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Lingering penis burning/irritation. STD tests negative.
3 months ago I received a "happy ending" massage from a sex worker. She was nude, and I I touched her vagina but did not touch my own genitals. I took a shower immediately after we were done.
5 weeks after this, I developed a sudden burning sensation around the circumference of my circumcision scar. It felt exactly like a fungal infection, which I'd had before years ago. I went to a clinic and was prescribed ketaconazole cream and nystatin powder. These knocked out the symptoms within two days. I continued the treatment for the prescribed two weeks.
Near the end of those two weeks, the irritation started to increase again. I continued the medication for another week, but the irritation persisted. It looked like the skin had dried out and lost it's upper layers. It felt thin and was very sensitive to abrasion. There were no signs of STD infection such as lumps, bumps, spots, sores, etc. Just... burning, irritated skin. Nevertheless, my anxiety started to really grow.
After 4 weeks of this, I went to a dermatologist who looked at it and declared it to be "contact dermatitis". She also told me that my visible anxiety was probably playing a part in the symptoms. I waited another 4 weeks, hoping for the symptoms to subside, but they never did. The skin is just constantly irritated. I confess that I made things worse by compulsively checking the area many times per day.
That this has taken a toll on my mental health. I've been imagining all sorts of horrible diseases that this could be and convincing myself that I have them. I've also been waking up in the night in a panic.
I then finally made an appointment with a Primary Care doctor (I didn't have one and it took 4 weeks to get an appointment), and she told me the same thing as the dermatologist: she thought it was being caused by stress and anxiety, which were through the roof at this point. She did do a full panel of STD tests, which all came up negative. She suggested I see a therapist. The thing that's worrying to me is that she did not do a blood test for HSV-1 or HSV-2 (She said "If you haven't seen the rash in 3 months then you don't have herpes". She also suggested that the test results did more harm than good, since many people are asymptomatic), and there is no HSV test for men.
So here I am: 8 weeks into this nightmare. My penis has been burning and irritated non-stop. It's also now allergic to things that I didn't used to be, like Astroglide lubricant. It's starting to really get to me and I feel like I'm losing my mind. I'm starting to worry that this is never going to go away. Could it be a residual fungal infection that didn't clear fully? Some kind of lingering skin irritation from the medication I put on it? Some strange manifestation of HSV? Or is my anxiety actually causing this?
I just wish that I could rule out the massage from 3 months ago as the cause of this.
5 weeks after this, I developed a sudden burning sensation around the circumference of my circumcision scar. It felt exactly like a fungal infection, which I'd had before years ago. I went to a clinic and was prescribed ketaconazole cream and nystatin powder. These knocked out the symptoms within two days. I continued the treatment for the prescribed two weeks.
Near the end of those two weeks, the irritation started to increase again. I continued the medication for another week, but the irritation persisted. It looked like the skin had dried out and lost it's upper layers. It felt thin and was very sensitive to abrasion. There were no signs of STD infection such as lumps, bumps, spots, sores, etc. Just... burning, irritated skin. Nevertheless, my anxiety started to really grow.
After 4 weeks of this, I went to a dermatologist who looked at it and declared it to be "contact dermatitis". She also told me that my visible anxiety was probably playing a part in the symptoms. I waited another 4 weeks, hoping for the symptoms to subside, but they never did. The skin is just constantly irritated. I confess that I made things worse by compulsively checking the area many times per day.
That this has taken a toll on my mental health. I've been imagining all sorts of horrible diseases that this could be and convincing myself that I have them. I've also been waking up in the night in a panic.
I then finally made an appointment with a Primary Care doctor (I didn't have one and it took 4 weeks to get an appointment), and she told me the same thing as the dermatologist: she thought it was being caused by stress and anxiety, which were through the roof at this point. She did do a full panel of STD tests, which all came up negative. She suggested I see a therapist. The thing that's worrying to me is that she did not do a blood test for HSV-1 or HSV-2 (She said "If you haven't seen the rash in 3 months then you don't have herpes". She also suggested that the test results did more harm than good, since many people are asymptomatic), and there is no HSV test for men.
So here I am: 8 weeks into this nightmare. My penis has been burning and irritated non-stop. It's also now allergic to things that I didn't used to be, like Astroglide lubricant. It's starting to really get to me and I feel like I'm losing my mind. I'm starting to worry that this is never going to go away. Could it be a residual fungal infection that didn't clear fully? Some kind of lingering skin irritation from the medication I put on it? Some strange manifestation of HSV? Or is my anxiety actually causing this?
I just wish that I could rule out the massage from 3 months ago as the cause of this.
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