Lump around penis

[CWDE]

I am 22 year old male, On Tuesday I noticed a lump, not on my penis or scrotum, but beside them kind of above my scrotum next to my penis in the ridge where my legs comes in, hope you understand that.    Its kind of hard and what has me worried is it have not much skin irritation around it..    A little medical history, I was developed cancer as a baby,  retinoblastoma, cancer of the eyes.    That why I am a little worried.   I have had jock itch in same area, but more on my actual leg, this is on the penis side.   Its directly across from the back top of my penis in the ridge part on my left side..   my skin has been pretty dry down there lately, and I just recently started using a tanning bed,  only used it 3 times, once a week for 3 weeks. 5mins, 10mins, 15mins.  Don’t plan on using that anymore.

I realize with my medical history, I need to get it check out, which brings me to my next question.   I recently moved and have no doctor, my old family doctor is about 2 hours away.   I guess you could say I am nerves about getting it checked out also.  Should go to a local doctor? or local emergency room?  I never had to handle any of this before, due to the fact that I was on my parents insurance and used the same family doctor for years.    If i were to setup an appt with a local doctor, what would i tell them it is for ? a check-up or physical..  Sorry for the almost idiotic questions..  

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Hello - thanks for asking your question.

Without seeing the lesion myself I cannot be sure what it is, but I give possibilities that you can ask your personal physician.  

One possibility would be enlarged lymph nodes.  The groin area, also known as the inguinal region, contains many lymph nodes.  Lymph nodes in this area enlarge most commonly due to lower extremity infection, cancer, or sexually transmitted diseases.  

Most enlarged lymph nodes can be observed for 3-4 weeks to see if they subside.  If not, then having a physician evaluate it is necessary to consider biopsy (taking a sample of the node to evaluate for cancer).  Your physician would also check for enlarged lymph nodes in your neck and axilla (armpit) region.  

Another possibility would be an abscess or skin infection.  If this is the case, then an abscess would need to be drained or infection treated with antibiotics.

At the very least, I would go to your local doctor for evalution and ask for an evaluation of the bump - it does not have to be a complete physical.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

[Philip1815]

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