Hypersensitivity in the penis (irritated & prickly)
 

I have been to numerous MDs in the past for this condition and have had no real success in curing it. It kind of went away on its on many years ago and as of last week it is back. The area from the foreskin scar of the penis to the very tip is extremely hypersensitive. If nothing is touching it (if im naked) i do not know that there is a real issue, but as soon as i put underwear on, that problem starts. The problem is of course walking and doing anything active and the underwear that it rubs against. The more I do the worse if irritates. I realize this is an area that most people shy away from talking about, but I have no other options at this point. A Dermatologist that I saw many years ago and just saw again yesterday told me that he thought it to be nerve related, not skin. He suggested an MRI or for me to see a Neurologist and possibly have a nerve conduction study performed on me (read details online and it seems that that would be painful or impossible?) He also gave me a Rx for Amitryptilline 10 mg. Any feedback or ideas would be much appreciated. Thank you!

I'd post this also on the Men's forum.

But one thing that strikes me is that you may have soap residue in your wash... and it is irritating the sensitive area you describe.

Tide makes a new sensitive soap now:
http://www.tide.com/en-US/product/tide-free.jspx

Also fabric softeners can be irritating too.

Just do a second rinse on a load of your underwear, and see
how much soap comes out the second time! For this reason we double rinse all our clothes now! Soap is very alkaline and our skin is acidic. Elevated pH to alkaline then becomes very painful.

I'd make sure ALL environmental things are excluded before going further medically. Even the soap you shower with.
You know women get irritated by soap in showers too... and don't realize that shampoos end up down there, and conditioners (and often are not rinsed off enough). (conditioners are surfactants and defat the skin making it very vulnerable to the environment).

If you can find some A and D cream, you might try using that on the tip carefully. It is typically in the baby section of stores. It is very healing and often helps personal discomforts and might work for you.

thank you for you help. I have tried that also in the past. I've tried so many things i just can't remember them all to be quite honest. I feel 100 % this is nerve related. Any other suggestions or tests?

Some of Peripheral Neuropathy posters use a cream called Zonalon. This is a drug similar to amitriptyline which is used orally. It helps with pain topically.

Try to recall if you used it in the past. Oral use of amitriptyline in low doses is mentioned elsewhere on the net. Either that or Lyrica. I'd go with amitriptyline first.

I am getting a sense that there is a trigger for your problem.
Find that trigger, and you have your answer.

For example... bicycle seats are known to damage nerves in the pelvic floor of males. We see all sorts of new better types now
to prevent this.

http://hubpages.com/hub/May-Your-Bic...ic-Seat-Online

Yours is not a common problem. There is very little on the net about it in fact. We've had some men on the men's forum who described numbness and lack of feeling, but not the reverse.

Do you have pain or numbness elsewhere too? That would suggest a systemic problem.

MrsD to answer you question specifically, yes i have used Zonalon years ago with no results. I have also used other topical creams: Acid Mantle, Vytone, Pramasone, Hydrocortisone, Emla (which i was allergic to, got worse), Valerate cream, Desowen, Zeasorb AF (powder), Cetaphil (soap) Doxephin HCL 10mg (capsules), Celexa, Tetracycline 500mg capsules and many cortisone shots with no affect.

As far as where the problem came from, I thought it might go without saying that i have masturbated and continue to although none in the past 2 wks or so. I had sex with my wife one time, with no pain, but I'm scared to do that with the chance of making it worse. Could that alone cause the problem you think. I remember years ago when it came about with the Prostatitis, I had trouble getting an erection and even feeling any sex drive. I had some problems with that psychologically and would oftentimes try very hard to orgasm, whatever it took, out of frustration. Could I have damaged something on my own by doing that? Thats what scares me! I didn't bring it up, first, because its embarrassing, and second, because I really didn't think it mattered how I had this problem, the problem was fixing it. Please let me know what you think.

I only know from what I read recently on the net.

One page mentioned hygiene issues, and also infectious issues.

I did see one page that said, sensitivity problems are more common and expected with UNcircumcized males... there is a therapy for stretching the foreskin to help ease that.
Those sites also say that the skin of a circumcsized male tends to thicken on the glans, and lowered sensitivity is more common.
Proponents against circumcision of male babies cite that factoid most often. This may be why you encounter puzzled doctors.

If you have latent herpes simplex, this virus lives in the nerves. This can be tested for.
The only non-drug remedy I know for this is high dose l-lysine tablets, 1 or 2 grams a day. If you have high titres of herpes (and most people do), a course of antiviral may help. But you need a blood test for this. Chicken pox virus also does this.
Pain from Herpes Zoster virus can happen with no rash forming.
But it is not common in your location. This can also be tested for and treated the same way.

