Already told you several times now that this is not std related. Anything that occurs with masturbation and then goes away on its own a few hours later is normal. use lube when you masturbate and be kind to the little guy.
really, lay off the crotch watch - 2-3 times/day checking out your genitals is still overly excessive especially for several months like this.
grace
February 12 – Morning
I had sex for the first time in 3 months last night and again this morning, afterwards rinsing with water and drying myself off with some toilet paper. It's now been about 5 hours since and the head of the penis when pulling the foreskin back is quite red. I am not experiencing any itching or any other symptoms but the head is red although only visible when pulling the foreskin back. I have applied hydrocortisone cream this morning as I have been since the 7th to see if it helps.
March 29 - Morning
To keep things up to date I did go to a walk in sexual health clinic and they told me the same thing, not to worry and that it was not an STD.
Since then things have been quite normal down there and I stopped the cream after 7 days as I was advised and just continued to rinse/wash with water and dry myself off before putting the foreskin back in place.
This morning I did notice more redness on the head of the penis but it was after masturbating (I don't believe I checked it before hand as I've calmed down quite a bit since and typically only check 2, sometimes 3 times a day (but not making special trips just to check as I was before).
I've washed again and am just waiting to see if the redness will go away, it's basically on the exposed part of the head of the penis and I do have a pull the foreskin back a little to see it. I'm not sure what's causing it but I'm trying not to alarm myself as my girlfriend was over last night and playing a bit and I'm wondering/thinking that she may have had something on her hand while she was playing (she was eating pistachio's earlier as well as a sandwhich and I'm unsure if she'd washed her hands after eating them), that could have caused it. Either way, as I said before, it's just red and I'm not experiencing any intching or seeing any bumps, etc. I'm crossing my fingers and believe it could just be something causing some irritation.
Even when I went to my new doctor and explained what was going on he wasn't concerned in the slightest, said it will happen from time to time on a normal healthy male just due to things that we do, what we eat, etc.
Since the redness was typically going away within hours I will post back later on today when things have calmed down (or if they haven't I'll keep you posted as well).
Thank you everyone for reading and by all means, if you do have any idea what might be causing this and how to keep it away for good please feel free to share, I know I'd personally love to not have to worry about this anymore!
January 23 - First thing in the morning
Every so often right around the urethra opening and the exposed skin surrounding it I think it's slightly red, brighter than the rest of the head. It doesn't itch or bother me and doesn't really concern me but I wish I knew if that was normal too, I don't ever remember seeing it like that in the past but in all honesty I'm forgetting/having trouble remembering what it looked like before.
February 7
I've been pulling back the foreskin and washing with water only in the morning every day and treating with Canesten Topical Cream (1% Clotrimazole) 2 - 3 times a day and have no experienced any of the itching in the last 3 weeks and a few days. Currently I still have the red/dark pink area on the top of the head of my penis (only visible when pulling back the foreskin all the way), and I believe some redness around the opening to the urethra. Currently I don't have a regular doctor at the moment and still won't for a few weeks and any clinics I've gone to have been Sexual Health clinics which advised me that the problem is not an STD. I don't ever recall this redness ever happening before since all of this so I've continued to research the problem. Most things I've read seem to point to Yeast, Balanitis, Eczema or Psoriasis while the doctors at the clinics have said it's nothing to worry about or that it was most likely yeast. I've decided to start treating with Cortate (Hydrocortisone Cream USP 0.5%) to see if I would have any sort of improvement with the redness but have only applied it twice (once on Thursday and another today). The package states that it should be applied to the affected area 3 - 4 times a day but does not specify for how long. I'm still concerned but have been less concerned since seeing the last doctor who was extremely confident that it was not an STD but I still want to know what it is, why or how it happend and of course how to get rid of it and am hoping to have an answer for that very soon. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them.
this doesn't sound std related. continue to follow up on it with your provider.
grace
I'm continuing with the Cantesten treatment and will continue to apply it twice a day for the remainder of the 2 weeks to see what happens. So far I haven't noticed anything unusual and really hope that the problem is just yeast and nothing more.
It's a little frustrating because as I'm sure most of you that have found this post know, red and itching is such a vague symptom and can be attributed to so many different things. From what I've been able to gather the saving grace, but what is also making it difficult to determine, is the fact that they symptoms don't last more than a few hours at a time and are spread out between the time of occurrance.
January 15 - First Thing In The Morning
Noticed red areas around the exposed part of the head of my penis. Pulled back the foreskin to investigate and found other red, slightly itchy areas with another bright red dot. I jumped in the shower and washed and the spot seemed to get better and the itchiness was gone about an hour later. Checked about 2 and a half hours later and the area that had the bright red spot is gone but there is still slight pink on different areas of the head of the penis.
January 16 - 2:30 in the morning
Decided that I have had enough of this worrying and figured I would try the Canesten the doctor gave me despite the fact that the redness and itching are no longer present. Based on my research I've read that I should apply it at least twice a day for 2 weeks. To apply I pull back the foreskin and put it on the head of my penis as well as the inside of the foreskin before letting the foreskin slide back in place.
I will try to keep this updated just in case anyone is following this and has the same worries themselves.
Thanks Grace for the response.
I've just been worried because I've never seen this happen before but granted, as you pointed out, I'm paying way more attention now than I ever have before. Don't get me wrong, I've looked before but quite possibly never this closely and never this frequently. I do know that the times I've looked before all of this I've never noticed any redness or red areas, never had itching like I had those 2 times or, as I said most recently, never noticed a big red bump. To be fair though I would rarely pull the foreskin back all the way to "investigate" and see what was going on since everything felt fine.
Any idea what could be going on and if it's anything in particular to be concerned about even though it doesn't sound STD related to you Grace?
My concern is of course my own health but long term my bigger concern is passing something on to a partner, that special someone who I may find one day and spend the rest of my life with. It's one thing if I suffer from any potential mistakes I've made and another thing if someone trusts me only to get burned by it.
it sounds like you've been paying far too much attention to the lil guy since all of this happened. nothing you mentioned sounds std related at all.
grace
I wanted to add that I went to the clinic today after all despite the fact that the red bump I noticed on Saturday is pretty much gone.
I explained everything above to the doctor (or was it nurse), in the clinic and showed her what I looked like right now and her response was that I had nothing to be concerned about. She said that if it was an STD the symptoms would stay and not go away so quickly after washing. I pointed out the area on the top of the head of my penis saying that was the area that I had the first "rash" on and she was able to notice that it too was slightly pink still.
All in all she said that things look normal there and I should not worry. I want to believe her and am going to do my best to believe her but a little part of me still can't help but wonder and worry since I've never had this happen before (but in all fairness until that encounter I never really inspected myself down there other than taking a quick look here and there and definitely not so closely as I am now). She did provide me with some Canesten but advised me not to use it unless the symptoms come back.