Eczema, psoriasis

Hello, i am 22 years old, in the military stationed in iraq for the past year. a few months into my deployment i noticed irritation on the skin of the upper shaft of my penis on the left side a little below the head, i havent had any sexual contact the whole time ive been in iraq and i had sex probably no earlier then a month before i left. I asked a health care provider about it but he thought it was a fungus, he gave me a cream to use but nothing happend, i been using lamisil for months now but nothing really changes. there were points in time it would itch real bad but most of the time it doesnt bother me, i have been looking at pics online and it looks alot like psoriasis, i thought at first that it could be ring worm then i read about eczema and psoriasis and seen pics and there is a whole lot of resemblance, i read a few reviews that were answered by DR. Rockoff back in 2004 and the guy explained that he had a small bump underneith the penis about a 1/4 of an inch below the head that was just a small bump with no redness or itching. i have the same thing, its just there. the head of my penis got irritated too later on after the first part of the irritation. the irritation is in more of a circular shape on both sides. it has gone away quite a bit since i first had it. but ive been working hard to take better care. a small part of the left side is red and raised but not itchy at all on the head, it is cracked skin sometimes peels. the cracked and peeling skin happens on the full irritation, on the shaft and the head. on the shaft on the upperskin just under the head, there was an irritation that was circular shape, the center healed up and the outter part of it was still irritated, then that healed up completely after awhile and now the skin is light colored, the skin on my penis looks tanned compared to that spot, there is also a smaller light spot on the top mid area of the shaft there was more irritation there and it turned into scaly peeling skin then it healed up into a light spot, there is still pealing cracked skin on the top of my shaft that is still there and it looks like eczema or something but not sure. i can try to give more details later if needed, i really dont have any way to see a dermotoligist for awhile but i need to know what all i can do to help it go away, and possible what body wash and shampoo or whatever i can use. thanks

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
The symptoms are suggestive of eczema. Wash the areas several times with fresh water. Do not use any cosmetic products at the sites. You can apply some calamine lotion at the rash as it will help in soothing the skin. You can take some OTC oral antihistamine medications like Benadryl or Claritin and see if it helps.

For mild-moderate eczema a weak steroid may be used (e.g. hydrocortisone as dermacort), whilst more severe cases require a higher-potency steroid (e.g. clobetasol propionate, fluocinonide). These are available under prescription. Eczema can be exacerbated by dryness of the skin. Use good quality moisturizers to prevent moisture loss from the skin.

If still the symptoms do not improve then please get a clinical examination done by a dermatologist.

I hope this helps Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing or fi you have any additional doubts. Kind regards.