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    Red, sore and itchy penis

    If the head of your penis (glans) is inflamed, you have balanitis. This is a Greek word meaning ‘inflammation of the acorn’. Balanitis usually looks more worrying than it is.

    • It may simply be a hygiene problem. If you do not wash under the foreskin, a cheesy material, called smegma, accumulates. This can become infected and cause irritation. The solution is to wash carefully with warm water to which you have added enough kitchen salt to make it taste like seawater.
    • A milder form of balanitis can appear soon after intercourse, but disappears within about a day. This is probably caused by allergy to thrush in your partner’s vagina. If she is treated the problem will usually go.
    • Balanitis can sometimes be caused by a skin disease, such as psoriasis. Psoriasis can occur on the penis without you having it anywhere else. On the glans, it looks red and shiny (unlike on other parts of the body where it is silvery and scaly). In this situation antifungal treatment will not have any effect, but your doctor can prescribe a steroid cream.
    • Check your soaps and shower gels. Balanitis can sometimes be a sensitivity to perfumes in soaps and detergents. Never put disinfectant in the bath, as this can be very irritating.

    What to do about balanitis

    • Change to a simple, unperfumed soap. Alternatively, buy ‘aqueous cream’ from a pharmacy and use it as body-wash cream (i.e. apply a small amount and rinse off).
    • Put two handfuls of salt in the bath, but no other additives (no bubble bath, no bath oils, no disinfectants)
    • Do not use ‘biological’ or ‘enzyme’ powders when washing your underpants
    • Ask your partner to visit her doctor or a genitourinary medicine clinic to check for thrush (especially if your balanitis occurs after sex)
    • See your doctor – if your balanitis is severe, ask for a diabetes check; if anti-thrush treatment does not work, ask your doctor if it could be psoriasis

    Thrush
    If your penis is swollen, intensely itchy and very red, you probably have thrush (also known as Candida, a yeast). Occasionally this can be the first sign of diabetes, so check with your doctor. It is cured with antifungal cream or tablets.


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    Comments on this article:

    Posted by Daniel at 30/06/2009 10:40:00

    I have lumps in my testicles that were diagnosed 8 years ago as scar tissue caused possibly by a bacterial infection. ejaculation is painful & my semen is solid & jelly like.

    Posted by Anonymous at 29/06/2009 08:53:00

    Hi, i had unprotected sex the other day and now im getting the symptoms of balanitis my penis is red, sore and itchy with a bad smelling build up of whitey/yellow stuff under the foreskin.

    Is this definitely balanitis or could it be something else?

    Posted by Matt at 09/06/2009 15:59:00

    I have had these tiny red bumps on the head of my penis for as long as i can remember, at least 16 years. They are only in a certain spot on the head of my penis. It doesn`t hurt or itch. I tried popping them once and blood came out. There is like 25 to 50 tiny bumps . Is there any way you can help me.

    Posted by beck at 03/06/2009 12:20:00

    hi my boyfriend every time we have sex gets sore at the bottom of his willy still on the staft,it gets that bad though and now he hates having sex what could this be? x

    Posted by Anonymous at 29/04/2009 00:35:00

    My penis is red and itchy . I am diabectic, and I have been using a itch cream for about a week and a half. Any more suggestions of what I can do or what it maybe?

    Posted by jeff at 21/04/2009 18:21:00

    the end of my penis is very red very itchy and has odd flakey skin on. and suggestions?

    Posted by Anonymous at 21/04/2009 15:12:00

    i would just go and see the doctor. or go to the pharmacist get some thrush cream. if you have bad discharge see the doctor could well be a s.t.d. a couple of wks of tabs and it will be all sorted. allways wear a condom.

    Posted by Ann at 16/04/2009 07:57:00

    go a drying on head of my penis.....its paninig and i get a burning feeling.cant go for intercouse ...kindly suggest some medicine....

    Posted by Anonymous at 14/04/2009 17:50:00

    My penis is very sore after intercourse and very sensitives to touch, urinating stings and seems to be blocked (twin jets) I have seen a doctor who perscribed water infection medcine.
    A week later it has subdued not not resolved, I have now noticed 2 tiny (1mm) spots/ulcers on my shaft also.
    I have not been playing away and dont believe my wife would either....any suggestions?

    Posted by sand man at 12/04/2009 21:20:00

    my dick is itchy ever since me and my girl had sex. what should I do? i feel like ripping my dick off thats how itchy it is!! i Go crazy at night!! Arghhh! help Solution
    Noww...

    Posted by Peiman at 07/04/2009 07:40:00

    If there are bumps or rashes on the head of the penis and sometimes around the upper-shaft,and if your fingers,toes or both itch,you have caught scabies.

    Posted by peter at 04/04/2009 01:57:00

    man my balls itch when i am in class how i make it stop a lot of girls are looking when i have to scratch

    Posted by Anonymous at 31/03/2009 12:14:00

    about 6 months ago i slept with a girl knowing she had thrush (i was drunk) not knowing i could catch it off her. i thought it was something more sinister for a long time. the red spots, stinky, itchy skin peelingish white crap on it etc. until talking to a friend about it and discorvering i had caught thrush. I waited it out and maybe 2 weeks later it was gone. my penis was happy for several months then out of the blue (not even having sex) it came back again. again i waited it out and it was fine. this happened again a few weeks ago, i continued to have sex (and wank) and my dick is seriously torn to shreads. like open wounds on it. its extremely painfull and now reading this im worried about being diabetic. is there a way to know this without actually going to a doctor? and a tip to others reading, go buy the cream, it will come back if you dont do anything bout it

    Posted by Anonymous at 19/03/2009 18:08:00

    have a very itchy red penis, also have these red pussy lumps inbetween fingers, does any one no if there connected, ive been told it could be thrush but didnt no thrush could catch onto your hands

    Posted by arnie at 15/03/2009 15:03:00

    hi after sometime i had intercourse with my partner but this time head of my penis sored and continuesly spills water in white color but not sperms and it smells horrible,what it could be.

