Crotch Rash or STD?

Recently I got a severe rash in my right-side crotch.  It's bright red, looks like it runs about three inches from back to front, and is about 3/4" wide at it's widest.  There are a couple of places that look like blisters - round, raw and ugly.

For the last week I've been treating it with Lomtrimin Ultra.  When I put it on it's soothing and helps but after a week the rash is just as severe and painful as when it started.

My wife suggested herpes because she gets them from time to time and I've never (to my knowledge) had them.

A search of the internet suggests herpes, scabbies and Syphilis.  Yeeks!

The only possible contributing bit of info is this: on the shaft of my penis I have a red spot about 1/4" round that is somewhat hard and definitely differently colored than the rest of the penis.  I've had this for at least a few years and nothing's changed, grown or hurt.  Could this be part of the puzzle?

What do I have and how can I make it go away?

Thanks very much.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Only an educated guess, but this sounds like a bacterial infection called impetigo.  You need oral and topical antibiotics.  Please call your doctor and get seen and treated.  These infections are often not caught fro anything, but they can spread to others if untreated.  Not an STD.  Not herpes, scabies, or syphilis.  Stop worrying and get treated--it's easy and fast and curative.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[ExPolitico]

I forgot to add another potential clue: for about four months, ending a month ago, I had all sorts of hemmorhoid-like problems and rashs in the anal area.  I couldn't get myself clean but when I went to a proctologist he said that there was nothing to operate on; rather, I just had a rash.  

Since then I've done all the things to make that area okay again: no soap, no harsh cleaning, changing my diet to eliminate foods that make my bm's sticky, etc.

Could this present crotch rash be the same thing but in a different area?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I doubt it, unless there has been irritation in both places that got infected in one.  But why speculate?  You need to be treated.

Dr. Rockoff

[crossedfingers]

A related discussion, rash or std was started.