
Hey Doctor, I’ve Been Having Issues With My Penis Lately

I’ve been having issues with my penis lately I’ve had this burning sensation when I pee. I went to my gp who ran a bunch of tests including a urine test, penis swab which came up with nothing. There was a bunch of smegma acclumated behind my foreskin and I was prescribed a steroid/anti fungal cream (Hydrozole with 1% hydrocortisone and 1% clotrimazole) which helped get rid of it but now my foreskin is really red and inflamed and I’m unsure if the streoid cream is causing it or if it’s the smegma removal? It just seems to make it worse. Should I stop using the combo cream and just use the antifungal instead for a couple of weeks? The swab also showed up clean so could I just stop it all together and see if the redness subsides without anything?

I’ve been having issues with my penis lately I’ve had this burning sensation when I pee. I went to my gp who ran a bunch of tests including a urine test, penis swab which came up with nothing. There was a bunch of smegma acclumated behind my foreskin and I was prescribed a steroid/anti fungal cream (Hydrozole with 1% hydrocortisone and 1% clotrimazole) which helped get rid of it but now my foreskin is really red and inflamed and I’m unsure if the streoid cream is causing it or if it’s the smegma removal? It just seems to make it worse. Should I stop using the combo cream and just use the antifungal instead for a couple of weeks? The swab also showed up clean so could I just stop it all together and see if the redness subsides without anything?
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Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using Ask a Doctor. You are right to question the steroid cream, as steroid creams, while effective at decreasing inflammation and irritation of the skin, can also weaken the immune response and make it easier for fungal and bacterial infections to get worse. It does sound like you may have had a fungal infection to begin with, but now I suspect the combination cream is making it worse.
You already mentioned the two options I would consider: just use an antifungal cream, or just stop everything and see how it goes. Of the two, I would suggest trying just an antifungal cream, since if it is getting worse with the steroid cream there may be an infection there. Also, the antifungal cream should not cause any problems.
If after a week it is not getting better or getting worse, you may have a bacterial infection that would need topical antibiotics. If the pain becomes much worse or if swelling develops, please be sure to get evaluated soon, as you may have a more serious infection developing. But I wouldn't expect that to happen in your case.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any questions about any of that and I would be glad to discuss it further with you.

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Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using Ask a Doctor. You are right to question the steroid cream, as steroid creams, while effective at decreasing inflammation and irritation of the skin, can also weaken the immune response and make it easier for fungal and bacterial infections to get worse. It does sound like you may have had a fungal infection to begin with, but now I suspect the combination cream is making it worse.
You already mentioned the two options I would consider: just use an antifungal cream, or just stop everything and see how it goes. Of the two, I would suggest trying just an antifungal cream, since if it is getting worse with the steroid cream there may be an infection there. Also, the antifungal cream should not cause any problems.
If after a week it is not getting better or getting worse, you may have a bacterial infection that would need topical antibiotics. If the pain becomes much worse or if swelling develops, please be sure to get evaluated soon, as you may have a more serious infection developing. But I wouldn't expect that to happen in your case.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any questions about any of that and I would be glad to discuss it further with you.




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Detailed Answer:
Masterbating can irritate the urethra, so I would suspect this to be the cause, especially if you masterbate somewhat frequently. You could try stopping for a few weeks and see if the burning goes away, which I would suspect it would.
A negative swab would make any infection less likely, but not rule it out completely. You could also just try stopping using any creams and see if it improves with that. But like I said, using just an anti-fungal shouldn't hurt anything. But hopefully your gp can take a look at it and give a better idea of what is going on.

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Detailed Answer:
Masterbating can irritate the urethra, so I would suspect this to be the cause, especially if you masterbate somewhat frequently. You could try stopping for a few weeks and see if the burning goes away, which I would suspect it would.
A negative swab would make any infection less likely, but not rule it out completely. You could also just try stopping using any creams and see if it improves with that. But like I said, using just an anti-fungal shouldn't hurt anything. But hopefully your gp can take a look at it and give a better idea of what is going on.



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Detailed Answer:
That is strange, but sometimes your body can fight off an infection without any symptoms or any way you would be able to tell, but lymph nodes can get enlarged from it. Whether to worry about this would also depend on how big it was, if it is less than 1 centimeter then it is not concerning. I would also make sure you don't have any inflammation or infection in your scalp.
If there is no obvious cause, and it is larger than 1 cm, then after 4 weeks, if it is not getting smaller, I would go back to your doctor to ask if a biopsy might be appropriate.

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Detailed Answer:
That is strange, but sometimes your body can fight off an infection without any symptoms or any way you would be able to tell, but lymph nodes can get enlarged from it. Whether to worry about this would also depend on how big it was, if it is less than 1 centimeter then it is not concerning. I would also make sure you don't have any inflammation or infection in your scalp.
If there is no obvious cause, and it is larger than 1 cm, then after 4 weeks, if it is not getting smaller, I would go back to your doctor to ask if a biopsy might be appropriate.



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Detailed Answer:
Are the penis and foreskin swollen at all?
I'm a little concerned you may have a bacterial infection, so I would only wait a few days, if you don't see any improvement or if it gets worse at all at any time I would go back and get evaluated again since infection with your penis can be dangerous.
Are you still able to retract and pull back the foreskin without any problems?
If you can send a picture as an attachment here that may help as well.
Regards

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Detailed Answer:
Are the penis and foreskin swollen at all?
I'm a little concerned you may have a bacterial infection, so I would only wait a few days, if you don't see any improvement or if it gets worse at all at any time I would go back and get evaluated again since infection with your penis can be dangerous.
Are you still able to retract and pull back the foreskin without any problems?
If you can send a picture as an attachment here that may help as well.
Regards





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Detailed Answer:
Ok, it doesn't look like a bacterial infection, and there is not really any swelling, so that is good. I think you should be fine, you can just use the antifungal cream that you have (that one should work fine), as long as it is not getting worse you could try using it for a week and if it still isn't going away you could get it looked at again at that point.

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Detailed Answer:
Ok, it doesn't look like a bacterial infection, and there is not really any swelling, so that is good. I think you should be fine, you can just use the antifungal cream that you have (that one should work fine), as long as it is not getting worse you could try using it for a week and if it still isn't going away you could get it looked at again at that point.







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Detailed Answer:
The testicle looks a little red but nothing that would make me think there was something definitely wrong with it. If you've been having similar aches for a long time then I would say it is unlikely to be related to this current issue. It is more likely that you are more aware of this area and paying more attention to the ache which may have been there before.
Rarely there can be a chronic infection in the testicle, but assuming that your doctor has checked your urine along with the ultrasound, this should have been ruled out.

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Detailed Answer:
The testicle looks a little red but nothing that would make me think there was something definitely wrong with it. If you've been having similar aches for a long time then I would say it is unlikely to be related to this current issue. It is more likely that you are more aware of this area and paying more attention to the ache which may have been there before.
Rarely there can be a chronic infection in the testicle, but assuming that your doctor has checked your urine along with the ultrasound, this should have been ruled out.

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