Get your hands off my penis skin#

If the head of your penis becomes painful, red, itchy and has a discharge, you may have a treatable condition called balanitis. Things to watch out for (and when to see your GP) So some smegma is normal, but if you have too much or it becomes smelly, you may need to clean more.

Get your hands off my penis skin#

Some people have oilier skin than others and tend to have more smegma. Smegma is a thick, whitish discharge consisting of a build-up of dead skin cells, oil and other fluids under the foreskin. If you have sensitive skin, you can use a soap-free wash from the chemist. Excessive cleaning removes essential body oils that would normally keep our skin moist and reduce friction. But generally, too much soap is worse than none at all. It’s OK to clean with soap whether you have a foreskin or not. Then, you guessed it, pull the foreskin forward to its normal position. When it’s time to dry off, retract the foreskin again so you can dry the head of the penis with a towel. Then, after washing, pull the foreskin forward to its normal position. Once your foreskin separates easily from the glans, gently retract and clean underneath the foreskin with each bath or shower.

That’ll be painful, you could bleed, you could scar, or have other complications. You should never forcibly pull back your foreskin. In some boys, the foreskin can stay partially stuck to the head of the penis until puberty. This allows you to pull back your foreskin (retract it). From around the time you turn five, your foreskin separates from the head of your penis, bit by bit. The Conversation, CC BY-ND Foreskin factsīut first, some foreskin facts. If you’ve been circumcised, where your foreskin was removed soon after birth, your penis will look something like the one in the diagram (below, right), with the head (or glans) always exposed.īut if you have a foreskin (below left and centre), there are some extra things to think about when washing, which we’ll get to soon. The penis is simply another part of our anatomy, so cleaning should be relatively straight forward.

We probably know more about hair care than penis care. It’s a shame some people think talking about cleaning and caring for our genitals is embarrassing or taboo.

clean under the foreskin, using soap, but not too much.

Do I use soap? Any soap? How normal is smegma? If my penis gets itchy from smegma should I go see a doctor? If so, my GP or a urologist? - Anonymous Key points Growing up, no one ever gave me the rundown on how or what I should do to keep my penis clean I’ve never read any reliable answer beyond washing it with water.