Never ending Balanitis/Balanoposthitis

[BobbyJackson]

Hello,
i'll try to post my story here and hope that there are other people that have had and solved the problem I have now.

So, it all started in early November. During the night I woke up and started feeling this burning on the top of my penis. In the morning I started seeing that the whole glans became red and I had this burning sensation at the same time. I thought it might be a hygiene problem so i started washing it more often.
6 days after that it didn't stop. So i went to see a doctor (generalist) and he took a quick look and said it was a fungus and prescribed me a cream (that contained clotrimazole). He said that normally it would be gone in 2 weeks. At the same time I made an appointment with an urologist (i had to wait 2 weeks and a couple of days till that to happen). Now after applying the cream, the itching/burning sensation started fading away and was practically gone in 2 weeks. But the redness didn't disappear.

Went to the urologist, told him my story, he took a short look and prescribed me an antifungal+antimicrobial cream (Nystalocal) and told me to use it for 10 days and that normally the problem would be solved afterwards.

I did use the cream, and that didn't help. Instead, my foreskin became red as well. I went to see him in 2 weeks again and he took an even shorter look and told me to re-use the cream and that such cases may occur.

I reused it for another 10 days. The redness still didn't disappear and I sometimes have an unpleasant feeling of inflammation of the glans.

During all this time I was freaked out I might have an STD, etc. My only unprotected sex encounter had been 3 weeks before the burning started, but the girl had her tests done 1 month earlier and she had nothing.

Got even a rapid finger blood HIV test after 9 weeks which came out negative (after what i've read percentage of confidence greater than 90%) which is fine enough for me + the girl had her HIV test several months before and it was negative (since then no unprotected encounters).

So, now I decided to go see another urologist. This one didn't even look and made me have some tests (painful btw). He extracted prostatic fluid and made me a penile swab test.

The results came in one week. The swab test showed st epidermidis as only bacteria present which as i understand is a normal bacteria of the skin and nothing to worry about.

The prostatic fluid showed however that i had gardnerella vaginalis. He diagnosed me with chronic bacterial urethro-prostatitis and prescribed oral antibiotics for 15 days (clarithromycin, ciprofloxacin, ornidazole) + some other nature related pills (vitamins and energy).

I am now on my 10th day of antibiotics, and there is no result whatsoever upon the redness of my glans and foreskin.

I have also seen a dermatologist before I went to the urologist. He said he could easily prescribe me a cream, but he told me to go see an urologist in order to see if there was any urologicy related infection for my condition. The fact that the swab test showed no un-normal bacteria makes me think that it's not related to such an infection and that it might be a skin condition.

Since the happening, I wash my penis twice a day with water and don't use any soaps, etc.

My questions (hoping someone could help) are :
1. Can gardnerella vaginalis be the cause of the reddening of the glans and the foreskin?
2. Why doesn't the redness go away? What can it be from a dermatological point of view?
3. Is it common that a balanoposthitis last that long? I am still stressed out and haven't had a normal life since the inflammation.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

[rigobertis]

I have been suffering of a 4 month never ending balanitis, i have been put on acyclovir,itraconzaole, and ciprofloxacin, and nothing works.
my email is evil.empire.***@****, please let me know what did you do with this? how did it cure?

[rigobertis]

I have been suffering of a 4 month never ending balanitis, i have been put on acyclovir,itraconzaole, and ciprofloxacin, and nothing works.
my email is evil.empire.***@****, please let me know what did you do with this? how did it cure?

[timprice007]

Sir,

I, too, am suffering from never-ending, life-hindering balanitis. Do not feel alone.

I've had many tests - including HIV, HSV - all negative. My urologist, a kind, professional man, has given me a topical steroid cream ( hydrocortisone 1%) which works, then, after some weeks, does not, and the condition returns, much to my dismay.

I also used an anti-bacterial cream to no effect.

It's important to have a warm bath everyday, and use some salt, to clean the area.

There are many things that cause balanitis; you must know the cause to have a cure. You might want to ask for a biopsy.

If it's an irritant, you might want to try Pimecrolimus 1%. I'll be asking for this next week. It's the last ditch effort before the last-last ditch effort, which is, unfortunately, circumcision. The idea of circumcision is depressing, and, regardless of my discomfort, I do not know If it's something I could do.

Please stay in touch. Other men are helped by our efforts.