Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum.  ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Dermatology  (Expert Forum)
 | 
foreskin with red areas
Answered by
Alan Rockoff, MD - dermatology, Child Skin Problems
The Rockoff Dermatology Center Brookline - MA
This forum is for questions regarding Dermatology issues, such as: skin rashes, acne, birthmarks, skin infections, rosacea, and general skin care.

foreskin with red areas

by tor30, Apr 01, 2008 11:35PM
Hi
I'm a 30 year old male, with a steady relation and no history of medical problems.

4 months ago or so I noticed on my foreskin a red patch that didn't go away and after a while
extended to almost all the foreskin. The red looked like it's made from broken small vessels (capillaries) also the veins around it looks strange.

At first I  thought it is related to my girlfriend candidiasis (fom time to time she does it), so i used some cream(Canesten) and I took a pill prescribed by her gynecologist but it didn't have any effect. So I started to get worried, I was afraid it might be cancer.

1 month ago i went to a dermatologist who said this is no way cancer, is just a mild case of balanitis. He prescribe another pill and mild anti-irritant cream. But it doesn't seem to work very well, the redness remains the same. It seem that if I masturbate or make sex, the redness accentuates, but even if I take a break for 2 weeks or so, the redness doesn't go away completely, it just looks a little better. These red areas don't hurt, don't smell or have any side effects, except one time after a longer sex, some of the red area kind of cracked and it hurt.

My main concern is cancer, I know my dermatologist assured me this is not the case because that cancer start in an area and ulcerate, then spread....but I just want another opinion from some doctors here, since the cancer is so rare and maybe he didn't see many cases ?

I uploaded some images, click on them they will become larger.

http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=75824087ik5.jpg
http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=38862083ff7.jpg
http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=99989785dj3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=39219712hs2.jpg
http://img209.imageshack.us/my.php?image=55926356lb1.jpg
http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=closeuptj6.jpg
after sex when it cracked a little http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aftersjp0.jpg

here is a mirror
http://www.pbase.com/tor123/medical


Thanks

by Alan Rockoff, MD, Apr 02, 2008 05:01AM
To: tor30
My friend, you don't have penile cancer, so you can stop thing closeup photos of your penis.  You appear to have had mild irritation, and when that happens thin skin like that on the penis can stay red for weeks.  This means nothing, and the less you do with it the faster it goes away.  You've already been reassured in person, so it's time to relax about this.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff
Member Comments (3)

by tor30, Apr 04, 2008 08:37AM
Dear Dr Rockoff, thank you for the reassurance.

by NEEDHELP888, Apr 07, 2008 09:14PM
To: Alan Rockoff, MD
Hi Dr. Rockoff,
  I have a bit of a problem and I know by law your answers are limited so I'll get as detailed as I can in hopes that you can ease my mind a bit. My problem basically started 2 months ago. It started as red dots on the tip of my penis that did not hurt in any was, most commonly they were under foreskin or head of penis (I am circumcized). these dots eventually left and my new problem became a ver dry and cracked skin at the head of the penis. you could see the imflamation withing the cracks and as the erection would fade over time and the cracks would fill with white dryness instead. As time progressed my head began to heal, but my scrotum skin became became gradually red and eventuall completed red. sometimes my scrotum had the hair follicles filled with a a white thick cream that was not painful but like that of a pimple head. I went to my doctor and he felt it was fungal and poorly did a culture where he barely touched the skin with a q-tip and sent out the cultural for no results after 3 weeks of treatment for it, the simples on changed to another. dryness went away with the cream but that was it. Now a few days back i got a red spot on the head of my penis that was red defined and organic in shape and stung a bit to the touch, now only after a few days that scabbing over and not painful. now my problem only seems to be an itchy scrotum and which like cream like smegma in between my scrotum and the base of the shaft. I really don't know what to do and I'm nervous.
Continue discussion
Expert Activity
PAD Awareness Month
Oct 05 by Lee Kirksey, MD
When You Need to Know If You're Pre...
Sep 11 by Elaine Brown, MD
Related Expert Forums