Pulled back — living with a bare head

Quote from: Stealth on 2024-04-11 17:53:44Symptons started abating after about 36 hours of topical application, but I had to keep applying for a minumum of 10 days. I haven't been able to properly view close-up images of your issue to advise if what you have looks like a standard yeast infection (I can only see your thumbnails, I can't open the actual images - sorry)

Hmm, that's weird, don't know why you can't see images. I used Clotrimazole for over a month with zero change.

QuoteThe fact that you state that your issue seems to get worse after masturbation might be indicative of that the problem could lay deeper in the dermal layers. The friction/motion bringing more blood supply to the area 'feeding' that area, bringing infection back to the surface. Also, I'm guessing that you're of course masturbating to completion - your ejaculate is protein rich which again could feed the infection (especially bacterial infection) and cause it to 'flare up worse'.

I've so far tried going without touching my penis at all for 10 days in a row, except to wash with just water once a day before bedtime. I made sure to get 8hr sleep every single night. Did not pull back to reduce irritation. I made sure to eat as good as I could. I stopped doing keto. I am eating more carbs now, but still clean, a lot of greens, veggies, and lean proteins. It seems to not have made a difference at all.

So I started masturbating again. I am using coconut oil as a lube. I am very careful, and what I have noticed is when I finish, yes, the red areas are more red and more raw, but if I shower immediately and clean up, in 15 min it goes back to the normal status, as if I hadn't touched myself at all. I think part of it is how careful I am doing it.

QuoteThings that you would probably be wise to look into, outside of a 'simple' fungal infection would potentially be Herpes - this is something that spreads on contact and once infected, lays dormant in your system and reoccurs with 'intermittent flare ups' - You're more likely to get a recurrence when your immunity is low, or in times of stress. Some women who have Herpes get recurrent flare-ups around the time of their cycles, so there is a potentially suggested hormonal component to this but I don't think that's ever been proven.

You'd perhaps also be wise to get checked for HPV (human papillomavirus) again because this a broad, varied, contact based viral infection with a large STD/STI component.

It's a lot less likely that you'd get a more general STI/STD just from surface contact (i.e. fondling/hand jobs) but it's not completely unheard of, especially if you had any micro-tears/cuts on your genitalia when this happened. To that end, you may also be wise to have a broad STI panel workup for the regular/usual suspects, especially if you've had any other discharges.

STI panel was the first thing I did. Tested for the usual: Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HIV, etc. Came back clean. I don't know if they tested for the herpes viruses. Usually does infections clear up on their own and go dormant. I've had my rash 24/7 for the past 3 months. The only things that helped were Lamisil, and pulling back.

QuoteIf you're getting burning sensations when you pee, this maybe indicative of something else at play here too i.e. more evidence of an STI such as  gonorrhea/chlamydia/Syphillis , or may be something more straightforward such as cystitis (yes men can get this too, not just women) An infection doesn't have to cause a fever, indeed some STIs may not really present with any external symptoms.

No burning sensations when I pee, thank God.

QuoteI'd personally check in with a Urologist/Sexual Health clinic in the first instance, rather than a dermatologist. They see Penises every day and are more likely to have viewed something "contact STI" related than a dermatologist who primarily looks at overall skin health. The skin being the biggest organ of the human body, but your foreskin, like your eyelids, is a minute amount of skin type in comparison to the rest of your body which is what a dermatologist is most likely seeing on a day-to-day basis.

I reached out to a Sexual Health Clinic. They interviewed me over the phone and I sent pics. They said I had already done what they would have done for me (Clotrimazole, Oral Itraconazole, etc), and at this point I was better off waiting for the Dermatologist. They did not recommend seeing me in person, it would have been a waste of time.

QuoteThat being said, scrapings and biopsy is of course a valid path forward, but if your issue isn't directly dermal but potentially subdermal/infection under the dermal layer that's being scraped then scraping mightn't provide conclusive result of the underlying issue.

I actually had an appointment with my GP yesterday. He's a very nice guy, and has listened to all my issues and ideas. We don't know if the infection is fungal or bacterial. We need to wait for the Dermatologist to do the test (he can't request it, it has to be Dermatologist).
It seems that mild bacterial infections can mimic fungal infections. If that's what I have, it would make sense that antifungals are doing nothing. Lamisil helped, so I think it's possible I had both fungal and bacterial, and the Lamisil nuked the fungal.

