Severe, seeping rash in my groin area

[love2jam]

Hi,

This rash I have is pretty gross, so I'm hoping you can shed some light on what it may be.

Last Monday, I developed a very sore throat, but no fever.  I've had strep before, so I decided that if it continued to bother me more than a day or so, I'd go to the doctor.  Monday evening, I felt pretty bad, and went to bed early.  Tuesday morning, I woke up, and had a bright red rash, covering my entire groin area (not my genitals though), and it was hot to the touch.  It looked like I had on bright red bikini underwear.  Still had the sore throat, headache, no fever, but what seemed like a bad cold.

I'd made a doctor's appt for Friday anyway, for other reasons, so had the doc check my throat for strep, and asked about what the rash could be.  By this time, the affected area had begun to seep, and the top layer of skin had become liquified.  The rapid strep test came back negative, and the doc suspected an allergic reaction as the cause of the rash.  I was given a steriod injection, put on a steroid medicine pak, and given some steroid cream.  The doc said that the sore throat was probably cold or allergy, and prescribed claritin.

The whole area is still red, but instead of a rash, it looks like 2nd or 3rd degree burns to my entire groin area, with some areas still seeping, and others beginning to develop scabs, which I guess means I'm healing.  Meanwhile, our friend's daughter was diagnosed with strep throat last week, and we're taking our daughter this morning for a strep test (her throat is very sore this morning).

Do you have any idea what this could be, and whether or not it's related to the sore throat I had, or whether the doc was right in stating that this was an allergic reaction to something (I think the doc was wrong).  Scarlet fever maybe?

Thanks,
Bruce

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Hard to be sure.  It sounds as though no culture was done of the groin, just the throat.  Strep can cause rashes, but not generally like the one you describe.  I'm not sure that the rash is a true allergy, but it does sound inflammatory in nature rather than infectious (among other things, steroids would have made an infection worse, whereas, you appear to be getting better.)

You may never know for sure what's going on, but if you clear up, as seems likely, then you shouldn't be at any special risk for recurrence.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[James A.]

My apologies for this being unrelated to the previous topic, but I've been trying to post this question for a while, and this seems to be the only way I can do it...(sorry Bruce).

Dr. Rockoff,

About 5 months ago, I noticed these white blotches appearing on the head of my penis that sort of looked like veins...they would be highly visible sometimes, while at others they would not be visible at all...anyway, i thought it might be connected to masturbation somehow, or perhaps eczema (which appears on my hands sometimes), so i tried to keep my hands off hoping it'd disappear...a few months later, i noticed a dark patch near the tip of my penis, which, again, would be darker or lighter depending on bloodflow(?)...i finally decided to visit my dermatologist to ask what was up, and he thought i was talking about "pearly penile papules" (or whatever they're called), and said that it's normal...but i don't think he knew what i was referring to (maybe because it wasn't all that visible at the time)...and as to the dark spot, he said "i don't know" in a totally unworried manner...as of recently, the head of my penis feels very sensitive and sore, especially when it rubs against any material...so i'm wondering, do you know what these markings are and if i should do something about them?
thanks,

james