Putting a mild barrier cream on the area may help with sensations against fabrics. A and D is also healing. I'd stay away from steroids, as they didn't really work for you and they also may bring on Herpes, if you have it latent/sleeping.

If you don't have this problem elsewhere, that is a sign that local irritation may be the culprit. So handle that as you need to do.

Been there, had that! Not fun!
 

Stinging and sensitivity so bad at one point I had to wrap my penis in gauze to prevent it from touching anything. It would come and go. Definitely nerve pain. It sometimes hurt in the scrutom area too. An urologist gave me pills that turned my urine blue. Can't recall the name. It helped a lot. However, soon after one episode, I developed an all over PN. Probably unrelated but who knows. The penis problem went away on it's own eventually.
All tests were negative so some of my Drs thought it was in my head. I went to three different urologists, including one at Mayo. No real help. The Mayo one said my weight was the problem. I was pressing on my testicles when I sat and that was causing the symptoms. Personally, I think urologists, because they are all surgeons, are uninterested in any problem that does not involve surgery. That's my opinion and the unsolicited opinion of my internist. I hate to be so negative about Drs, but the truth is they know a lot less than they will admit. That is particularly true of Neurologists when it comes to understanding pain and how devastating it can be. I guess they see so many people in pain that they become numb to it and their patients.

Hey man, I have been dealing with the exact same problem. I show negative on every single test I take for infection yet have been dealing with this for what seems like ages. My life feels so ruined and hopeless now. I barely can get through the days now since I long for how I used to feel.

How long did it take you to feel like you were back to "normal?" I am just over the one year mark and the pain was intense and excruciating the first few months. I am still in discomfort/pain at times but it is tolerable and un noticeable at times. I have zero trust in doctors because of this issue since I have gone to so many that say it is in my head. I hate to say it but I almost did myself in for that reason... I was reaching out for help and all they kept doing was telling me I'm crazy and that nothing is wrong with me.

So anyways, how are you doing now? Obviously you must have some type of issue still going on or you wouldn't be on the internet perusing others with a similar problem. Have you taken any std tests? HSV 1/2? I am so certain my issues are Herpes related even though I show negative on the tests. The pain is perfectly explained through nerve issues.

What do you guys think?

For dmg5186
 

I have not been on this site for months. Sorry. My problem is almost entirely gone but I am on Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Oxycodone. All are for nerves. I have non length dependent small fibre neuropathy. It spreads fast and to almost everywhere on the body. I don't know if the sting in the head of my penis was a first symptom, which I believe is the case, or just a separate issue. In any case the meds for nerves has calmed it down to almost nothing. I first went to a dermatologist andwas told abrasion from rubbing on underwear. Then neuropathy by a three different urologist. Of course the neurologist insisted it was a urology problem until just recently. Get someone to prescribe meds for nerve pain and see if it helps. If it does it is a nerve problem. Good luck.

OMG! Other people actually KNOW about this?!?!
 

I was just searching the net once again for this issue, just hoping to find someone who shard this problem with me. I was pretty sure there had to be other people out there with this issue. I didn't know what to call it. I wondered if it was what people were talking about when I heard jokes about "chafing." But I saw pictures and that's not it. I know this post is very old now and no one else is responding but I just HAD to reply with the fact that I have this same issue! And I haven't even been able to articulate what it is before. I'd just tell the doctors it was pain on my penis from rubbing up against my underwear and they'd think I was crazy! No solutions were ever even suggested. I don't think mine has been as bad as some of what you guys have described here simply because I'd just avoid walking anywhere when it was too bad or I learned a highly temporary 'trick." I would sag my pants like those --pardon my reference here-- African-American, male youth would often do (see Lil Wayne for example) with their boxers showing. I wouldn't show my boxers but my paints would be down to the point where my penis wouldn't move so much and rub up against my boxers. This gave me a slight pit of relief while walking. It didn't help when I was running though. Sometimes, I just suffered through the pain! I also associated this issue with intense masturbation and even after sex when using a condom--although that was rarely the cause of the irritation. That only happened if the condom pinched my penis by the opening, which I hate! But I am now concerned that herpes could be related. A girls I have been having protected sex with for the last few years has been diagnosed with HSV but so far, my test results have come back negative, except for one time, it was inconclusive. I don't know why that was but I thought it might be cause my body is somehow fighting it off well enough that most tests are negative for me, even though I still might be a carrier or something??? I'm probably saying ridiculous things here. But these are my thoughts and I felt I should share. I hope we can find a way yo alleviate the pain altogether though. Hey, thank you so much for posting this and for all of the responses!