I'm A 40 Year Old Male That Has Had Phimosis

Posted on Mon, 6 Jan 2020

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 6 Jan 2020 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : I'm a 40 year old male that has had phimosis since birth. My phimosis has been pretty severe and until recently i couldn't see my glans.

However, after stretching the foreskin with silicone rings, I've been able to open the foreskin enough to examine the glans now. What I've noticed is a red erosion on the glans tip. I used a lighted scope to get a closeup of my glans. I'm including pictures of this erosion and had the following question:

1) Does the erosion in the picture look suspect? Particularly cancer?

P.S. I've been applying a steroid cream for the past week. The irritation could have been there for years but I've only recently been able to visualize it. I have no other symptoms.

Answered by Dr. Anders Mark Christensen (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
It looks like balanitis

Detailed Answer:
Hi Robertkliener,

Thank you for the photos and history. It looks like balanatis, which is an inflammation of the glans. It sounds like a good idea with the steroid creme. It does not look like cancer at all. If the steroids do not work, I would take a swab of it.

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have further questions.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng