My husband has a tightening of the skin on his penis ...

There is a good possibility that you are describing a "skin bridge". This ocurrs in circumcised males when the cut foreskin attaches to the head (glans) of the penis and heals. Another possibiliy is that he has some scar tissue from a circumcision operation (or possibly another operation or injury).

The good news is that if this is indeed a skin bridge, it can be easily corrected. There is a very good chance that scar tissue could also be easily corrected.

Of course, if your husband is not circumcised or has never had an operation/injury, then neither of these two conditions would be the cause. However, I suspect that there is a good chance that it is. Additionally, it is possible that this is simply the way he was born - especially if he is not cause any pain or discomfort and it has not changed over time.

In any event, I know that your husband is embarassed to see a doctor, but please try to assure him that there is nothing for him to be embarassed about. He has a legitimate health concern and there is a very good possibility that this can be corrected easily (maybe even in the doctor's office). Health professionals see patients with this type of concern day-in and day-out.

If you are interested in reviewing some pictures of skin bridges, please send me an IM. The pictures are graphic and, as such, I do not want to include the link here.

Thank you and please let me know if you have any other questions.

-p

I am a little confused at your response that he may have just been "born this way" when the problem has manifested itself in the last few months only. Why all of the sudden? Could this be peyronie's ? Please send the pics of the "bridge" Thanks so much! ALSO...when the skin splits it is very painful,forgot to mention that.

Edited by Customer (name blocked for privacy) on July 26 2006 at 4:11pm

From your original question, I couldn't tell if this was a recent issue or if it was something that has been present since birth - that's what I meant when I replied that he could have been born with it. Sorry for any confusion.

It is very possible that this could be a case of Peyronie's disease. This is what I was alluding to when I mentioned that the problem could have been caused by some sort of injury or trama. The truth of the matter is that the cause of Payronie's disease is not well understood, however many doctors and researchers believe that at least some forms of Payronie's are caused by trama.

About 1/3 of patients who develop this condition will also develop simular symptoms (fibrosis) on other parts of the body that contain elastic tissue. This data seems to indicate that there is a very good chance that the disease (at least some cases) is caused by some other mechanism rather than injury.

There is no good answer as to why the swelling and discomfort happened in such a short time period. In some individuals that symptoms occur over a long period of time while other time it can literally occur overnight (assuming this is a case of Peyronie's).

There are some treatments available for this condition, but the type of treatment is largely dependent on the specific case. However, surgery, certain medications, radiation and vitamin E have all been used with different levels of sucess. Additionally, it is very common for treatment (especially surgery) to be put off for some time because a significant number of men find that the condition simply improves on its own.

After finding out that this is a recent development, I don't think that it is caused by a skin-bridge. However, I will send you a link a page with pictures for your information.

Please feel free to contact me back if you have any additional information or if you are at all confused by my response. Thanks.