Recurring Itchy rash on lips, genitals, and other

[CC Riley]

I am a 29 year old male.  For the past 3 years, I have experienced a rash once or twice every year.  It always occurs in exactly the same places on my body at the same time.  It is mostly confined to my lips and genital areas.  It is present on most areas of the lip that are exposed to the air when my mouth is closed.  There are some larger areas at the corners of my mouth.  It is present on most of my scrotum and much of the shaft of my penis.  There is also a quarter-sized patch on my chin, a very small patch on the underside of my nose, and some small patches between my fingers.

The rash itself is characterized by very small, pin-sized bumps.  At least that is what I can see and feel on my lips, chin and finger.  I cannot see bumps in my genital area, just some swelling, puffiness, and redness.  My scrotum and penis look very wrinkled when this is happening, which I attribute to swelling.  The major symptom of this rash is itching.  The itch is TERRIBLE and nothing stops it except ice (numbing cold).

After about 4 or 5 days, the skin on my lips becomes tight and small portions begin to flake off. On my scrotum and penis, the skin begins to flake off as well.  Then the itching stops and I am fine.

The rash does sometimes show up within a day of sexual activity, but sometimes occurs when I have not had sex for awhile.  The first time I had the rash it did "crust over" on my lips (a sort of orangish color), but this crust came from many small bumps and did not turn into a blister.  

The fact that the rash always occurs in the same places, that it is most prominent in the mouth and genital area, and that it lasts for about 5 days seems to point toward herpes.  Factors arguing against herpes would seem to be the wide area of coverage, the absence of fever blisters (unless the small pin size bumps and later flaking indicate small blisters), and the prominence of itching.

What do you think it is?  I am mostly worried about being contagious.  

[contreras5c]

A related discussion, Yearly rashes was started.

[dashmo]

I also have a rash on my penis very similar to what you describe. It almost always occurs within hours of having sex. Because I use condoms every time I thought it may be a reaction to Latex but the non-latex condoms made no difference.
The itchy patch is in the same place each time and after a day or so the skin goes very dry cracks and peels off.
Sex with my partner has become non-existant as a result.
Help!

[bobby123]

I too have simillar symptoms I have blistering on my scrotum this is the third time this has happened to me the first time was 2 or 3 years ago the second time was about 3 or 4 months ago and now its back can anyone tell me weather or not this could be something other than a std.

[Cabell]

Hello...like CC Riley, I too have had red patches of skin on the head of my penis.  It does not blister, but you can see the patches of a different shade of red.  I do have regular sex with my girlfriend about 4 days a week, at least 2 times a day.  I do use a condom 95% of the time, but many times after sex my penis shaft itches and the head of my penis is inflammed (does not hurt or itch), and the red patch becomes more visible.  As a result, I end up itching my penis shaft causing it to last longer.

When I get out of the shower, the head of the penis wrinkles, like the tips of your fingers when you leave them in water a long time.  It does not itch (the head).  I put desitin on it one time, and cortizone 10 the next day (wonder if this could cause reaction).  Also, I have patches itchy skin on the insides of my elbows, corners of my eyes, shoulders & chest, scalp, and behind my ears.  They form in light red or pink patches, and go away with cortizone, but come right back.  The itchiness around my eyes is the most irritating.  They too wrinkle around the skin of the eyelid, corners of the eye, and under the eye on the eyelash line.


My penis worries me the most, because I am hoping it is not an STD.  Because I have been having similiar types of skin rashes on other parts of my body, I wonder it it is some sort of skin condition that is effecting my penis too.  It has never blistered, but the red patches, and wrinkles make me wonder if it is herpes/STD???. PLEASE HELP ME STOP WORRYING...IT MAKES IT WORSE IT SEEMS!  I don't have health insurance, so I cannot afford the doctor right now.

Thank you,

Cabell

[TeddyA]

I have something that is almost identical to what CC Riley describes. It has now appeared for the second time in a year. The itch on the penis is, as he describes, terrible. The only difference between he describes and what I have is that in addition to the rash on the lips and penis, I also have small rashes on my neck and chest.

I'm curious: What would trigger a rash to appear primarily on the lips and penis if it's not an STD?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

It doesn't sound anything like herpes to me.  (I say this for many reasons, but I'll just give you one: you can get herpes on the lips or herpes on the genitals, but not in both places at the same time.) If anythning, it's eczema, which can come and go and act like what you describe.  My advice is to take good photos and show the doctor when you can get an appointment.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff