DRYNESS OF THE SKIN

[catUSU]

I have dryness all around on the skin of the shaft of penis from past 2 weeks. There is also a small cut on the foreskin too. The cut on foreskin is getting healed after application of cortisone cream. But the cut came back when ever penis is enlarged but this time cut was smaller. For dryness I am using cortisone and Vaseline every day 2 times from past 1 week(advised to use for dryness on on of the forums). The dryness came back when I forgot to apply the creams yesterday.

Is this a normal thing which can be cured with Vaseline or any contagious disease? Please advise me. Thanks.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It looks like simple dry skin. Too much soapy water, exposure to harsh chemicals, the normal aging process and certain types of skin diseases are some of the causes of decreased amounts of protective skin oils which in turn causes dry skin.

The mainstay of management is liberal use of moisturizers after washing with luke warm water. Soap should be used minimally. Moisturizers should be reapplied liberally during the day.You can also use a topical cortisone (steroid) cream or ointment like dermacort(hydrocortisone). Adding a humidifier to the central heating system of your home or using a humidifier also helps.

If still the symptoms persist then possibility of eczema has to be ruled out. My sincere advice would be to consult a dermatologist in that case.
Hope it helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries. Kind regards.

[catUSU]

Thank you very much Dr. Kaur. I will keep applying the moisturizer atleast a week and see how my dryness is doing. If it persists I will surely see my physician. I will update you on my progress.

I have one more question with psoriasis. My dad back in India got psoriasis from past may be 50 years. He is now 78 years old and his psoriasis is getting bad every year. (My understanding based on your comments is his body slowly producing less and less protective skin oils.......). Couple of months ago he really was in bad shape with psoriasis all of a sudden but fortunately I was in India and I took care of him by placing in a good hospital (Columbia-Asia) in Bangalore. He recovered in a week. Couple of days ago he spoke to me and said since winter is starting he started to see the disease again even though he is applying liquid paraffin over his body as a precaution.

Is there any medicine you suggest that can help him and thats not available in India? I do know that these days we got everything available back there. Yet I thought since psoriasis is quite prevalent in western countries than India may be the research and the products in advanced version are available here in US.

please advise. Thanks.