penis pain

Hi,
Yesterday I went to my physician regarding a burning/irritation at tip of penis.  He looked and said didnt see anything that looked serious but did a culture and urine test to be safe.  He did the culture which was painful for a few seconds.  I then went to do the urine sample and I had a very sharp pain when urinating which i had not had before.  Was this due to the irritation from culture.  The pain continued throughout the day.  It hurt to touch the tip and when urinating.  It has gotten somewhat better today.  I found the more water I drink and more I urinate the better it has gotten.  I am wondering if my burning and irritation all along was damage to the urethra caused from over masturbation since I had masturbated twice in one day the day before I first felt symptoms and since the pain got a lot worse after culture maybe the culture aggrivated the area even more?  My question what do you think this sounds like and is it normal for penis to hurt for a little while after culture done?  By the way my previous sexual encounter was almost 6 months ago and protected. thank you

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I can't judge whether your pain is due to urethral inflammation (urethritis), minor trauma from the swab, both (ie, swab not causing pain but making it worse), or none of these.  Certainly passing the swab into the urethra is painful for many men.   Whatever is going on, it almost certainly isn't an STD, given your sexual history.  Otherwise, it is hard to speculate.  If you worked something irritating into your urethra during masturbation or just washing - especially soap - that might explain it.

Most likely the pain will just fade over the next few days; if it doesn't, discuss it with your doctor.  And by the way, if the pain is due to the swab, it doesn't mean your doc did something wrong.  Some men just have painful reactions to urethral swabbing.

Good luck--   HHH, MD

[ThoughtlessRage]

was this a swab test? my boyfriend told me that the swab tests hurt like heck and when you urinate it hurts for awhile as well. so this may be just pain from the test itself.

[grump123]

I had no pain while urinating at all before getting test done , only immdeiately after.  I have no other symptoms or signs.

[grump123]

I heard that too much masturbation could cause irritation in that area and it can take weeks to completely heal?

[grump123]

Hey,
How come dr. skipped my question and answered one that was posted after mine??

[grump123]

If the discomfort is only at the very tip exterior and interior not in the urethra couldnt that be caused from irritation from masturbation?  How long could it take to heal?

[Imdumb]

Are you a doc?  you seem like you know what you are talking about.

I think it is highly unlikely it is herpes if the urethra.  That would be more than "irritating",  It would be excruciating.

And I agree that it can't be NGU from protected sex 6 months ago.  I think it is nothing and will go away.  I have had it before.  It will clear up on it's own.  I went through every test in the book...nothing.

[Concerned5]

I had NGU before too.. Tested negative for everything in the book.. Went through 2 or 3 different antibiotics. I thought I was going to live in pain forever. And then about 2-3 months after the incident, it just went away all of the sudden, completely in about 2-3 days.

[grump123]

I think its mostly in my head.  I have a history of making too much over nothing . Especially concerning my health.  The mind is a powerful machine.

[grump123]

What were your symptoms when you had it.  What brought them about?