Hi everyone,
First post on here. I hope you can help!
I have balanitis and am hoping someone can help me to figure out the cause so I can find a solution. About 17-18 days ago when showering I noticed I had quite a bit of buildup under the foreskin and that I had little red spots on the head of my penis. No pain or itching. I recognised these symptoms as I had previously had thrush about 20 months ago that was pretty much the same. I got this from my girlfriend at the time, she had just changed birth control pills which can affect the candida in their body due to hormone changes. I went to a clinic, they said use canesten cream, I did and it went completely within 4-5 days and it was obvious it was making a difference quickly.
This time however, I suspect the cause is different. I did have sex with my girlfriend again 4-5 days prior but she's not been on any new pills or anything. Last time I had been drinking a lot around the same time and had bad diet which I believe contributed. Not this time.
Now this might sound a bit weird but a few days before these red spots came up this time, I had actually changed my peeing habits. Usually, I've always peed with my foreskin unretracted but use tissue afterwards to clear up any excess urine. For some reason a few days prior to noticing these spots come up, I decided instead of using tissue to clear up any excess urine I would stop using tissue and just shake instead.
My theory is that this may be the main reason the redness and spots appeared and why I had more buildup there than usual. I hadn't cleaned under the foreskin for a couple of days and there would have been more moisture (urine) under there than usual as I hadn't been drying with tissue. It also seems coincidental that it appeared at this time. Perhaps this caused a buildup of bacteria or fungi or simply irritated the glans.
My question is, does this sound like a likely cause to you? If so, what would you recommend would clear it up if this was the cause?
This is what I've tried so far:
I used canesten cream again for 4-5 days and also took the oral tablet but didn't feel there was a discernible difference being made this time so stopped using it for now.
I've been washing under the foreskin every day and drying it with tissue paper after to keep it dry. I've also been making sure it is as dry as possible after urinating.
I should also note that in terms of complexion, it has changed quite a lot since I first noticed it. In fact, the first day I noticed it in the shower was the worst and actually, the very next day when I looked in the morning, I thought it'd completely disappeared. I looked again that evening and did notice some bumps but they were much less noticeable and red than the day before. Since then it's never been as red as it was the first day but it seems every time I look things seem different. Sometimes it's barely noticeable anything is there, sometimes more so and also it seems to be affected by how dry or moist it is down there.
I apologise for the long post, but thought it'd be helpful to give as much info as possible.
I don't have any pics currently but there's nothing distinguishable from other pics on here. The odd little red spot/bumps and sometimes the glans look a little red.
Thanks in advance!