Red Itchy Foreskin - Botches, Rash or Abrasions

Okay. After extensive research for a problem I had (and many others online who couldn't get resolve even from so-called professionals) I have some information to pass on, which hopefully will be helpful and reassuring to others. I'm not medically trained, but I'm pretty good with that Googlie thing and I can read. Hope this helps someone.

Here are the symptoms I had:

- Very red foreskin, mostly towards the head (the gland)
- White smegma under the foreskin and very itchy by the frenulum (that's the bit of skin that attaches to the foreskin to the head)
- The foreskin was dry and beginning to crack, both inside and out
- The foreskin was very sore and itchy, both inside and out
- As time went on it became painful and near impossible to retract my uncircumcised foreskin (called Phimosis)
- At that point, soreness or itchy didn't describe it well. It was total burning! Ouch!

TREATMENT - Is fairly straight forward. The good news is that although it's frustrating and painful, it's actually quite easy to take care of. Here's what you'll need:

- Monistat. Yes, I just said Monistat, the product for yeast infections of the lady bits.

I bought a generic version, as actually Monistat is SUPER expensive. I bought an Equate (walmart brand) version for less than $5. You'll need to look for the following ingredient: Miconazole Nitrate.

IGNORE the instructions. Instead, I recommend the following:

- Wash hands thoroughly and regularly (I know you do always, but be extra thorough)
- Wash hands immediately after peeing
- Apply cream every time you pee (4-6 times a day)
- Apply the cream on shaft and the red areas.
- Apply the cream to the head/gland and inside of foreskin
- Take Ibuprofen to reduce the swelling of the gland (especially to relieve discomfort of a very tight foreskin)

I have a very severe case of this, where I couldn't even retract my foreskin because it was so tight and painful. After 2 days of the above, I could pull it back like I used to be able to with little to no pain. After another few days the redness started to disappear. The product I bought said it was a 3-day cleanse. I chose to keep going with the cream until I saw the redness physically diminish. After about 7 days I switched to applying some Aloe Vera cream, just to the outside of the foreskin. At this point I believe the yeast infection was gone and all that was left was to help the skin heal.

NOTES:
The white stuff, called smegma, looks a little like cottage cheese. A very common way to describe it. The medical name for this appears to be Balanitis.  Essentially Candidal Balanitis is a yeast infection that relates directly to the levels of Candida in the body. Many things can affect it. How did it get there you ask?  I don't really know the answer to that, but there are ways that the sweaty warm environment of your crotch can be an ideal breeding ground for yeast infections. Even good with good hygiene, it can be spread to the actual penis. That's a whole different topic. Candida is present in the body anyway, but in the case of Candidal Balanitis, levels of the Candida yeast have elevated and got out of control making control necessary.

My reading of other people's accounts suggests that doctors rarely diagnose this properly. For further reading, I recommend popping over to this website: http://candidayeastcleanse.com/male-yeast-infection.php

I HOPE THIS HAS BEEN HELPFUL. It's always frustrating to find something that doesn't really have a definitive answer. Although my answer falls short of definitive, I do hope that anyone who follows this with success will stop back and let me know it's been helpful.

That's my $0.02.



This discussion is related to Red itchy rash on underside of foreskin.