Balanitis
Overview
Balanitis is when the head of the penis is swollen and sore. It's not usually serious but it's important to see a GP to find out what's causing it.
Symptoms
With balanitis, the head of your penis is usually swollen, itchy and sore. It usually looks red, but this may be less obvious on brown or black skin. Other symptoms can include: pain when peeinga thick discharge that comes from under your foreskinbleeding around your foreskinan unpleasant smelldifficulty pulling back your foreskin – though in young children it's normal to have a tight foreskin
Causes
Causes of balanitis include: not washing your penis properlysome young boys have a verytight foreskin (phimosis), which means they cannot pull it back to clean under itthrusha sexually transmitted infection (STI) such asgonorrhoeaorchlamydia– if a STI is suspected you may be referred to a sexual health clinicsubstances such as soap, shower gels or condoms may irritate the skindiabetes– high levels of sugar in your pee can cause thrush
Treatment
Treatment for balanitis depends on what's causing it. A GP may prescribe: a mildsteroid cream or ointmentanantifungal cream or ointmentantibiotics If you or your child keeps getting balanitis and medicine has not helped,circumcision(surgery to remove the foreskin) may be considered.