Phimosis and bxo

[Hubertb7]

Hello,
My name is Hubert and I’m 25 years old.
I’ve had a lot of different symptoms throughout the years and I’ve been able to control and eliminate them through the mind body approach but sadly I don’t have a great handle on it as new ones are always popping up.
Since I was a child I’ve had some on and off issues with phimosis(tight foreskin and segma buildup under skin of penis). But it was never an issue or something that caused me problems. In my teens and early adulthood I had a lot of problems with listening to and masturbation. In my opinion it is morally wrong and I felt that it was affecting me negatively. Around 2 years ago I finally got a handle on it and broke free and was on long semen retention streak. It felt great.

Around a year ago I started having some discomfort due to foreskin tightness. But I just got some oil gels and stretched it and it was good enough to move on and disregard it for then. Then this summer I was having some mental health issues and stress. I started to relapse on my semen retention a few times. In October I noticed the foreskin getting tight again, but it was like the last time where i just used some oil gels and I was okay.

Then in mid November in the middle of a stressful situation and urges to relapse again, one night I was cleaning and stretching it in the shower. After that my symptoms escalated severely. Tightness redness pain and inflammation of the foreskin. I went to urgent care and they couldn’t find anything in urine tests and labeled it as irritation. They gave me some cream that made it hurt worse so I stopped using it. Then I made a video appointment with a doctor(in person is a two month wait). I showed pictures and got diagnosed with bxo(lichen sclerosis). I was given a topical steroid cream and have an inperson urology appointment in 6 weeks.


I am in pain everyday and don’t know how to get better and I’m conflicted between a mind body and physical approach: because I’ve had phimosis and a clear structural issue since childhood. But also the random flares, inconsistent responses to treatment, and a lot to emotional baggage around semen retention at the time of the initial flare up lead me to think there could be some tms at play here: because for the last two months it’s been very “convenient” for me to not be able to relapse on semen retention or perform any sexual acts.

so I don’t know what to do: keep using the steroid creams? Fully buy in to the mind body? Do both? I am so lost and this is so hard because in the last 7 weeks I have not gotten any beter

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Hello @Hubertb7. I think it would be helpful if you could explain just how much (or little) you know about the mindbody approach, which we still refer to here as TMS in honor of Dr. Sarno (even though it's a bit outdated in the current practitioner community). Which books have you read, or have you done any programs? Have you addressed your anxiety? Do you know about the ACEs?

If you've never read anything by Dr. Sarno, we still recommend starting there, just because he explains the emotional component so well. His last book was The Divided Mind in 2006.

 

[Bonnard]

Then in mid November in the middle of a stressful situation and urges to relapse again, one night I was cleaning and stretching it in the shower. After that my symptoms escalated severely....

....I showed pictures and got diagnosed with bxo(lichen sclerosis). I was given a topical steroid cream and have an inperson urology appointment in 6 weeks.


I am in pain everyday and don’t know how to get better and I’m conflicted between a mind body and physical approach: because I’ve had phimosis and a clear structural issue since childhood. But also the random flares, inconsistent responses to treatment, and a lot to emotional baggage around semen retention at the time of the initial flare up lead me to think there could be some tms at play here

Inflammation is so often TMS and it's easy to continue with specialists where it's difficult to pin anything down. Any chronic inflammatory skin condition that can be treated but it often comes back--perfect set-up for a TMS personality. Where it shows up on your body can be a distraction. Since it's in the genitals, specialists are focusing on that. I had inflammation in my feet&ankles, so I ended up with a podiatrist.

This has the classic hallmarks of TMS. Daily pain that first escalated during a stressful situation. Not sure whether it's TMS -- along with emotional baggage, and a history of mind-body issues and attempts to work through them.

What if you review the questions in the above post, examine your knowledge/history with TMS, along with what has worked in the past? You described successfully dealing with mind-body issues over the years. What worked? What if you treat it like it's TMS, go all in on the work, and see where you get? You can do it during the months-long waits for specialist appts.
Also, check out the success stories on this site.
Wishing you well!