[Question #10319] Penile Itching Questions
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24 months ago
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Dear Doctors,
My husband has been having intense penile itching for approximately three weeks. There is no concern of infidelity and both of us have been tested for STIs at our last yearly appointments, all negative, including herpes. The first round, we assumed jock itch because we had been outside on a particularly hot day, lots of sweating. No sores, no lesions, just some generalized redness. He used over the counter anti-fungal and it had mostly calmed down within a week and a half. We then had sex, and the next day the itching returned horribly. He went to the urgent care and they gave him a yeast pill and ran some cultures/did another STI panel. STIs negative, still waiting on culture. The day after the yeast pill, the itching was worse. I feel perhaps mildly itchy but nothing like previous yeast infections I've had in my life, as our thought was maybe we just passed it back and forth. We're waiting for a urology appointment. Would a fungal infection be passed back and forth like that? Could it be something like trich that isn't necessarily tested for at a yearly appointment? Given that I'm not itching, would scabbies be likely?
My husband has been having intense penile itching for approximately three weeks. There is no concern of infidelity and both of us have been tested for STIs at our last yearly appointments, all negative, including herpes. The first round, we assumed jock itch because we had been outside on a particularly hot day, lots of sweating. No sores, no lesions, just some generalized redness. He used over the counter anti-fungal and it had mostly calmed down within a week and a half. We then had sex, and the next day the itching returned horribly. He went to the urgent care and they gave him a yeast pill and ran some cultures/did another STI panel. STIs negative, still waiting on culture. The day after the yeast pill, the itching was worse. I feel perhaps mildly itchy but nothing like previous yeast infections I've had in my life, as our thought was maybe we just passed it back and forth. We're waiting for a urology appointment. Would a fungal infection be passed back and forth like that? Could it be something like trich that isn't necessarily tested for at a yearly appointment? Given that I'm not itching, would scabbies be likely?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
24 months ago
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Welcome to the forum. Thank you for your confidence in our services.
But unfortunately I can't help very much. No STI causes genital itching as the main symptom. For obvious reasons, sex partners share genital bacterial and other organisms, including yeasts like Candida albicans; and therefore genital yeast infections can occur in partners. But that's really the only condition that might explain your symptoms. It's good to hear both your husband and you have had negative STI testing, although even that probably was unnecessary, assuming it is true that neither of you has recently had sex with other partners.
As for other possible causes of itching, all I can do is guess. If you use condoms, perhaps you're both allergic to latex? Or if you use vaginal perfumes or hygiene products, you and or your husband might have irritation from them. Trichomonas is an STI that can last for years and often is not included in routine STI testing, but itching is not among its usual symptoms. Scabies would not be limited to the genital area.
This doesn't sound like a urological problem. If you've already made that appointment, it's reasonable to follow through. But a dermatologist probably is more likely to have the expertise to diagnose the cause of itching in either or both of you.
Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I hope these comments are useful. Let me know if anything isn't clear. Good luck.
HHH, MD
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