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5 Balanitis Symptoms, Transmission, Causes, & Treatment
Balanitis is a skin infection of the penis. The area behind the glans (head) becomes red & painful at times because there are a lot of sensitive nerves just below the skin.
I had this a few years ago & tried to ignore it until it became increasingly painful. Layers of skin were flaking off (exfoliation) & those sensitive nerves were being affected. I had to go to my PCP. She took a swab & the culture came back as Streptococcus B sensitive to penicillin. She prescribed amoxicillin for 7 days & it went away.
My urologist said the cause & treatment for this infection is good/bad hygiene. This means washing the penis every time you take a shower, which should be daily, paying a lot of attention to the area just behind the glans where the red irritation had shown itself.
The article I referenced says that you shouldn't use soap which can act as an irritant. I use Dove (sensitive skin) bar soap & started showering twice a day, once after breakfast & once before bed. I changed my underpants (clean cotton briefs) twice a day. After 5 days the redness & pain sensation have gone away, saving me from having to visit my MD in the middle of the COVID pandemic & potentially get exposed to it.
My thinking is that balanitis starts out as a topical skin infection & if not treated it can become very painful as it gets into lower skin layers. My soap & water regimen apparently washes the bacteria away faster than they can reproduce.
Balanitis can also occur as the result of infection by fungi such as yeast. I don't have the means to identify my skin microbes but Doive sensitive skin soap is apparently doing the trick.
Please do not take my experience as advice. This is just my personal experience & not a recommendation to try this on yourself. See a doctor.
Balanitis is a skin infection of the penis. The area behind the glans (head) becomes red & painful at times because there are a lot of sensitive nerves just below the skin.
I had this a few years ago & tried to ignore it until it became increasingly painful. Layers of skin were flaking off (exfoliation) & those sensitive nerves were being affected. I had to go to my PCP. She took a swab & the culture came back as Streptococcus B sensitive to penicillin. She prescribed amoxicillin for 7 days & it went away.
My urologist said the cause & treatment for this infection is good/bad hygiene. This means washing the penis every time you take a shower, which should be daily, paying a lot of attention to the area just behind the glans where the red irritation had shown itself.
The article I referenced says that you shouldn't use soap which can act as an irritant. I use Dove (sensitive skin) bar soap & started showering twice a day, once after breakfast & once before bed. I changed my underpants (clean cotton briefs) twice a day. After 5 days the redness & pain sensation have gone away, saving me from having to visit my MD in the middle of the COVID pandemic & potentially get exposed to it.
My thinking is that balanitis starts out as a topical skin infection & if not treated it can become very painful as it gets into lower skin layers. My soap & water regimen apparently washes the bacteria away faster than they can reproduce.
Balanitis can also occur as the result of infection by fungi such as yeast. I don't have the means to identify my skin microbes but Doive sensitive skin soap is apparently doing the trick.
Please do not take my experience as advice. This is just my personal experience & not a recommendation to try this on yourself. See a doctor.