What is balanitis?
Balanitis is an inflammation of the glans penis(head of the penis); when the skin over the glans is affected, then it is called as Balanoposthitis. It is quite a common condition and affects males at least once in their lifetime.
What causes balanitis?
There are numerous factors involved in the causation of this condition. One common condition is a fungal infection(candidal balanitis).
There are many other bacteria, viruses, fungi responsible, but their prevalence is less than candidal infection.
Other important factors may be poor hygiene, trauma, allergy, drug allergy.
What are the risk factors for balanitis? Who will get balanitis more frequently?
- Presence of foreskin
- Morbid obesity
- Poor hygiene
- Diabetes (particularly males with uncontrolled diabetes), probably due to Glucose on the skin, encouraging bacterial and fungal growth
- Nursing home environment
- Condom catheters
- Sensitivity to chemical irritants (i.e., soaps and lubricants)
- Edematous conditions: CHF, nephrosis
- Reactive arthritis
- Sexually transmitted infections
What are the symptoms of balanitis? How does balanitis look like?
- Tight, shiny skin on the glans
- Redness around the glans
- Inflammation, soreness, itchiness, or irritation of the glans
- A thick cheesy white discharge under the foreskin (smegma)
- An unpleasant smell
- A tight foreskin cannot retract
- Painful urination
- Swollen glands near the penis
- Sores on the glans
How balanitis diagnosed?
It is diagnosed on a clinical basis. The majority of times, balanitis is easily diagnosed on the patient’s clinical history and clinical presentation of lesions. If doctors suspect balanitis is of fungal origin, then he prescribes for blood sugar test. Often if the bacterial infection is the cause, then a few tests may need to be carried out for diagnosis.
How to treat balanitis?
Primarily treatment of balanitis is the treatment of causative factors.
Management of balanitis without an identifiable cause initially focuses on the implementation of local hygiene measures. Besides, it warrants empiric treatment for candidal infection or noninfectious dermatitis in some patients.
Retraction of the foreskin with thorough genital cleansing can be both preventive and therapeutic. The suggestion is twice-daily bathing of the affected area with a saline solution. In uncircumcised males, nonspecific balanitis may respond to saline solution bathing by itself.
Management generally consists of topical antibiotics for bacterial infections, topical steroid creams for dermatologic conditions, an antifungal for candidal disease, and potential ablation or excision of premalignant lesions.