Last updated on August 26, 2020
Question:
The tip of my penis is itching. I had sexual contact about three days ago. I had unprotected sex with my girlfriend, whom I am about to marry. What disease is this?
Answer:
Whether you have intentions of marrying your girlfriend or not, having sex with her is both disrespectful of her and sinful in the eyes of God. See “Why Sex Outside of Marriage Is Wrong” and “Marriage’s Glue” for details.
I won’t be able to narrow the list of possibilities much since you haven’t given me very many clues, but let’s start with some obvious or easy ones:
- If you recently changed soaps for your body or for your clothes, it is possible that you are mildly allergic to the soap. It can also be that you are not getting your penis rinsed well enough after bathing. Try being extra thorough in rinsing the next few days to see if the irritation decreases.
- If you have changed your clothing habits, such as going without underwear for a few days, it is possible that the end of your penis is getting chaffed on the coarser material of your pants. Hand lotion applied to the end of the penis may help speed the healing.
- If you accidentally scratched the end of your penis or caught it slightly in a zipper, it might be a bit raw. Hand lotion or antibiotic ointment on the end of the penis may help speed the healing.
- You could have a fungal infection, such as a yeast infection. If so, you should see redness in the area where it itches. Use an anti-fungal product that is made for jock itch to treat the problem. If the guess is correct, the itching should fade in a few days, but make sure you follow the directions and use the product the full time. To prevent re-infection, make sure you use clean towels when you dry off and make sure you are completely dry before dressing after bathing.
- It is possible that you got a bladder infection. Such infections change the amount of acid in urine and irritate the penis. If such is the case, the itching or pain would increase when urinating or shortly thereafter. You would need to see a doctor to get this treated.
- Related to this, some foods you eat will change the acidity of your urine. If the itching comes and goes, this might be a possibility. Again, the itching would be worse shortly after urinating.
- It is possible that you contracted chlamydia and the earlier tests missed it. Men often don’t have many symptoms with this disease, which is what leads it to being spread so much sexually. It does do quite a bit of damage, some of which might not appear until you reach your later years (Chlamydia is suspected to have a role in heart disease). The most common indicator of Chlamydia is itching or pain at the tip of the penis. To be on the safe side, it would be best to have this double checked by a doctor, just in case it was missed earlier.
- Finally, there is a possibility of scabies. This is a skin mite that is found world wide. One symptom of scabies is that the itching gets worse at night. Generally scabies is not isolated to one region of the body, but if the mites are just starting to get a hold, it might be starting there. A doctor can diagnosis this problem and prescribe a treatment.
If I had to guess, I would suspect the fungal (yeast) infection since women often get these and it is possible for a man to pick up the infection from the woman. However, because I have no way to rule out the other possibilities, I would suggest that you see a doctor about the problem.