Things of note: I was hurting pretty bad last week, so I caved in and started using the weakest steroid I could get: Hydrocortizone 0.5%. I used it for 3 days, and it calmed down the burning, but interestingly enough, actually made the red patch even more red, and the spots became bubbly and visible right on the surface of my glans. I stopped using it and it stayed redder, but with less pain.

I also started using a Calendula soap, and washing with it every other day, and I'm noticing this has reduced the pain to almost zero. All I have right now is a very mild burning. And I think the red is basically right on top of the skin. I have noticed that some of the deeper red spots are no longer visible (could be my body fighting this off), so even though it's redder on top now (thanks steroids!) but deep seems to be better.

I am just patiently waiting for my Derm appointment (another 10 days). Thankfully I am in almost no pain. Once the lab reports what I have, I will act accordingly. I would not be shocked if it ends up being bacterial, which means I will probably have to go on antibiotics. If it ends up being fungal, then I have a ton of stuff right now that I will use to hammer it for my next attempt (pulling back, Oral Terbinafine, Itraconazole, etc).

I have another fungal rash (unrelated) in my thigh, and it was not responding to Clotrimazole, but I bought a Silver gel, and to my surprise, it's helping. The rash is less and less every day. If it wasn't for the fact that I want to get active cultures off my glans, I'd be slapping that stuff on right now, and monitoring to see if it would help.

If for some reason, the Dermatologist refuses to do a swab, then I have already spoken with a private Dermatology clinic, and they have openings in May (they told me they can swab/biopsy, whatever is needed). It took me a lot of searching to find a private clinic, and it's an 8hr drive from where I live (and of course, paid out of pocket), but had I known a month ago I would have just went there. For now, let's see if I make progress with the first one.

Again, appreciate your replies. You guys are awesome.

Definitely twisting the "spirit" of the question here, but as a trans woman, I can say with some decent authority that I like it, at least for myself. No real opinion on others' foreskin orientation preferences, though. Of course, that's probably since both of my current partners are circ'd and so the question is moot anyway.

So I've suffered with a couple of skin conditions over the years. I was born with Cradle Cap that was treated and went away. I then had really bad eczema from about 6 until 11 years old (skin used to split wide open and be down to a subdermal layer) and I'm now back with Seborrheic dermatitis on my forehead. Suffice to say, I have some experience with various skin conditions.

I've had yeast infection previously once before after a night of beer drinking and intimate shinanigans i.e deep throating by partner who was also as inhebriated as I was after beer. At that point, I was prescribed 2% clotrimazole and it went away. Symptons started abating after about 36 hours of topical application, but I had to keep applying for a minumum of 10 days. I haven't been able to properly view close-up images of your issue to advise if what you have looks like a standard yeast infection (I can only see your thumbnails, I can't open the actual images - sorry)

The fact that you state that your issue seems to get worse after masturbation might be indicative of that the problem could lay deeper in the dermal layers. The friction/motion bringing more blood supply to the area 'feeding' that area, bringing infection back to the surface. Also, I'm guessing that you're of course masturbating to completion - your ejaculate is protein rich which again could feed the infection (especially bacterial infection) and cause it to 'flare up worse'.

Things that you would probably be wise to look into, outside of a 'simple' fungal infection would potentially be Herpes - this is something that spreads on contact and once infected, lays dormant in your system and reoccurs with 'intermittent flare ups' - You're more likely to get a recurrence when your immunity is low, or in times of stress. Some women who have Herpes get recurrent flare-ups around the time of their cycles, so there is a potentially suggested hormonal component to this but I don't think that's ever been proven.

You'd perhaps also be wise to get checked for HPV (human papillomavirus) again because this a broad, varied, contact based viral infection with a large STD/STI component.

It's a lot less likely that you'd get a more general STI/STD just from surface contact (i.e. fondling/hand jobs) but it's not completely unheard of, especially if you had any micro-tears/cuts on your genitalia when this happened. To that end, you may also be wise to have a broad STI panel workup for the regular/usual suspects, especially if you've had any other discharges.

