Sorry for asking too much questions, but I've got another one concerning frenulum breve [indirectly].
Could you elaborate on normal foreskin and glans colours? I have difficulty assessing my skin colour on my penis. Here is a synopsis of my story:

When I was about 13 [about 10 years ago] I diagnosed myself with phimosis.Im sure it was so called secondary phimosis [2-3 patches of foreskin sticked on the glans]. I went to urologist [with my parents of course] and [with local anaesthetic] he just tore it off. Of course it was due to persistent infection. Unfortunately the urologist diagnosed frenulum breve and wanted to operate me , but he couldnt handle the infection. My parents [especially my mother are against surgical interference] so we searched for another doctor, who confirmed previopus diagnosis and also wanted to cut me Again we went to other doctor [this time it was professor of surgery], to my mother satisfaction he sad that the frenuloplasty wasnt necessary and that it all depended whether I had problems during intercourse in my future.[thats how i ended up 23 with FB]. Then he sent me to his friend [dermatologist] who was treating my infection for a about 3-4 years [!!]. I remember he even checked me once for diabetes. Well my condition improved but I still have some suspicions. I can and probably I will visit this dermatologist, but I dont want to be to tricked into spending money on treating something which can be normal. Ive written about my history because I think it can help you assess my condition.

My state:
- Generally Im healthy

- I have quite big [about 1-2 cmin diameter] red patches on penis which are not persistent [sometimes almost whole foreskin and glans is red and sometimes nothing]

- Most ofthen [almost all the time] there is one red patch on the top centre of the glans

- Red patches change their shade [sometimes there are strong red, and sometimes there hardly visible, and as I said sometimes there are absent]-the same applies to this red patch on the top centre of the glans

- I wash my penis twice a day with a non-soap herbal liquid, which has some anti-fungi effect[at least its written so on a label, composition: Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Coco Glucoside, Undecylenamidopropyl Betaine, Propylene Glycol, Thymus Serpillum, Panthenol, Lactic Acid, Cocamide DEA, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Sodium Benzoate, Parfum [Fragrance], Linalool]

- Usually I can see these red patches when I uncover glans and it's moist, a bit sticky and smelly, when I keep it uncovered for a few minutes usually the moisture, most of the smell and red patches disappear as the glans dries

-Nothing is itchy, except glans when I keep it uncover for a few minutes or longer and it dries

Generally Im worried about it, because on most photos on internet penis head is pinky,my coulour is rather irregular. I read that infection can make stretching much harder,thats why Im asking experts.

Regards
Eastern Europe

Quit using that stuff to wash with. It has the basic ingredients for soap, so it is soap. You are killing the necessary friendly bacteria on your penis, and because of that, you have no defense against candida (yeast).

Go to the pharmacy and purchase a tube of medicine which combats yeast or fungus. Wash your penis with clean, clear water and pat it dry. Apply the medicine over all the areas you can access. If your skin is too tight to get inside, use a cotton swab to apply the medicine there too.

If you are Caucasian, your penis may be slightly darker than your normal skin color. Inside the foreskin, the color is usually lighter, often pink in tone. The glans (head) may be slightly darker, and can have purple undertones.

Stay away from sweets of any kind for a while. That means no sugar in any form, including soda. It would be wise also to eliminate carbohydrates for while, including beer and wine.

During that initial examination when you were a teen, the doctor misdiagnosed the sticking of your foreskin to the glans. That is actually normal until the onset of puberty in many boys. It was not due to infections. The peeling could have been accomplished by your own hands over time.

Well, at least the question is: Who suggested to you to use that horrible concoction on a sensitive part of your body? Was it the dermatologist, and if so, you certainly should not be going back to see him, nor recommend him to anyone for whom you have any affection!

If it indeed is the case that you are using that detergent to wash your penis with your foreskin retracted, or even getting it anywhere near the foreskin opening, then you have immediately identified the culprit for your whole tale of woe. I will go one further than Jim and suggest that simply throwing the stuff away and using nothing other than clean water to wash your penis will (given time for it to recover,) settle the problem quite nicely. Had you been given this advice to start with, the problem may never have occurred.

