Post Date December, 02 2023
It is understood that almost all men have the following confusion: Is their foreskin normal? Do you have foreskin inflammation? With this question in mind, our reporter interviewed Li Yuanwen, director and professor of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Oriental Hospital Affiliated to Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. During the interview, he mentioned the following points:
Classification and inducement of prepuceitis
In fact, foreskin inflammation is a common male disease, which mainly occurs in young adults. As men enter puberty, the secretion of glandular glands increases, resulting in an increase in foreskin scaling. Inflammatory symptoms can occur at this time, such as emitting some fishy odor, and in severe cases, red, swollen, and purulent secretions.
In medicine, we can divide foreskin inflammation into two categories: infectious inflammation and non infectious inflammation.
So what is infectious inflammation?
Infectious inflammation refers to inflammation caused by the infection of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. The causes of inflammation include contact infections, conditional pathogenic infections, decreased immunity, and local humidity. For example, male foreskin balanitis may be due to excessive foreskin and local humidity. Or patients with diabetes can have conditional infection.
Infectivity is further classified into common infections and specific infections (infections of sexually transmitted diseases).
Common infections are mostly caused by poor personal hygiene. For example, some men may not bathe for 10 days and a half, while others may not thoroughly clean their reproductive organs when bathing. At this time, due to the stimulation of foreskin scale, the ability of bacteria to reproduce increases, leading to inflammation.
There are also some infections that are specific, that is, sexually transmitted infections. The most common of these is gonococcal prepuce balanitis (gonorrhea).
It mainly occurs in the urethra, causing redness, swelling, and pain in the urethra, as well as the outflow of purulent secretions, leading to urethritis. However, it can also infect the glans and foreskin, causing redness and swelling of the glans and foreskin, and the outflow of purulent secretions. Or causing pus blisters and ulcers in the foreskin. In addition, there may be infections with chlamydia and mycoplasma, as well as inflammation of the glans and foreskin, which is a chronic inflammation that typically lasts for one to two months.
Due to chronic infection, the glans and foreskin adhere, and the foreskin is not easy to turn up. There are also infections of genital herpes and condyloma acuminatum (that is, human papillomavirus infection), which can lead to foreskin balanitis.
In addition, there is another type of non infectious inflammation:
The most common is allergies, such as taking certain drugs that can cause inflammation: sulfonamides, antipyretics, and analgesics. Some people are prone to redness and erythema of the glans after taking these drugs. Even erosion and ulcers.
Secondly, there is some inflammation caused by contact allergy. If allergic to condoms (latex). "Or using some liquid or oil before sex can also cause redness and swelling of the glans and foreskin."
Thirdly, some immune diseases can cause glans foreskin inflammation, which is not an infection or allergy. For example, the common plasma cell type of glans foreskin inflammation may have a significant relationship with your immune system.
In short, the knowledge of male glans foreskin inflammation is very large, and it is also of concern to everyone. The symptoms are generally as follows: redness, erythema, papules, small blisters, and so on. However, the etiology is not entirely the same. After identifying the disease and its causes, how should we prevent and treat prepuceitis in daily life?
First, some people feel panic when they find a erythema, or a small papule, or a small prickly papule in the coronal groove on their glans due to unclean sexual behavior, and think they have sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS. In this case, the best way is to go to the hospital and seek expert diagnosis.
Secondly, in the process of prevention and treatment, we still need to pay attention to the emergence of sexually transmitted diseases. "Because many sexually transmitted diseases do not necessarily manifest as urethritis, the first symptom is inflammation of the foreskin and glans, or an ulcer of the foreskin and glans. I saw a patient, aged 30, who developed an ulcer a penny large on the inside of the foreskin, without pain or redness.". Ten days after his illness, he went to see a urologist. After the doctor's diagnosis, he was introduced to the dermatology department. We performed a dark field examination on him and found that it was stage 1 syphilis. He did not know how he was infected.
Third, it is important to understand whether there are problems with the development of your glans and foreskin.
（1） For example, phimosis. Phimosis is a physiological problem, but it can cause many other problems:
1. Due to the abnormal exposure of the glans, the development of the glans is restricted, and the glans may be relatively small.
2. The stimulation of phimosis and foreskin scale may cause penis cancer and wife's cervical cancer, and the occurrence of cervical cancer is directly related to foreskin scale.
3. Here I would like to give an example; One of my patients, in his 70s, was born with phimosis, but because of his shyness, he never went to see a doctor. When I saw him, his foreskin not only couldn't turn up, but also showed obvious redness, swelling, and pain. Slowly, a tumor develops at the upper end of the foreskin, and eventually develops into penile cancer. "I'm sorry to say to him, 'It was originally a minor illness. You had to circumcise earlier and have to keep it. It turned out to be like this, so it's also a great pity.'".
（2） Foreskin problem: we all know that excessive foreskin requires prompt treatment, and to what extent should it be treated? Especially if the glans cannot be exposed normally, treatment is necessary. There are many methods of treatment, so be sure to ask a doctor for treatment.
Fourth, pay attention to distinguishing between skin diseases and foreskin inflammation
In addition, there are many skin diseases that require expert identification during the diagnosis process. For example, there can be vitiligo on the glans, or sudden whitening. Some patients mistakenly believe it is glans foreskin inflammation, and they are also very nervous. In fact, just find a professional doctor to make a clear diagnosis for him.
Finally, I would like to emphasize one point: In daily life, it is necessary to clean the genitals in a timely manner to prevent the occurrence of foreskin. The correct cleaning methods are:
1. Bathing frequently. When taking a bath, it is necessary to rinse the glans with live water, especially for men. If the foreskin cannot be exposed, it must be turned out, that is, fully exposing the glans for cleaning. This is a common disease committed by many boys, and it is wrong to not pay attention to their own genitals.
2. Under normal circumstances, it is advisable to clean the glans and foreskin every other day, and once a day in the summer.