If you're getting burning sensations when you pee, this maybe indicative of something else at play here too i.e. more evidence of an STI such as  gonorrhea/chlamydia/Syphillis , or may be something more straightforward such as cystitis (yes men can get this too, not just women) An infection doesn't have to cause a fever, indeed some STIs may not really present with any external symptoms.

I'd personally check in with a Urologist/Sexual Health clinic in the first instance, rather than a dermatologist. They see Penises every day and are more likely to have viewed something "contact STI" related than a dermatologist who primarily looks at overall skin health. The skin being the biggest organ of the human body, but your foreskin, like your eyelids, is a minute amount of skin type in comparison to the rest of your body which is what a dermatologist is most likely seeing on a day-to-day basis. That being said, scrapings and biopsy is of course a valid path forward, but if your issue isn't directly dermal but potentially subdermal/infection under the dermal layer that's being scraped then scraping mightn't provide conclusive result of the underlying issue.

Quote from: Stickler99 on 2024-04-11 09:35:44Hi Kylar. Can I assume that the pictures in the old gallery have been deleted?

I have them all, and if I'm not mistaken the relevant database data is also in place. Whether that will be useful for newer versions of the gallery remains to be seen...

Quote from: UntitledGoose on 2024-04-11 09:58:31do I need to do this when soft.

Yes, otherwise the paper will be loose when you loose the erection.

Quote from: UntitledGoose on 2024-04-11 09:58:31Do I need to roll my foreskin toward the glans or outside?

Pull your foreskin down away from the glans towards your body.

Quote from: UntitledGoose on 2024-04-11 09:58:31Where do I need to put the paper? Between the glans and rolled back skin.

Yep, behind your glans so that it goes over the skin that would normally be covered by your foreskin

I find that initially wrapping it quite tight helps - not so tight that you are going to damage anything but consider how small your penis is "at rest" and wrap it tight enough for that. Using a longer piece of tissue paper so that you can wrap round a few times (two or three is enough) and tie it off by passing the end under one of the previous wraps helps.

I used this method before, but the toilet paper always got loose.
I am new here and this is just the start of my journey.

Maybe I misunderstood the instructions and did something wrong.
Can someone give more foolproof instructions.
Example, do I need to do this when soft.
Do I need to roll my foreskin toward the glans or outside? Where do I need to put the paper? Between the glans and rolled back skin.

It's hard to visualize what to do without any pictures. The spoon technique was nicely illustrated.

Hi Kylar. Can I assume that the pictures in the old gallery have been deleted?

Again, as I said, when I'll feel like messing with it, I'll take a look at the free edition of the Gallery — which is what we had always used anyway — it's just that I don't want to do hosting stuff right now.  I'll get back to it eventually.  And because it seems like I might have not been too clear about it: the last couple of years whenever updating the forum software came up, all the links pointed to the paid version, I had thought that the free edition was abandoned and discontinued.  I'm glad it isn't!  We don't need any of the paid features, and I didn't want to spend extra money on something I deem unnecessary, so I was (time to time) looking at how to get around the whole issue that the last version we used only supported SMF ancient-dot-whatever.

tl;dr: Nice find, thanks for the link, I'll look into it when I feel like looking at a terminal at home in my free time.

Quote from: Derek on 2024-04-09 13:12:40We have an introduction section on the site. What if we simply add the same sub-column there to allow users to add pictures, replacing the gallery?

Pictures is always a risk when you run a site. Depending a lot as well on where someone runs the site from. Because you never know what the cat brings in. Many happy retractors here but it also can attract weird people. On a site that is for free to use. That point is very clear. And lots of respect for the guys who have been keeping this forum up and running for so many years. And keep the floor clean. I signed off, several years ago, then signed up again. Back then, I would get private messages from men who actually wanted to take a plane to check out my member. While I already have someone on the sofa to do that. And if anything is not a public place, it is my penis. The fact you can see mine here in my profile picture is something I would never do on any other site, it is a sign of confidence and respect.

Many years ago, I found the blog of SoundsGreat. Then this forum came. Great work, not just for me, as I suppose I am not the only one with a penis thinking about retracting mostly all the time. Even better because with the update, what works now works a lot better.

What you suggest is not so bad, adding pics in the introduction section. But I think us guys, serious guys, like to compare. So a gallery would be nicer to have.

We have an introduction section on the site. What if we simply add the same sub-column there to allow users to add pictures, replacing the gallery?