Penis Rash / Contact Dermatitis?

[PeakingDuck]

I did something rather silly 16 days or so ago. I had unprotected sex with a girl that I don't know from a bar of soap. She is 20 years old. Initially we used condoms (without much joy) I believe I had some serious coordination problems with it at some point and might have done some injury to myself.

However the next day I found my penis was a little sore and my right testicle felt like it had been through a meat grinder!  Probably about 4-5 days after it happened, I noticed that my penis was getting sorer by the day. About 8 days later, I was in quite a bit of pain and I examined myself carefully and found there was a rash on the right hand-side just under the glans that backed onto my foreskin. It looked like I had taken a triangular slice of skin from it!(very angular looking).

I let it go for another day, but the symptoms worsened. So the next day(being a public holiday) I went to the local medical center. The doctor checked it out and said that it was a normal rash and prescribed some topical cortisone cream. Naturally I was concerned that it was an STD of some kind, so she tested me for Chlaymdia (came back negative). I will get more tests done in a week

The cream seemed to work ok for a couple of days, but as soon as I stopped using it, the rash(about half the size of a dime - very small) would flare up and I would be intense pain (from the penis through to the testicles). The pain was so intense actually this Saturday gone by, that I had to take pain killers so I could get some sleep!

I also saw my local GP today and he had a gander at it. He said it was contact dermatitus there could be issues with bacteria/fungus in the area due to the location(under the foreskin). He prescribed a combo Cortisone cream AND broad spectrum anti-fungal cream. So far so good..

I have also had some really strange symptoms over the last few weeks. Shooting pains down my right leg, pain in my right testicle, occasional shooting pains in my penis and occasional tingles in legs etc. These symptoms generally come and go and are not continous.  

1. Could the shooting pains, occasional tingles etc be caused by the nature of the rash? Cortisone cream? or something else?
2. How long does a typical rash underneath the foreskin take to repair? (mild to severe rash). I have had this for over 2 weeks now, and I am not seeing much of an improvement.
3. I don't believe this girl has any STD's, I spoke to her and she reckons she's clean as a whistle and says she knows all of her partners. Is there a small chance than any kind of STD could make this rash behave in such a fasion? or would you surmise that it is more likely a bacterial / fungal issue causing it to flare up?
4. I also notice, that everytime I shower(2x a day - I always carefully clean the foreskin) the pain disappears for a while and the angry red colour fades somewhat for a little while. However after a few hours, the pain comes back, any ideas? (Bacteria having a party and inviting their friends?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Rashes on the skin of the penis can cause redness and itching.  They don't cause pain, certainly not pain shooting down the legs.  I suspect that these pains and tingles come from your anxiety over the rash, not from the rash itself.  Rashes can can a couple of weeks to go away.  Redness can last even longer, especially if there's ongoing friction (such as frequent and meticulous cleaning, which is not necessary and may be aggravating things.)  I can't think of any STD's which produce symptoms matching those you describe.  I think you ought to avoid all active medications at this point and use only bland lotions, like moisturizing lotions.  If the symptoms pf pain persist, you should consult a urologist.  If the rash persists (more than just redness) you should see a dermatologist.  

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[PeakingDuck]

Thanks for the reply Dr. Rockoff. I don't think I explained myself very well :) Basically I think I actually took a thin-layer of skin(in a triangle shaped pattern) off in that area. I called it a rash for the lack of a better term.

What I found interesting was that, when I did clean the area (shower etc)- the pain would disappear completely for several hours. Hence why I believed something else might have been causing problems such as bacteria.

The pain is definately real! (I am one of those idiots who doesn't say anything until it's about to fall off). The pain was so excruciating the other night, that i had to go home from a friend's house to put on some cortisone cream + pop some pain killers.

However it is fading away now and seems to be resolving itself naturally.

I will follw your advice and see how it goes. I think because of the location of the 'skinned' area (in a very moist warm area), has aggravated the injury. This would also explain why it took several days to flare up.

I will heed your advice and see how it goes over the next few days.

Thanks again for your time!

[appleipod]

My problem is kind of similar.

Just a few hours ago I was taking a shower and had the urge to masturbate. Having no lubricants, I used soap. After doing so, any contact the head of my penis had with water hurt like hell.
I ignored it and dried off as usual and did my usual things.

Just then I sat down on the toilet to do "da business" and my penis hurt. Just under the head, like right under it, near the pink line, was a few cuts around it. It hurt like hell.

Now I've had surgery on my right testicle before to remove a couple of cists and fluid build up.

I'm freaking out right now. It hurts to hell and I'm afraid I'll need surgery again. I hate hospitals. I've almost died there three times and I don't want to go back.

So in a nut shell, my penis has a few cuts on it and it hurts to hell.

Also, the head of the penis seems to tingle, though slightly painfully when it is squeezed or touched.

Is there ANYTHING I can do to get these cuts to go away? Will time cure it?

Please respond, the pain is really affecting me.

[appleipod]

ALSO: The pain doesn't affect me normally. Only when water or any liquid touches the rash or cut points or when It is squeezed or touched/poked hard.