I find in practice that when you "drill down" to determine what is actually happening, virtually all instances of so-called "infection" (balano-posthitis) in children (whose status as "sexually active" is or so we would hope, limited to masturbation) is actually chemical dermatitis due to the use of soap, often by pseudonyms such as "skin cleanser" or "bubble bath" - the latter being essentially synonymous with common dish-washing detergent. When the irritant is withdrawn, recovery is generally dramatic.

The term "secondary phimosis" can be interpreted in two ways, either phimosis secondary to inflammation as you suggest, or phimosis appearing following normal achievement of retraction which is at some point during childhood or even puberty. This does mean that some condition may supervene before the foreskin has a chance to become retractile, so you might clarify just what your experience was. And the adhesions you describe may either be new adhesions due to persistent irritation, or (I suspect more likely if you had never fully retracted,) adhesions or "synechiae" present since development.

It is as always salutary to realise that two out of three "specialists" that you consulted gave you garbage advice. To me, this illustrates the general problem of medical understanding of sexual (genital) function; doctors clearly suffer from the very same degree of ignorance and prudery as the general population and this leads to decisions that completely discount and ignore the importance of sexual pleasure. I find this very sad, and this is part of my own motivation to disseminate more accurate information as widely as is practical.

When you query the "normal" colour of your penis (under the foreskin), I automatically reply "whatever yours is", meaning that in most cases, there is a simple misunderstanding of appearance (and as always, depictions on the Internet can be particularly confusing). In your particular case though (and I daresay, any similar,) it would seem that you are seeing areas of irritation due to the detergent.

And as to preparations you may use on the penis (or for that matter, a woman's vulva which is of course, similarly sensitive,) the important thing is - the fewer ingredients the better. While it is possible that you might have a degree of "Thrush" (yeast) as you will see so frequently discussed here, I would advise you simply try stopping the detergent first and seeing if this problem settles, and only if it persists or itch becomes a major aspect, should you use the anti-fungals. If you must at some stage use a soothing and protective cream, then I always recommend simple Zinc and Castor oil cream, with no other additives, particularly not a perfume which is a known common sensitising ingredient in skin preparations. As I say, so-called "feminine hygiene" products - sprays and such - are (or should be) well known to dermatologists as the cause of nasty irritations.

Well, that is surely (more than) enough for now. It does seem that you have been unfortunate and the cause of your own problem; hopefully this will be easily sorted once recognised, and we will be most interested to hear how you progress (and the few extra details I have queried, for starters).

Firstly, I have to say that this strange liquid [actually it's feminine hygiene product] is my own idea The dermatologist advised me in the fist place to clean my penis twice a day with special soap [it had natural pH]. Then he was treating me with a variety of creams/ointments. I must admit that he helped me a lot. Before that, I had abundance of so called smegma, skin on penis was very painful [in the beginning I had to use absorbent cotton to wash my penis - I wasn't able to touch it]. After about 3 years of treatment [ unfortunately the whole treatment was very expensive, the dermatologist was a Professor] my state was very similar to present so I was very enthusiastic. I "forgot" about it, because I couldn't make up anything to improve my state. Last year I hit on the idea of using product designed for genital area, unfortunately there were only these for women. I had thought about it and came to the conclusion that they would me much better than soap [ among other things they contain lactic acid]. Now I see I was wrong.

Yesterday I quit using this liquid, and used Clotrimazolum. I made big progress overnight, my penis looks much better. I still wash it twice a day [with water] - should I cut down on it?

As to "secondary phimosis" it's hard for me to say. I've written so, because I havent't known that these adhesions could be physiological. I don't remember retracting my foreskin before the "surgery". Certainly I had terrible infection so my assumption was it was the culprit. To be honest nobody told or showed me retracting foreskin, so I thought it was ok until some day I compared myself with other men in a locker room at the swimming pool...

I wouldn't be myself if I didn't ask you a few questions

1. What is a normal degree of an itch? As I wrote my glans is itchy when it's uncovered for a couple of minutes [it dries and then itches].

