get to stressed about it it will resolve it's self at some point and life will get back to normal.
kind regards
Julian
shaun98183 julian51851
Posted
Julian, I just want to thank you for your replies to me and everyone else. It seems like you really want to support everyone here and finding this thread last night and reading your recommendations has really given me new hope! All the doctors tell you to keep it dry and to let it air out as much as you can, some even tell people to get circumcised! So reading your comment about it actually being the opposite problem really caught my attention, and makes a lot of sense.
I've started using some organic coconut oil that I have at home and it really has just been a relief not having to deal with the sticky foreskin all day.
I'll check back with an update later down the road to let everyone know if this remedy works for me.
julian51851 shaun98183
Posted
Happy too help buddy, I know how miserable and worried it made me when it was at its worse. I hope you have success. Keep me posted! Julian
dip47256 matt27183
Posted
Well!
It has been maybe 8 months since I posted.
I actually lost this thread and spent a lot of time trying to find it a number of times . I noticed some msgs in my spam tonight and logged straight in.
First up. I took the plunge and got circumcised. Its better but not gone.
Thats the bottom line but if you wanna know about the details and circumcision then read on. It will be lengthy because theres a lot to cover.
Actually reading this thread again has reminded me of symptoms like shiny and sticky that I actually forgot since they are gone.
So at my last post I had tried everything and was having some success with a cream called Sucralfate/zinc/copper. Throughout this journey it was probably best thing I tried but not a cure. Maybe also mild .01% cortisone seemed great.
I went again in February to yet another doctor who looked in amazement but had no diagnosis. He suggested circumcision. The amount of treatment, creams, oils, pills I have tried is probably like 20. This was the last frontier and with a red, shiny, sticky glans that was sticking to my forskin some days and a hole under my glans not healing I felt I had no choice.
3 days later I went back to get it done.
Not much was explained at all about the procedure or risks, outcome, anything.
It hurt but I think best to leave out that bit.
It took a bit over a month to fully heal the wound.
Heads up with this... You can lose length depending how much skin they take. For me they took maximum amount and I lost about an inch of erect length.
So soon after this I noticed it was looking much better down there.
The random hole that never healed for months finally healed. I have since learnt this was a "penile fissure". More on that later.
I believe this thing is called "Zoons balanitis" or a similar type of balanitis perhaps "balanitis obliterans". I read that basically this irritation affects a number of skin layers. Over the next couple of months I saw dry dead skin falling off, getting less and less then gone.
Its been about 3 months since the surgery and this is the situation im at now.
Much improved. No sticky, shiny, dry.
I was able to have sex without my skin tearing. Before it was tearing every time and healing in weird ways joining in the wrong spots. The doctor also cut those spots to fix the area.
Now its smaller a bit. I have mild redness that flares up with sex etc. I wondered for a long time if perhaps its better and this is just a scar but I don't think so. That unpleasant sensitive feeling lingers.
Sex lasts longer now and to be honest is less enjoyable but a lot to do with the condition.
Now I don't really regret the circumcision.
With the foreskin sticking and the fissure I feel it was getting a bit more serious and I probably actually should have done it sooner.
I don't know what to do now. I plan to leave it a bit and hope it continues to improve otherwise I may revisit some previous treatments that I stopped early before because they irritated the fissure.
Also I had hormone check which was normal. So no link there.
If anything more happens I will update and make sure I don't lose the thread again.
If anyone has any questions about the circumcision, ask away because I wasn't satisfied with the depth of information that is available.
Sorry this was so long. Its so much to cover.
vicks12345 dip47256
Posted
Hello everyone. I read all the comments and reply and i seems like everyone is describing my condition. It's been 2.5 years now since I have had this problem. I have consulted almost a dozen dermatologists. Most of then gave me antifungal creams like clotrimazole, fenticonazole, sertaconazole. Some creams are Momate, Amlorg and Q-sone and the eating ones are also too many. But there is no improvement. Glans is wrinkled specially when it comes back from erect position. There are red patches which comes and goes ( but a slight red feel is there all the time. The meatus ( tip of glans from where urine comes out is also red most of the time and has become deep red and swollen 2-3 times. The foreskin tip also swells and becomes red when the symptoms are prominent. The symptoms sometimes are very less and sometimes too much. I don't know what causes the trigger, but recently it's about 5-6 months now I have stopped using everything medication ( the cream and oral medication) and started keeping the penis absolutely dry and stopped using soaps and all ( as the fungus thrives on moisture). The condition is better I think. I mean there was no effect of the medicines maybe. And maybe i ate and applied the medicine but did not think of keeping it dry and clean and the fungus still was able to grow (My hygiene is also not very good, which I have started to take care now) But now because I keep it dry the foreskin sticks to the glans and it's difficult to retract ( as someone said it's like the skin unsticks and looks like its peeling as i keep on opening it. And when I move it back to it's place, it folds backwards and and sticks which is very uncomfortable. As many of you said that the glans looks shinny, it's with me too, and as the penis comes down from erect position to normal, the Shiny skin looks like it has formed an outer layer which is very shiny and thin( like polyethene) which causes the wrinkled appearance. Maybe if I apply the cream and keep it clean and dry at the same it might improve. I'll also update what happens to me later.
brian77887 matt27183
Posted
hey guys,
has anyone got this sorted?
i have had this for 16months. i first noticed it a few weeks after a random girl gave me oral sex for a few seconds. i have been tested several times for STD and always been negative. i started having severe anxiety right after the encounter. maybe its like JULIAN said, body not producing the right oils.. i've also been on 6 courses of antibiotics since which maybe isn't helping