Possible Male Yeast Infection....

[markcbt]

Today being Friday, January 10, 2003, I have had a severe redness around the bottom of the head of my penis, along with the underside of the foreskin being the same way.

Over the years, I have encountered the tell tale red dots associated with eczma, so I beieve this is not what I am suffering from right now.

Anyway, in going to the doctor , she felt after looking at it that it was not a yeast infection. She made the possible suggestion that my self rememdies (hydrocortisone mised with neosporin, vagisil, lubriderm and cetaphil) used over a period of three days (yes, I tend to be impatient) quite possibly caused the severe redness in the areas I described above. I also have a yellowish / white substance (does not appear to be smegma) that will be around the base of my penis and also under the backside of the foreskin. However, since I went to the doctor about 1 hour after I cleaned it off, she did not see it, nor how much it will accumulate within two hours or so.

Though my wife and I partake of anal intercourse, this has not happened before (at least not to this extent). I have found that since I am uncircumsized I must clean myself immediately after intercourse, but that is all.

Since going to the doctor, she prescribed an oral anitbiotic (Cipro) and also a cortisone cream. She wants me to take the Cipro for three days, and also ONLY use the cortisine to rub on the affected areas of my penis. I am fine with that, but after twenty four hours, there is not any noticeable recession of the red areas, nor is the discharge going away.

I guess my question is this. Based on pictures I have seem of male yeast infections, this looks quite like one. Do you feel that I have one, and would that account for the yellowish / white substance (which is odorless by the way)? No, I am not itching (except when the substance accumulates at the tip of the foreskin at the end of my penis), nor do I really hurt at all, other than the redness is VERY red, and seems to be staying constant.

Any ideas?

[mj010674]

I have the same problem.  Initially, I got redness.  However, eventually white pasty goo would build up rather quickly.  Reminded me of ricotta cheese.  It was not uncommon for a coating of this cheese to build up in about three hours.  After going to about 4 dermatologists, we discovered that it was penile psoriasis.  

When you get psoriasis in moist places, it doest't scale, it cheeses.  It can build up very quickly and if you don't keep it clean it will start to smell because of bacterial growth.  The other drawback is splitting of the skin during sexual activity.  Damn painful and incovenient.

What has worked for me is using an over the counter 1% hydrocortisone cream with moisturizers mixed in.  You can find it at any decent drugstore.  It will take about two weeks of applying it at least once a day for the redness to subside.  The nice thing, you don't have to worry about permanent thinning of the skin with that dosage (heavy duty corticosteroids will do that even in small amounts)

Good luck

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Hard to say.  Redness and discharge can be associated with yeast, but it can also be associated with eczema and irritation.  Either way, it takes several days for rednes to subside, so you will need to be a little bit patient.

Most male yeast infections I have seen have not been contracted from a partner.

My advice is to follow your doctor's advice.  If the condition fails to improve, or worsens, over the next 3-5 days, re-evaluation and a yeast culture would seem indicated.

After this episode, be prepared for redness to persist over days to weeks, gradually diminishing and tending to briefly redden after bathing or intercourse (not important--just the effect of heat.)

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff