bug bite on penis?

I woke up in the middle of the night a couple days ago and had an extreme itch on the underside of my penis. I stupidly scratched until the skin broke. Now I have a swollen nodule right above that irritated area. It resembles a bug bite. I have been swimming a lot in my pool the past few days off from work. I haven't been sexually active in almost 5 months and even then it was protected with an STD free partner. What should I do?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it can be due to an insect bite. it can also be due to dermatitis skin, sweat dermatitis or heat rash. Use cotton clothes and change the clothes twice if there is any increased sweating. Try keeping the skin free of sweat as far as possible. If the symptoms still persist then you can apply mild steroid like dermacort. For the itching antihistaminics like Benadryl or Claritin can be taken.

I hope it helps. Take care and regards.