Lichen sclerosis, Balanitis.. help?

Hi everyone, I hope someone here can help me out. I’ll try to keep this brief:

I’ve been dealing with long COVID since June 2023, so I’m quite familiar with TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome). I understand the concept and believe that my long COVID symptoms are related to TMS. I’ve been making great progress—currently managing around 10,000 steps a day—but that’s not my main concern right now.

Around the same time last year, in June, I jumped into my father’s outdoor pool. Later that evening, after returning home (I was in the pool earlier in the day), I noticed that the tip of my penis was red. I had never experienced anything like this before (I’m 27 years old). I ignored it, thinking it wasn’t a big deal, and the redness eventually disappeared.

At that time, it didn’t occur to me that the pool might have caused it. Two weeks later, I went into the pool again, and that evening, I experienced severe pain while urinating. It was extremely intense—I thought I had a bladder infection. I drank a lot of tea and waited for it to pass, but the symptoms only improved very slowly. I eventually went to the doctor, submitted a urine sample, and everything came back negative. After a few days without improvement, I returned to the doctor, then went to the hospital for an ultrasound of my prostate, along with another urine test—again, everything was normal.

No illness or infection could be found. To this day, I still have a frequent urge to urinate, meaning I have to go to the bathroom often, and the tip of my penis is often red—almost every day. Occasionally, I experience a burning sensation when urinating, though not every day. On top of that, I’ve been dealing with lichen sclerosis for about three years, although I have it somewhat under control—it’s only mildly affecting my foreskin.

What’s strange is that an antifungal cream containing clotrimazole (Canesten) almost completely eliminates the redness. I’ve applied the cream consistently for weeks, but as soon as I stop using it, the symptoms return. I’ve also tried coconut oil, aloe vera, iodine ointment, Bepanthen, and other treatments, but nothing provides a lasting solution—the redness always comes back!

I’ve managed to control my lichen sclerosis by placing a piece of toilet paper between my foreskin and the tip of my penis, keeping the area 100% dry. Even minimal moisture or urine droplets exacerbate the skin irritation and cause the lichen sclerosis to worsen. But when I use this method, it reduces the symptoms by about 90%.

That’s the situation I’m dealing with! The issues with the redness started around the same time as my long COVID symptoms. All the doctors have told me that I’m healthy, and every test has come back negative. But the antifungal cream does help, even though it’s not a permanent solution, and the problem never fully goes away. The doctors say there’s no fungal infection according to the tests, so I’m confused about why the cream works.

Do you think this could be TMS? I would love to just accept it like I have with my long COVID, where I’m making significant progress, but I’m unsure if this is also TMS. Ideally, I’d like to treat it as TMS, accept it, and let the lichen sclerosis worsen if necessary. I check my penis about 5-6 times a day—sometimes up to 15 times!

I used to never look at it—never! I’m just at a loss for what to do—this can’t all be real, can it? I can still have intercourse with my wife, but the issues never completely disappear. If anyone has any advice, I’d really appreciate it.

 

Welcome to the Forum!

You've sought out opinions from doctors and they haven't found anything. This is all you need to assume it is TMS and to go forward with treating it as TMS. The antifungal cream may appear to help due to the placebo effect. The placebo effect is real and occurs when we believe something will help. It demonstrates the power of the mind.

Are you following a particular TMS program? Let us know what you've done and we can make recommendations for how to proceed. Congratulations on your success in treating long Covid.