Hi all
18 months ago my foreskin turned pale white due to vitiligo. It's not actually very noticable under a dark light when erect but in daylight it would be though which I find very limiting and I feel it's decreased my confidence sexually. :( In some lights it looks shocking. The head of the penis has also changed colour but it looks fine, not something anyone would notice.
My question is should I try using steroids on it? It hasn't increased in the slightest for 18 months and I've read some reports of steroids actually making the vitiligo WORSE? I'm also very concerned about the thinning of the skin. When it first happened and I was feeling low I even looked in to removing my foreskin but I decided that'd be too extreme and drastic, plus it looks really painful!
Should I just learn to live with it? I don't like the thought of it spreading one bit but if I could get rid of it it would be amazing. Any experiences from people with vitiligo in this area would be especially helpful. Anyone ever had it go naturally?
Thank you so much! It feels great to finally be able to talk about this.
Replies
Hi MBison, this is my first reply and what a topic!
I've had a similar experience since I was about 16 or so and I would echo the spirit of the other replies. It really, really doesn't seem to matter to girls with a brain at all. I've even seen porn stars with vit in 'places of focus'! Not that I ever watch porn, obviously... ahem :)
Hi Mbison,
My vitiligo started on my penis and my nipples when I was a teenager. Although I had hard times in these years, now my vit doesn’t bother me to such great extent, especially the vit on my penis. Certainly, you can try to cure (unfortunately there is no any sure cure and if by chance you receive some good results, they are not permanent) or hide the vit on your penis like on every other part of your body but it doesn’t worth trying for the vit in the area of genitalia. The vit on face and other highly visible areas is much more embarrassing because not all people you meet in your everyday life know or understand what it is and very often they are scared of you. Vit on your penis is something different, it will be seen only by your special persons and it won’t be a problem, unless you are nudist. Also, you will have the opportunity to explain it to your special persons and if they are really special, they will accept it.
I understand your concerns regarding the relations with the opposite sex. However, it actually doesn’t affect these relations to such great extent. It only affects your mind, what you think about it, not the relation itself. I have even seen porn videos where actors had vit on their penis.
So, may be it doesn't worth worrying too much about the vit in this area. However, if you still think that vit on your penis is a big disadvantage, I would advise you to use the Tom Sawyer’s strategy when he had to paint the fence of his aunt Polly as a punishment. Look at the vit on your penis as an attraction for the women rather than as a disadvantage or burden for you. In most of the cases this strategy works. After all, not everyone has a colorful penis :-)
Good luck!
Hi Mbison,
I also have vitiligo on my penis (and i'm very brown there, much much more than the rest of my skin lol), it's even the first sport who appeared lol (was 10 or 11), and yeah sure u can live with it, it has absolutely no physical effect first and it has never been a problem at all with my former partners, the girls i knew never made a point about it ... some girls even never mentionned it man ... be confident with it, with yourself, and partners will behave normally trust me
But ... if u really want to treat it, ask a dermatologist skilled in vitiligo (most are not unfortunately), but i would never recommend topical steroid on penis, they provoke skin thinning and, as u know, skin is already really thin there ... i think protopic or elidel is,in general, much more advisable on this area, maybe along with some uvb ... if u do so, never apply protopic/elidel on the glans 'cause it's a mucous membrane, apply it only on 'normal' skin
Hope this helps, and don't worry too much about it : as i said, as far as they understand what it is, most partners won't mind at all about it
for the sake of helping a brother out ! first of all ,
your penis can lose color i believe just like any other part of your body would do that !
why would you be ashamed is beyond me ?! i mean to me personally and i cant believe that i am actually saying saying this but losing your color will not make your penis smaller or dysfunctional ! it
you have to accept the fact that being different is not a bad thing.