Open sore on scrotum possibly caused by forcibly popping acne

[kings1978]

I'm 29 year old sexually active gay male who just a few days ago noticed a sizable zit-like bump on the left side of my scrotum.  It's quite sore and annoying.  As some background, I naturally have very dry skin and have the bad habit of scratching the area around my scrotum quite often, and additionally, I have a lot of hair off my scrotum and often pull the hair off of it as a nervous habit (when i'm alone in my apartment of course).  So the zit appeared as a red bump with swelling around it, and I thought I could try to pop and drain it, and yesterday it finally popped and white fluid came out. The problem is, it's now an open sore with a white center and red dots along the outside, which look like internal bleeding or something.  I'm concerned because the zit appeared shortly after I engaged in sexual activity, but at the same time, I exercise 3-4 times a week, mostly doing high-intensity power yoga classes for up to 2 hours where I usually end up soaking with sweat.  That coupled with my propensity for pulling hair off my scrotum, and the fact that I spent an hour or two sunbathing in the nude last weekend, makes me feel like this is probably just an infected zit.  I had a similar situation once where a zit appeared on my elbow and I popped it, and it was sore and bleeding on my elbow for a day or two, although that time there was no discharge.  The white discharge worries me and I need to make sure this isn't some kind of STD.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

No, it doesn't sound like an STD.  It sounds like a hair follicle that got inflamed because you pulled the hair out.  I advise you to leave the bump alone and to apply bacitracin or neosporin 2-3 times a day.  It should heal up fine.  If it isn't improving, you can show it to a doctor.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff