Had Ingrown Hair On The Base Of Penile Shaft. Painful, Red And Turned To A Cyst. Cleaning With Alcohol And Betadine. Advise?

Posted on Thu, 19 Sep 2013

Question: I have a question about a sebaceous cyst. About a year ago I had and ingrown hair on the base of my penile shaft, kinda on the underside of the shaft in the fold where your scrotum meets the base of the penis. I believe it was a result of shaving from about a week earlier. It became painful and a bit red and raised so i tried to dig out the follicle with a sterilized pair of tweezers. I was pretty sure i removed the in grown hair, however i do believe it formed a small cyst as a result of me digging at it. So here is where im at now. for the last 9 months or so a have been keeping it clean with 99.9 % alcohol and betadine, but it seems the cyst wont fully heal and close because I maybe didn't get all of the cyst out? not sure what to do, have no insurance and no extra cash at the moment to go and see a doctor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (31 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Topical antibiotic

Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX

You can try a topical antibiotic cream like bacitracin/mupirocin to see if the cyst gets less inflammed, however, I suspect that excision (opening up) the cyst may be needed, and probably not a good idea to do it yourself with tweezers, given the area, no matter how sterile you try to be. I suspect there may be a mature cyst or even perhaps a persistent ingrowth.

Yours truly,

Dr B

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (18 minutes later)

Thank you for your reply, i would like to send you a couple of pictures of the infected area if thats possible?

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (2 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
sure

Detailed Answer:
please do thanks

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (4 minutes later)

how would i go about sending them to you?
I tried to upload some pics to this query, I hope you were able to view them.

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Thanks for pics

Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX

I took a look at the pictures and I agree; there is a persistent area that doesn't seem to heal up in the center; it may be due to a retained foreign body, including an ingrown hair or a cyst, but there is a broad differential for ulcerative genital lesions, so I think seeing a Dermatology specialist will be a very appropiate thing to do, as they can examine the lesion with a magnifying glass and determine if there is need for biopsy or excision of a cyst if present.

Best regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (8 minutes later)

Thanks so much for our help, I have been pretty worried about this, and am just curious if this is something i should be REALLY WORRIED about? Is there a chance that it could be something very serious? Also i found some mupirocin, cleaned the area thoroughly and applied some and covered it with a sealed band aid, also how much time do i have to act on something like this?

thanks again,
Caleb

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Agree with basic measures

Detailed Answer:
It is reasonable to try that and see if the lesion improves in terms of healing; a malignant ulcer in that area in a young person like you is quite unlikely, but again, an ulcerative lesion that does not heal may eventually need workup and potentially biopsy/culture for infectious causes.

If it has been stable in size for several month, I would give the conservative approach at least a couple of weeks time, but if no improvement you should consider my suggestion of a Dermatologist to look directly at the lesion.

Truly yours

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar