Male Health Issues. (Warning... Graphic)

[Dreadbelly]

I am about to discuss something rather graphic. So please, bear with me. I am sharing this because I hope it will help other folks with similar or the same issue make better decisions for their health. While this is not exactly a kilt post, it does lead in that general direction.

As I have posted, I have serious health issues down below the belt buckle. I am currently waiting to get credit... And eventually a kilt. The waiting is actually quite painful. I have pretty much stopped leaving the house. I can no longer go out much as wearing any sort of pants has become torture. Been wearing light shorts, but they don't help much. So mostly I sit around the house wearing a pair of silky boxer shorts.

What started out as rash and irritation has turned into a very serious varicose vein on my scrotum. It ruptured recently, leading to infection, more heat, and even more irritation. I might have to have some serious medical attention if this doesn't clear up soon. The skin is so raw and chaffed on both my scrotum and my legs that it actually starts to "heal" together at night while I sleep. In the morning, every morning, I have to wake up, head to the bathroom, and seperate and pull my bits away from my leg, tearing the skin. Then I have to apply stuff to keep out infection, clean the wounds, etc. It is painful beyond belief.

It got this bad because of many reasons, but, one reason in particular that I want to touch on was Gold Bond powder. One doctor told me to use it. I have recently found out that powders actually make the problem worse. They clog up pores and make the sweat glands function poorly. The clogged pores and minimal function sweat glands cause severe overheating, which leads to further problems. A dermatoligist told me to ditch the stuff. He also told me that it is a major contributor to cancer, and what do you know, he was right. They are about to start putting warning labels on various powder products stating the risks of prolonged (Daily) usage. Right now I am using a lotion that the doctor wrote up for me. It's pretty good stuff. It's made from hemp seed oil. It kills the pain a bit, lessens the itch, and I have shown a slight improvement. Very slight, but it's a start. The lotion however, REEKS of marijuana. Whether that's good or bad is to early to tell. It's THC free, so it's not narcotic or illegal (It is perscription) but I worry. I live on the other side of the street from a police station.

I am doing something about this, but many men do not. It is a silent epidemic. Most men are to embarassed to do anything about this, or to have to have it checked. And when they do do something about it, I am guessing most continue wearing pants, the major contributor to the problem. Most doctors tell their patients to move to cooler climates, or to take drugs, or have expensive surgeries, etc, but mine agrees that ditching pants is the most cost effective treatment. Not treating this will eventually lead to things like major infection, usually the kind that can lead to loosing your testicles.

If you have an itch that you can't seem to scratch that is not going away, or swelling, or irritated places that are not going away, don't just sit there hoping it will go away. Go to your doctor ASAP! Don't let it get this bad. If I had started my journey when this was just a minor irritation I would be a much happier man.

I might have to go have my self fried with a laser to burn away rotten bits. I am not looking forward to this. I am hoping (And praying) that this will not happen. The next stage from here is scrotal and testicular necrosis. Not a stage I want to have happen and I am wanting to avoid at all costs.

I would be a happy man if just one man avoided this journey because of my warnings. No man should ever have to go through this.

[Graham]

Hi DrDouglass, first, thanks that you are happy to share with us these very painful and personal details. you know that all those here will treat you with the respect you deserve.

I'm really sorry for your troubles and hope they will soon be behind you and healing will take place.

Do you know what started the problem in the first place? the rash i mean.

Do you think kilts would have prevented the problem occuring if you'd known, is this part of what you're saying?

Final question, have you considered a good naturopath? I'm a believer in natural therapies.

I've just had a problem the other side, first ever - hemoroids!
It was caused by using an enema which I use when fasting for extended periods, I'm on a 30 juice fast.

The point is, something simple like witch hazel ointment has been clearing it up just great.

I hope you soon find a solution to your problem, I'll be praying for you.

[Dreadbelly]

This all pretty much started off as heat rash.

I worked as a cook for a long time. I was trained as a chef. I worked in hot steamy kitchens. Started having problems then.

Even after I got sick and had to quit working as a cook, the problem did not go away.

Was getting little blood blister like things. Painful. They would pop from rubbing and then there would be a weeping sore. Problems kept getting worse and worse no matter what I did to try and clear it up.

Doctor explained it to me this way. Pants, in particular, denim or other tightly woven fabrics, when you sweat, will actually hold in more heat and moisture. Causing more sweat. Sweat soaks into the fabric, clogging it with more moisture and oils and such, making it hold in even more hot humid air. In a desperate attempt to cool off, your body opens all it's pores full tilt to try and cool off, which it can't do. All your dirt, grime, bacteria, filth, all that stuff that comes from being hot and sweaty and such, actually gets into the pores and clogs them up, causing severe irritation, infections, inflamation, etc. You basically create natures perfect germ kitchen in your pants. All that sweat and oil lines the inner parts of your pants, holding everything in. Humidity and heat levels rise considerably, creating a perfect breeding ground for all sorts of nasty things. All that filth and scum can actually get under the first layer of skin. So even a hot shower is not as effective as one might hope for getting clean. Nothing short of a complete and total soak with an antibacterial disinfectant will actually get you clean. You need something that soaks in deep. Regular soap leaves behind a residue on your skin that actually makes this problem worse. Almost all the things that you would normally think would help you actually contribute to the problem. So this stuff lives under your skin, down inside where it is safe. And when you put on your pants and get hot and sweaty, you make it fire up and reproduce in mass. It's a viscious cycle that has no end unless you break the chain somehow. The easiest way to break the cycle is to destroy the breeding environment. Keep your dangly bits dry and cool and away from moist humid air. In simple, no pants. No shorts. Nothing that is clingy, hangs close to the skin, can trap moisture, and can create pockets of intense moist heat that allows the problem to continue. Allow pores to function naturally with out hampering them. That means no powders, using the right kind of soaps, and not letting your dangly bits sit in a bunched up bit of scummy fabric stewing in a bacterial swamp.

You have hundreds of thousands of bacteria on your skin at any time. Most of them are dormant. Most of them never both you. Some of them are even beneficial. On occasion, you create just the right environment. Just the right amount of heat, moisture, etc, and you create a perfect place for a family of bacteria to settle down and raise billions of offspring. And they wake up, and go at it with abandon. Wearing pants and having hot humid swampy pockets of air increases your chances of waking something up. And when you do get something that decides to make your nether regions home, and you get infections, and more heat, and more sweat, you wake up other stuff. Start adding in blood, sweat, and other bodily fluids, and you create a germ kitchen. Once you get the process started, it's very difficult to put an end to.

[Graham]

bloomin' 'eck, I'm glad I threw my jeans away, never again in all my days on the earth will I wear them again!

[bubba]

I've never had such a severe peoblem. The worst I've had has been a bit of heat rash and the normal pinching the boys get in jeans. Kilts have solved those problems and I ain't going back to jeans no how.

[GMan]

I am so glad that you shared this with us all, it is extremely difficult to discuss these private matters in this day and age, and I am so thankful that you did. I sometimes wish that we could have a magic wand and whisk these problems away, however we do not. I admire your strength in just being able to be up front about it. I really do not think that I would have that kind of intestinal fortitude.

I will take what you said to heart and allow others to know about this also. I can only relate to a minor rash, but that developed shortly before kilts became my lifestyle, and so it went away, but sometimes after sleeping with the covers wrapped around my lower body it does seem to act up, in otherwords not being able to let everything "breathe" has contributed to that.

I will continue to have these words on my heart, and sincerely trust that things work out well for you as I know they always will.

[Dreadbelly]

I am so glad that you shared this with us all, it is extremely difficult to discuss these private matters in this day and age, and I am so thankful that you did. I sometimes wish that we could have a magic wand and whisk these problems away, however we do not. I admire your strength in just being able to be up front about it. I really do not think that I would have that kind of intestinal fortitude.

I will take what you said to heart and allow others to know about this also. I can only relate to a minor rash, but that developed shortly before kilts became my lifestyle, and so it went away, but sometimes after sleeping with the covers wrapped around my lower body it does seem to act up, in otherwords not being able to let everything "breathe" has contributed to that.

I will continue to have these words on my heart, and sincerely trust that things work out well for you as I know they always will.

Sounds like you reached the point where you started having a bacterial problem. While I am no expert in this area, (Although I seem to be becoming one) it sounds like you still have said bacteria lying in wait. Hot humid area under the covers allows it to "wake up" and resume action. At least I think that's how it works. Don't take what I just said at face value. I am still delving deep into medical texts. I am not a medical doctor, I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy, but with my Ph.D. I learned how to study and absorb large amounts of information, which I have been doing lately. As near as I can tell, it's a bit like yeast in those little paper packets. You can store it for years and years and years in a pantry, and when you need it, just add a little hot water and presto. Live bacteria.

I have to talk about this. Somebody needs to. Embarassing? What's more embarassing? Talking about the problem and how to fix it? Or getting castrated because I tried to follow the "ignorance is bliss" method? That little itch, rash, burning sensation, or feeling of tight drawn skin that does not go away might be the early warning signs of a potentially life changing and even life threatening problem. Me going though this is bad enough. Me and so many others. But to sit back and do nothing and let others fall prey while I sit back and selfishly feel sorry for my self? Unthinkable and inexcuseable. Inhumane even. I have a terrible combo of rhuematoid and fibromyalgia. It's crippling when both are together. Now I could sit back and think only of my self and feel bad for those too, but, I am going to let doctors study me a bit and I will do what I can on my own to make sure that my experiences in these areas will not be wasted. When something like this, something bad happens, if it's a crippling infection or even some gosh awful disease, we owe it to our selves and to others around us to make the most of it and get something, anything, but something good out of it. We are all human beings, and, we are all in this together. This is a shared experience. What one man feels can effect so many others. What I feel, and what I know, while it is merely a grain of sand in the whole human experience, just one person might relate, or take warning, or learn something, or gain something valuable unto themselves.

I live with physical pain I can not even begin to describe. The RA and fibro are cruel. I do not take any sort of pain medication. I value my mind far to much to allow my self to become a zombie. I have a free lifetime supply of oxycontins just waiting for me that I keep refusing. The only thing that gets me through the day is knowing that some way, some how, this experience is not in vain. Something good will come of it. Some how. Maybe not for my self, but somebody. And I feel the same way about my little problem just South of my belly button.

It is in weakness that we are made strong. These thorns in the flesh can either take you down and lay you low... Or they can give you power to rise up and try to make some sort of a difference in the world around you.

If I am going to suffer from anything, anything at all, I would hope that it means something. I would suffer a lot more knowing that it was meaningless.

[Donnie]

WOW, That's scary! I'm sure I can say that we all are all praying for you. Get a kilt and get well soon!

[bikercelt1]

Wow DrDouglass. I am so sorry to hear about your tribulations. If it is any consolation I think you may have just saved me from a similar problem! I seem to have a milder form of several of the symptoms you've described. They are in the nature of discomfort and concern at this point but now that I have read your post I will definitely be responding more agressively. Thank you so much for having the courage to share this personal information with us. I will keep you in my prayers that you might find healing without the need for more extreme medical intervention.

Jamie

[Aaron]

Doc, about all I can manage at this point is .

Hang in there. I'm sure you're in all of our thoughts now.