Sorry for the confusion in the terminology. When I said ER, I meant Emergency Room. The swelling of the phimotic ring had gotten so bad at that point that I could not see my urethra through the ring. The opening at the end of my foreskin was literally an inch away from the tip of my glans! When they put me on antibiotics, however, the swelling decreased considerably.
Now that the swelling has gone down, I find that there are two persistent problems. The frenulum is red and slightly inflamed. It has a slight sore on it (a little ulcer?) Even though the antibiotics knocked out the swelling in the rest of the phimotic band, the frenulum area never went completely back to normal.
The swelling in the frenulum area (the area immediately below the frenulum) got slightly worse when I returned to biking. And, as it worsened, the phimotic band started to tighten on the dorsal side in particular. Some of the scars on the phimotic band that had healed began to crack again, but the cracks were not painful except when I put soap on them.
Retraction -- when my penis is limp or semi-erect, I can pull the foreskin all the way back, but the frenulum pulls the head of my penis down by about 45 degrees (thus my concern about frenulum breve). When fully erect, I can only retract the foreskin a centimeter or so down the glans before the cracks on the phimotic band seem ready to open again. I'm sure I could force the foreskin down, but I don't want to try.
What are the steps I can take to treat this condition. My urologist recommends a full circumcission but does not view my current condition as a medical emergency. Can I use steriod creams? Where should I apply them? What can I put on the cuts to help them heal? Do the oils in neosporin aggravate the phimotic band? I want to avoid a circumcission at all costs because I fear that it will ruin my sex life and destroy my ability to masturbate. Is that a rational fear?
Bongo
P.S. The reason I ask about the distinction between candida and BXO/LS is this -- diflucan and other anti-fungals seem to completely knock out candida. However, BXO/LS seems like a much worse condition. Those fungi recur frequently and sometimes return even when the foreskin is removed. At least, that is my understanding.
>Bongo,
>(lovely name! anyway)some questions I can answer - some I cant.
>>Thank you so much for your help. Is balanitis always LSA? I thought it might be candida.
>I have never studied different infections, simply because the medical profession has done this. Throughout the literature of the last 50 yrs. some doctors call it BXO others LSA - some doctors refer to lichenoid others balanitis, how candida fits in the picture - no idea ...
>
>>I live in the U.S.
>ah, so docs in the US are also ERs.
>
>>I can certainly keep my foreskin back -- it stays behind the glans without any difficulty (though it would be impossible to keep it fully retracted without tape). But, won't this increase the risk of paraphimosis? I don't want to wake up with a necrotic glans!
>if you have nothing near like problems with retracting the phimotic ring (see next answer) when erect, then there is no danger of paraphimosis.
>>If I try to retract the foreskin while masturbating I don't feel any pain, but the scar tissue on the frenular band (particularly on the dorsal side of the penis) widen and turn red. Later in the day, those reddened areas will sting a bit. What does this indicate?
>Now, you are confusing me, throughout the literature doctors refer to the frenulum as the band under the foreskin, sometimes directly called the frenular band.
>In recent years the anti circumcision groups in the USA started using the word fre-nar (remove the dash, it is the one banned word on this forum) and recently frenular band, to refer to the phimotic ring, again the usage of phimotic ring
is throughout the medical literature of which I am aware.
>It is most problematic and I often think that if this renaming was meant to confuse people even more than they are, then it would be very successful.
>So when you say frenular band on the dorsal side - now I realise what you are talking about is probably the phimotic ring ... either that or dorsal side must be wrong ... so, yes there could be a danger of paraphimosis
>>Is the frenulum strained more when the foreskin is retracted or when the foreskin is pulled over the glans?
>The frenulum is strained more when retracted, it is not strained at all when in the forwards position.
>Im sorry about this, but could you go back to my site and simply check my welcome page summary on definition of the conditions - this is short - but we must clarify the terminology.
>I am sorry - it is probable that my previous advice was incorrect, I hadnt realised that you were using a terminology which is almost built to create confusion. I am using the language of doctors and medical studies throughout the world, that is, throughout the world except for those people who are trying to change the terminology.
>Sorry mate, lets start from the beginning again
>Robin