    Posted by Anonymous at 13/03/2009 02:22:00

    Guys, the key to almost eve y problem you've described is personal hygiene. Washing under the foreskin is something that should be done every day as part of your shower routine, just watch out for irritable shower gels. This is certainly the best way to avoid smegma build up, and is also pleasant for your partner too!

    Posted by Anonymous at 10/03/2009 16:37:00

    l when to my doctor 3 weeks ago for a muscle pull in my groin area, but the problem is still there, my penis has been very sensitive, and l havent had sex in about 2/weeks because of it and is it normal to have veins on the penis

    Posted by gshzder at 09/03/2009 22:37:00

    sometimes my penis gets really really really i mean really itchy and i cant help but just scratch itand sometimes it gets red and stars to bleed

    Posted by Anonymous at 05/03/2009 16:54:00

    hi, i redness around the head of my penis and the foreskin around my penis at the top very tight ,i also have small cracks in the skin which is making it very painful to wash.i havent had sex or masterbated in about a month and this started about a week ago, i tried salvon and germoline,the germaline seemed to work at first but now it wont.any ideas

    Posted by zeppelin at 05/03/2009 10:00:00

    Slight burning sensation at tip of penis, inside end looks slightly discoloured. chlamidya test was negative.

    Posted by alex at 03/03/2009 18:16:00

    hi im 16 and ive never had sex and hardly ever masterbate and im getting a bit worried because the muscle has like a sore on it and it dosent hurt that much but some times does and i just need some advice can any1 help?

    Posted by chopper at 02/03/2009 09:59:00

    i havent had sex, i have flakey real itchy & sometime red hurts when incontact with urine i cant stop itching and cant sleep

    Posted by Andy at 25/02/2009 12:51:00

    I also am bearing a problem, for no reason the underside of my penis became inflamed over a 2 or 3 minute period, down the middle following the darker line.
    It's very sore, itchy and is only on the underside of my penis.
    If anyone could decipher my problems that would be great!

    Posted by Simon at 25/02/2009 11:40:00

    I seem to havea certain problem with my Penis. Sometimes when I go to the toilet I can see under my foreskin arounf the head, there is somekind if whitish paste stuff which doesnt look very nice. I clean my head to get rid of it but then it comes back within a couple of days. Alos the back end of the head of my penis gets itchy sometimes and gets slightly sore when its been rubbed to get rid of the iching, and cant tell why this is happening. Also one last thing ometimes a small layer of skin comes off the head of my penis sometimes and cant understand that.

    Can somebody try to explain to me please so I know what to do in the future.

    Posted by Anonymous at 21/02/2009 22:26:00

    After sex the head of the penis gets in flamed and looks like it has pimples it only lasts a day or 2 this sounds like a case of Thrush but doesn't say anything about the pimples

    Posted by hemant at 14/02/2009 11:49:00

    hey iam hemant from india i have some redish on my penis and 2 or 3 henital warts . now iam geeting homopathic treatment . wat is the best treatment for genital warts and redish and itching on my penis

    Posted by Marcus at 12/02/2009 16:42:00

    okay so under my penis, it get really red, scaley & itchy. so itchy that when i stratch it, i have to do so much scratingi can't stop myself and it gets redder and more soreer. do anyone know of any cream that can be used for it?

    Posted by Benny08 at 09/02/2009 16:27:00

    the top of my foreskin is all red and when i go for a wee it stings and feels kinda painfull
    it is also sorta painfull when i rool my foreskin back
    what can i do
    and what is the preblem
    please help?????

    Posted by Joe at 08/02/2009 22:22:00

    I have been getting thrush regularly for a number of weeks and have used caneston to relieve the iching. My girlfrind is 37 but has no symptoms of the condition. I use the cream until it feels better but it is now causing concern as it seems to return so frequently. Is it serious enough to see a GP or will the cream be sufficient?

    Posted by mr.kb at 06/02/2009 18:13:00

    hi im 16 andmy penis is very sore its ll yellow under the foreskin and when i was it awsy it just returns plus my penis (head) is starting to turn a whitey colour and when i erect the foreskin is very sore and wont go come down properly its all red and greesy please help im verry worryed...

    Posted by rocky at 22/01/2009 10:07:00

    inside my penis freaquently become reddish and small spots, after some days it will go, and out side penis towards down icthing. i am using candid ointment ( anti fungal, brad spectrum), but permanent not going.pl any special treatment.

    Posted by miss c at 19/01/2009 16:49:00

    Hello, if anyone can answer this problem i would be so relieved. My boyfriend ejeculated after oral sex and the fluid that came out was yellow, is this normal and What causes it?

    Posted by help in need at 04/01/2009 16:02:00

    help need advice for the last 3 days my penis has srolling up at the top rig off my forskin really dry and itchy so often goes and comes again also red sure and i think its geting worse also peeling slitly what should i do

    Posted by Help at 30/12/2008 00:57:00

    Since me and my new partner started having unprotected sex he has had an itchy penis for a while but im ok.. What could it be??

    Posted by sahil at 29/12/2008 09:33:00

    i have irritation on my penis tip when i get erected...plz help....

    Posted by ramesh at 21/12/2008 18:34:00

    inside my penis head always too itchy and too much moist dust comes even every hour wash.I tried different typest of antifungal cream but it didn't work.would you have any special treatment for this please?

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