Hi,

I found these forums looking for information for my partner. At this point, I have read most of the three threads on this topic, and have shown much of it to him (he's too embarrassed to post himself). It seems that his problem is similar to many of yours, but I'm not so sure this is of any comfort to him considering how long some of you have been living with this. For him it began about three weeks ago.

I'm going to list the way his has behaved and any other useful/useless info to see if anyone has any more thoughts.

1. He first had a small red "line" on his upper thigh - near the groin crease (about 3 weeks ago). Thought it was a irritation from gym (clothing rubbing, but only wears loose cotton boxers, usually white).

2. As that cleared, the scrotum became red. Doesn't itch, but can burn. Thought it might be jock itch, but anti-fungals burned like hell and caused the redness to deepen and the discomfort to intensify.

3. The rim of the penis head is also irritated. Red and burns, but no blisters, sores, etc. It is also a tiny bit at the opening.

4. We're both divorced from 20+ year marriages (him 7 years ago, me 8) and have been in a monogomous relationship for almost that long, so we're not really concerned this could be an STD. Although my ex had a few genital herpes breakouts through the years, I've never had outbreaks. I had gotten nervous at one point & had blood tests performed which only showed that I antibodies to types 1 & 2. I was told that I could have had cold sores as a kid and not remember (even though it was types 1 & 2).

5. He has been taking Augmentin since this began because he was concerned that it could be bacterial, but there's no change.

6. Applying Elocon gives temporary relief, to the point that it seems to disappear, but when he stops, it flares up again.

7. Sex explodes the symptoms! Whether it's friction, or maybe my ph levels, both oral and intercourse set it back so much he's afraid to touch me, and vice-versa (I have no irritation whatsoever).

8. I have searched and search online, and looked at more infections than I've ever wanted to see. Nothing really looks similar, and no course of any infection seems to parallel this -- certainly no STD, and not even yeast. Most especially the way it can appear to be gone for a day or so, and then flare up as bad as ever.

9. Definitely doesn't follow the previous poster's "diagnosis" or symptoms -- no itching, no flaking off of skin, etc. That poster's description doesn't seem to match very many posts on these three threads anyway.

10. He does occasionally take Viagra (I remember reading a post -- not sure which of the three threads it was in -- that mentioned a possible link to nitric oxide, which Viagra does increase). Although he's taken it for about the past 6 months, he did recently increase the dose. He's taken both brand and a generic, but has not taken it since this began.

11. Before finding this forum, his gut feeling was excema, allergy or autoimmune.

12. And yes, even though he wasn't uncomfortable to ask his Dr. for Viagra, he is too embarrassed (so far anyway) to see him for this.

I just don't get the ebb/flow of this thing. I'm also obviously concerned at how sex caused it to flare up so badly. Gave me an awful feeling of what if this is an allergic reaction to my ph levels (just like you can eat peanuts for years, and then one day wake up and be allergic).

Thanks for any thoughts.

Hello Autumn1950
I believe redguy has eczema. The skin gets raw and flaky. The problem most of us have is similar to eczema in the fact that it comes and goes and that it causes the skin to get inflamed. My problem has been bothering me for a year now. I saw many doctors, Dermatologist, Urologists, Allergists and still have no definitive answers. The last dermatologist I saw was a college professor at a major teaching hospital. I actually saw three different doctors as the first doctor wanted to consult them. They told me to stop using anything except Vaseline. They gave me a mild anxiety prescription and an antibiotic for skin infections. The one possible cause that they mentioned was rosacea. Normally it affects the face but it does fit the symptoms better than eczema.
This problem has bothered me almost every day for the last year with a few days off here and there. After I saw the last Doctor and started to use just Vaseline the problem improved dramatically. For the last month it hasn't bothered me one day. I stopped applying Vaseline a week ago and even though I had to explain why I had a stain around my crotch to fellow construction workers, I am doing a lot better.
I don't know if we will ever figure out what this is. But i do know it gets worse with stress and for me sugar feeds it.

Thank you for sharing this. I agree with your opinion. I developed this bruning scrotum problem in about a month. I am pretty sure that it is not bacterial/fungal or any other infections. And I am pretty positive that it is dermatitis, because I have suffered redness/itching skin in other area of my body; eyelid/face/neck. The itching scrotum is just a symptom of the sensitive skin of my body. My allergy doctor also let me use cream to moisterize the skin, the similar prescription as your Vaseline. I hope that it will work magic as yours.

Cheers.

This is going to burn, but I suggest rubbing alcohol applied with a cotton ball spread liberally on the scrotum and anywhere else there is red, including the penis head. It will burn the first few times applied but if used a few times a day, the red will be gone in two weeks. Change underwear twice a day, especially if it gets moist, because moisture seems to make it easier to grow.

In my experience this redness is a bacteria that lives in the pores of the skin. It can be transfered from one place to another by scratching an infected area and then a non-infected area. It appears that alcohol kills the bacteria and the redness will stop after the bacteria is gone. Alcohol can easily penetrate the pores and I think that makes it very effective in finding and killing the bacteria.