2. Just out of curiosity. When I was browsing through internet today and searching more and more on frenulum breve I came across this site
http://www.pegym.com/forums/index.php

Of course when I was a teenager I read about such exercises and ended up with the opinion that it's not possible to enlarge your penis [I don't mean stretching ligaments] and that these exercises can actually harm you.

http://www.pegym.com/forums/success-stories-other-writings/3777-my-success-story-frustrated-beginner-read.html

Once I read it I started to doubt in my previous opinion. What do you think. Is it possible?

As for stretching frenulum I will answer in my first topic, now I'm perfecting technique of T-tape method.

Thank you again. Maybe it's to soon to say so, but I have a feeling that you saved me from unnecessary surgery and improved my life a lot.

Regards
Eastern Europe

Why do you feel it's necessary to wash two times per day? Are you getting smegma production that quickly? I think once per day would be sufficient to keep the area clean.

I have no idea if the exercises described on the linked site work. I think they're fabricating most of it.

Well, to review the salient points of my previous post, a lot of "feminine hygiene" products are marketed, but that does not mean that any are beneficial, any more than tobacco is. The one you cite is primarily a detergent and that is very bad for the foreskin - or the vulva. Another highly undesirable component - because of the risk of sensitisation - is the perfume, yet of course, this is what "sells" the product - it smells good, which conveys the message that it is "nice" to use (whether or not it is helpful or in fact harmful).

It is convention to list ingredients in descending order of their quantity. Lactic acid, which is a legitimate component of vaginal preparations, appears eighth on the list you gave (ignoring the first, "aqua" which of course means water ).

The problem with washing with "with special soap" (even if it has "natural pH") is that it is - soap! And the problem with that is - why would you ever want to use soap on your penis? Are you a motor mechanic who gets so grubby that oil and dirt penetrate through your overalls and underwear? Whatever makes you think - then or now - that you penis and especially the area which is specially protected under the foreskin - is in some way dirty? How in fact would it get dirty? Does it not stand to reason that (if you cannot retract) it is regularly flushed out every time you pee? Or do you somehow imagine your urine is "dirty"?

It is almost certain that your problem in the very first place, was allowing soap to get inside your foreskin where (except when you pee) it cannot be properly flushed out. "Smegma" - the accumulation of the surface layers of skin which is continually growing and wearing away except where it is always covered - is produced in excess when the skin is irritated and responds by growing faster in order to protectively thicken and provide more of a barrier to the irritant, so the more soap you apply, the more smegma you produce. This process is referred to as either "irritant dermatitis" or "seborrhoeic dermatitis" depending on whether the irritant is identified or cryptic.

OK, any amount of recurrent itch is abnormal. I think (but am not totally sure) that your itch is simply part of the irritant process and will settle if you can avoid the irritant. It may indicate the presence of "thrush" which is often an opportunistic infection secondary to dermatitis.

Now as to stretching. Skin clearly is susceptible to stretching. Stretching the foreskin opening is comparatively easy and straightforward. Stretching the frænulum is somewhat more difficult; stretching the remnant foreskin following circumcision to "re-create" a complete foreskin is again a greater challenge, but people succeed. So, what about stretching the penis itself? Well, there is little evidence to indicate that this is do-able; when you read something on the Internet, you do have to consider whether it is credible as clearly, a lot that you read even where it is well-written or emotive, is simply mendacious.

You do have to always consider what is being "sold" to you, what motivation may be behind the claims. On the site you cite(!), I observe that this is a popular subject and many men would presumably desire to enlarge their penis (despite this being in reality of next to no interest to their heterosexual partners), which makes it (highly) worthwhile to encourage discussion favouring such an enterprise, particularly where one might be marketing a "product".

The main reason I would suggest that stretching the penis is unlikely to be particularly productive, is that the Tunica albuginea (the sheath of the corpora cavernosa) is not skin - it is decidedly tougher and essentially "designed" not to stretch (just as are ligaments and tendons). I would not call it impossible, but expect it would require immense determination; rather more than any of the enterprises above. And I perceive a very real danger that the various methods of "jelqing" to such an extreme extent would cause damage to the erectile mechanism within the corpora cavernosa - need I say more?