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I?ve had redness on my penis that i?ve had a difficult time getting rid of. Initially, there were roundish red spots; later, after using a steroid, the roundish red spots disappeared, but a general redness remained, and continues still. Interestingly, i?ve noticed that when my penis is flaccid, the redness is hardly (or even not-at-all) noticeable. But invariably when it is erect ? whether I have sex or not ? it is quite red (ie. Head/glans and approximately two inches of the shaft directly below the head/glans). No problematic symptoms, like itching or pain (although slight burning during intercourse). But I find it very unsightly. The dermatologist who has now seen it twice thinks it is probably eczema, but isn?t sure. He said it could also be caused by fungal, allergic, friction, or other reasons. Here are the treatments i?ve tried: (1) first, I tried alclometasone dipropionate cream 0.05% twice daily for approximately 2 weeks. (2) then, for approximately two weeks, I applied ketoconazole cream 2% once a day (in the mornings), while simultaneously applying eucrisa (crisaborole) ointment 2% in the evenings. (3) then I tried orally taking claritin 10 mg for six days to see if it might be connected to allergies, even though I have no known allergies. (4) the last thing i?ve tried was applying protopic ointment 0.03% twice daily for approximately two weeks. While some of the above helped a bit, none of these got rid of the redness, which has remained the whole time since this redness first appeared (approximately four months ago). I?m thinking that the steroid probably worked best, but I do have some concern about using steroids on my penis skin, as i?ve heard it can problematically thin out that skin, but i?m willing to take some risk with this. I have tubes of what I believe to be two different steroids that I haven?t used yet for this problem: triamcinolone acetonide cream 0.1%, and clotrimazole and betamethasone dipropionate cream 1%/0.05% (base). Should I try either of them on my penis (or maybe even try over-the-counter hydrocortisone 1%, although this may be too weak to do much?) any other suggestions? (3) then I tried orally taking claritin 10 mg for six days to see if it might be connected to allergies, even though I have no known allergies. (4) the last thing i?ve tried was applying protopic ointment 0.03% twice daily for approximately two weeks. While some of the above helped a bit, none of these got rid of the redness, which has remained the whole time since this redness first appeared (approximately four months ago). I?m thinking that the steroid probably worked best, but I do have some concern about using steroids on my penis skin, as i?ve heard it can problematically thin out that skin. But i?m very motivated to get rid of this redness, so i?m willing to take some risk vis-a-vis using steroids there. I have tubes of what I believe to be two different steroids that I haven?t used yet for this problem: triamcinolone acetonide cream 0.1%, and clotrimazole and betamethasone dipropionate cream 1%/0.05% (base). These were prescribed to me for redness on another part of my body, but i?m wondering if it makes sense to try either of them on my penis (or maybe even try over-the-counter hydrocortisone 1%, although this may be too weak to do much?) I would be most appreciative of any input here. I realize diagnosing something like this without actually seeing it limits the helpfulness of your opinions, but it would still be very helpful to hear what opinions/guesses experienced professionals have about what this redness on my penis is, and most importantly, what I might do to get rid of it. Thank you very much in advance for any and all input.


1Doctor Answered
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