What is this itch in the nether region?
March 26, 2020 3:11 PM Subscribe
(NSFW) For the past month, I've had a lot of itching... down there. Haven't wanted to see a doctor because of COVID-19. Details to follow.
A month or two ago, I started noticing increased itching of my pubic hair. I live in a tropical country, and I mostly chalked it up to the heat and humidity. I got in the bad habit of scratching...and pulling out hairs. Perhaps that's a particularly bad thing since I have very kinky hair. So, maybe I just exacerbated jock itch right?
At the same time, I am a gay man with a number of partners. So I became concerned that maybe it's more than just jock itch--something like pubic lice or herpes. Even though I couldn't see any lice (my eyesight is bad), yesterday, I decided to preemptively use an anti-lice shampoo just in case.
Today, I realized that I could use my smart phone to get a high res closer look at the issue. Nothing that would suggest lice from what I could tell. (Don't know if they could have already been killed off, if formerly present). Everything looked somewhat normal, aside from the fact that the base of my hairs seemed to be particular white or oil filled. Come to think of it, the skin in that area general seemed kinda oily.
I have some topical steroid I could apply, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not.
Any thoughts or recommendations are appreciated.
A month or two ago, I started noticing increased itching of my pubic hair. I live in a tropical country, and I mostly chalked it up to the heat and humidity. I got in the bad habit of scratching...and pulling out hairs. Perhaps that's a particularly bad thing since I have very kinky hair. So, maybe I just exacerbated jock itch right?
At the same time, I am a gay man with a number of partners. So I became concerned that maybe it's more than just jock itch--something like pubic lice or herpes. Even though I couldn't see any lice (my eyesight is bad), yesterday, I decided to preemptively use an anti-lice shampoo just in case.
Today, I realized that I could use my smart phone to get a high res closer look at the issue. Nothing that would suggest lice from what I could tell. (Don't know if they could have already been killed off, if formerly present). Everything looked somewhat normal, aside from the fact that the base of my hairs seemed to be particular white or oil filled. Come to think of it, the skin in that area general seemed kinda oily.
I have some topical steroid I could apply, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not.
Any thoughts or recommendations are appreciated.
Definitely don't put topical steroid on it without getting it looked at by a medical professional. If it's something infections (fungus, bacteria, etc.) it will suppress your immune response to that thing.
posted by unstrungharp at 3:35 PM on March 26, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by unstrungharp at 3:35 PM on March 26, 2020 [2 favorites]
Start with the simplest possibility first: treat for jock itch with an anti-fungal cream and see if it resolves. Horses before zebras!
posted by DarlingBri at 3:49 PM on March 26, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by DarlingBri at 3:49 PM on March 26, 2020 [10 favorites]
Did you do anything to treat the presumed jock itch? If it were me and I couldn't consult a doctor, that's what I would start with because it's the mildest and easiest treatment--keeping things dry and using an anti-fungal cream. In the US you can buy effective antifungal cream over the counter at a lot of places - even dollar stores sell it now.
To get rid of lice you usually have to use something to kill them (like the shampoo you used) but ALSO wash your towels and bedding to kill any lice on them and pick out the nits (lice eggs) that are stuck to hair shafts using a very fine comb so that they don't hatch. (More detailed info from Planned Parenthood here.)
Scabies is also a possibility but the cream for that (usually permethrin, at a much higher concentration than permethrin in lice products) is much harsher and the treatment is more of a pain (because scabies can take up residence in lots of other areas of your body too--so the treatment involves covering basically your entire body with the cream in addition to washing bedding/towels/clothing/etc) so I would rule out other things first.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:16 PM on March 26, 2020
To get rid of lice you usually have to use something to kill them (like the shampoo you used) but ALSO wash your towels and bedding to kill any lice on them and pick out the nits (lice eggs) that are stuck to hair shafts using a very fine comb so that they don't hatch. (More detailed info from Planned Parenthood here.)
Scabies is also a possibility but the cream for that (usually permethrin, at a much higher concentration than permethrin in lice products) is much harsher and the treatment is more of a pain (because scabies can take up residence in lots of other areas of your body too--so the treatment involves covering basically your entire body with the cream in addition to washing bedding/towels/clothing/etc) so I would rule out other things first.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:16 PM on March 26, 2020
antifungal cream=Tinactin (Tolnoftate). Works for my private regions. Available over the counter.
posted by H21 at 5:17 PM on March 26, 2020
posted by H21 at 5:17 PM on March 26, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
Otherwise if you want my totally-not-a-doctor, might-be-dangerous advice: maybe you're just scratching it too much and there's an itch/scratch cycle going on? Maybe your scratching is a nervous habit? Can you just stop scratching for a week and see if anything changes? I really do recommend seeing a doctor online if you're that concerned.
posted by bright flowers at 3:23 PM on March 26, 2020 [2 favorites]