Groin rash, dematitis, herpes? What is this?

I went to the doctor last year due to the fact that I had a cold sore and a red lesion on my penis. I went to a men's clinic and was tested for syphilis and herpes. Both tests came back negative. I was put on Acyclovir as a precaution, and by my return visit, there seemed to be no change in my symptoms, in which the doctor referred me to a dermatologist.

4-5 weeks from my initial symptoms, I made my visit to the dermatologist. I spoke to him, but by that time, it seemed that the redness on my penis had dissipated. He asked me questions such as the color of the legion as well as if there was any notifiable bleeding ever, and i answered no. He told me that the best he could do is prescribe me 2.5% hydrocortisone creme and gave me instructions on how to apply it. He gave me a diagnosis of dermatitis.

I have used the creme periodically as the symptoms have returned, and it has worked nicely. This was the case until a couple of months ago. I saw a red spot similar to the ones before so i applied the creme. The spot went away after the 7 day course of creme. Then one week later it came back again. I treated it again and again it came back. I have done this about three times with the same outcome. I am concerned not only at the persistence of this redness that seems to get larger if not treated, but also the over use if this creme.

Can you give me an idea of what you think it might be?

Sexual history: 2 sexual partners,  intercourse always with a condom with the first, and intercourse with the second has been mostly with a condom. She was a virgin when we started dating and we have been in a monogamous relationship for more than 4 years.

[Jasmina Jankicevic, MD, MSc, CCRP]

Welcome to the Dermatology Expert Forum!

Recurrent penile erosion, responsive to treatment with topical corticosteroid hydrocortisone might be a clinical manifestation of quite a few diseases including Lichen planus, Lichen sclerosus, Psoriasis inversa, etc.

Optimal way to differentiate is to have lesion evaluated by a dermatologist before corticosteroid treatment. Because of its anti-inflammatory effect hydrocortisone could be masking even some other autoimmune skin diseases or STDs. Dermatologist will recommend adequate diagnostic tools (including biopsy) to remove any uncertainty.


Wishing You Optimal Health,
Dr. Jasmina Jankicevic

[kaos120]

I have what looks to be two very small lesions on the head of my penis. They don't hurt, there isn't any discharge from them, and the don't scab up but they do heal. As far as sexual partners I've only had two partners. the first one i was in a relationship with her for two years and we used condoms at first but as time went on we stopped using them. having said that she was a virgin when i met her. But she did have reoccurring yeast infections even though she be prescribed meds to treat it the yeast infection would always come back. The second girl i was with i met her through an acquaintance the first time we had sex we didn't use a condom, but the other four times we used condoms. She had a child about nine months before we got together. I've been tested for std's and HIV and the tests came up negative the only one's i haven't been tested for genital warts or herpes though. Tthere doesn't seem to be any signs of either of the on my genitalia, I kinda wanna before i decide to meet a new woman i would like to date or get to know.  It's been over three months and I don't know whats going on can you help?

[RD770]

Hi,

About 2 weeks ago I discovered I had a genital wart on my penis.  I applied a cotton ball with apple cider vinegar to it in 3 different applications and the wart fell off.

Subsequent to this, I noticed that much of the skin on my scrotum flaked off.  This would have been about 10 days ago.  Since then, I have had a red rash on my scrotum and a small white patch on unaffected skin between my 2 testicles.  The skin goes from pink to red and the pain is pretty bad.  I went to infectious diseases and the said it wasn't herpes and that I should see a dermatologist.

8 days ago I went to my family doctor and explained the entire situation to them including the vinegar and they indicated that I had developed a yeast infection and prescribed a cream "Lotriderm" which contains 1% clotrimazole and 0.05% betamethasone.

I applied this cream for about a week and I had mixed results.  Some days it seemed to improve and other days it flared up horribly.  My pharmacist and doctor told me I should stick to it that yeast infections take up to 2 weeks to clear up.

So after 7 full days of treatment without improvement I finally got to see a dermatologist.  She took a look at me and told me that the apple cider vinegar had burned my scrotum and that the anti fungal cortisone cream (lotriderm) was actually making it worse.

She told me to take a bath in baking soda (which was actually good), apply some soothing protective cream called "Toleriane riche".  It's supposedly for intolerant skin prone to dryness.

The last 48 hours have been equally painful if not worse.  The only relief I get comes from cold compresses or from baths in baking soda.

Does this fit anything you've seen?

Thanks.

[shawns_ange102]

how do u post a question on the forum

[littledocter]

I was having a nasty rash around my penis and only on one side of my scrotem I went to my derm and she  at first didnt know what it was but she thought that it might have been dry skin  so she gave me a cream for it  over  a two week period it got worse. She then put me on metrogel 1% that didnt work then she tried desonide 0.05% and that cleared it up after a two week period and it came right  back so a month ago she put me on clobetasol propionate  cream 0.05%  which is stronger then the desonide cream after about a hour of use the itchness went away and my skin after three days cleared up  because its so strong you can only use this cream for two weeks.Two days after i was done using i started itching again I went back and she said it might be something crawling under the skin. This past week she had done a biopsy on me and found out  i have a allergic contact eczema I have to go have a allergy patch testing. Im really hoping that she does find out what is wrong because it looks like scabbies down there and itching the groin area  all the time isnt pleasing  when you try to work and have people looking at you