[ ARC forum 2 ]

HELP forthcoming

Written by Paul B. at 17 Sep 2001 15:35:28:

As an answer to: ANY HELP please? written by gem at 17 Sep 2001 14:49:26:

> If I describe my symptoms can anyone tell me what might be wrong?

Well, let's have a try.

> I can pull my foreskin over the glans quite easily,

Just to confirm, you mean pull it back to reveal the glans?

> but find it difficult to get it back over the other way, even when flaccid.

To cover the glans again? This is no surprise, as the glans is an "arrow-head" shape, blunter behind.

> It also feels quite sore during sex or masturbation

Can you pinpoint which part feels sore - the glans, or the foreskin (sore to touch after) or the pressure it applies on the shaft?

> and no longer covers the whole of the glans when flaccid, as it used to do.

So if you carefully stretch it all as far forward as possible, and let it go, it slips back to this position?

> I am convinced I have lost some foreskin somehow - almost 30%. Is this possible?

Well, if it is so, then it must be so! The foreskin can contract due to disease. Chronic irritation can cause scarring, which may or sometimes may not be reversible. The commonest cause of this is chronic yeast (Candida, "thrush) infection. A rare cause is "BXO" which you will see discussed on this forum.

A series of questions to elucidate this:

How old are you? (If you are coy, nearest 5 years will do.)

Have you been checked (finger-prick test) for diabetes?

When did it last slip easily both back and forward, or did it ever?

Has it been irritated? How often/ how long?

Have you been in the habit of using soap on it? (Probably not a good idea, contrary to what it may seem.)

As an approximation, if it has contracted, it may need stretching, about which much has been written here, so you should read up on it. The point is however that there is a cause, and there is no point stretching until the cause has been determined and rectified. Steroid ointments are useful to facilitate stretching/ reduce scar formation, but they actually make candida infection worse, so you need to figure this out pretty smartly.

Candida can be treated with over-the-counter preparations, but long-term treatment with these is needed to keep it away long enough for the inflammatory process to subside. If this sounds like the problem, this would be a reasonable way to start and anti-candidals would be needed prerequisite to using the steroid ointment anyway.

If the problem is the use of soap, then stopping this might be sufficient in the long term, though again, the anti-candidals and steroid might be necessary.

There is much obvious sense in seeing a doctor, certainly if the above does not appear to match or subsequently, fix the situation. The only concern is that some doctors, notably in countries where circumcision has been popular (the doctors are themselves circumcised!) tend to advise circumcision instead of treating the problem.


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