Lotrisone Effects or Dermatitis? Doctor's Opinion Needed!

[buckeye2010]

Shortly after using Lotrisone on skin at my penis opening(meatus) as directed by a urologist I developed irriation and redness, which later seemed to become a purple-ish discolorment with a very small papule also. I used the L-O-T-R-I-S-O-N-E which is a strong or potent steroid cream and anti-fungal combination ointment for 5 days (2x a day) before I noticed this. Anyways, I went to another urologist and he said it looked "normal" and acted as though I needed no further treatment and said it would go away. So I let it go for several months and just used various mosturizing creams, vasoline, aquaphor, etc. for about 9 months with very minimal improvement. It seems as though the skin is still loose right at the opening and gets easily and often dis-aligned, and it still also has a purple discolorment to the skin yet the original papule has decreased some. So I finally went to a dermatologist who thinks it is dermatitis and that five days of a potent steroid cream wouldn't have caused atrophy. So I am currently using EpiCeram (skin barrier cream) along with Man 1 Man Oil (penis health cream) and Emu Oil to assist with healing and thickening of the skin. I still question whether atrophy has occured though; since I did use the Lotrisone very liberally, in the sense that when I applied it I put plenty on(more than sparingly) and didn't really rub it it that much to avoid getting it down in my urethra. I am still not convinced that it is dermatitis and am worried that I have permanent atrophy of my meatus skin by appying to much Lotrisone at a time! I want to know what a doctor on here thinks as to whether there is any possibility that it is atrophied skin that I am dealing with, and if so, is there a treatment now? Also, if it really is dermatitis, then is there chance that it has caused permanent effects on my skin since I left it untreated for so long(about 9-10 months)? Are there complications like this to untreated dematitis or even atrophy!?

[buckeye2010]

Thanks for the response. However, I would like to know though, in your opinion was Lotrisone(a potent steroid cream) reasonable to use on the meatus skin to treat irritation just inside the urethra opening? I mean is this a common treatment, because since then I have read strong steroids shouldn't be used on the penis but why wouldn't a urologist know this?

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a detailed clinical evaluation it would be difficult to say if this could be atrophy, though I would agree with your doctor that atrophy is unlikely to be secondary to ointment usage for five days, no matter how liberally it was applied. As far as the diagnosis of dermatitis is concerned, the treatment and the prognosis would depend on the type and severity, though the prognosis is fairly good in most cases. I would suggest getting this evaluated by a dermatologist for a detailed evaluation and suggestion of an appropriate management plan.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!