human health

Balanite

What is balanitis?

The term "balanite" indicates an inflammation of the terminal part of the penis (glande or balano), which is particularly reddened, painful, itchy and swollen. Most often, inflammation also extends to the foreskin (balanoposthitis), whereas when it is confined to the preputial mucosa only, it is called postitis.

These three clinical conditions are closely related to each other and the triggers that cause them are almost the same.

According to the thought of some authors, balanitis is one of the sexually transmitted diseases; others, however, do not support this theory, since the balanites, unlike what common thought believes, are very frequent during childhood. In adulthood, balanites are often the most immediate consequence of poor intimate hygiene, the use of aggressive and poor quality detergents, and the accumulation of secretions near the foreskin (smegma), predisposing elements for bacterial infections.

Etymology

The term "balanite" comes from the Greek: the root balanus means "acorn" (indicates the terminal part of the penis), while the Greek suffix - itis is synonymous with "inflammation". The literal translation (acorn inflammation) heralds the symptomatic picture of the disease.

Incidence

A randomized study was conducted on 398 patients suffering from dermatological diseases; from the analyzes interesting data emerged:

  • 2.3% of circumcised subjects had balanitis;
  • 12.5% ​​of uncircumcised men had balanitis;
  • it seems that the disease has a rather high incidence rate among uncircumcised diabetics: around 35%.

In general, balanites have an incidence rate 5 times higher in uncircumcised subjects than in circumcised ones.

In some circumcised adult subjects, balanitis is asymptomatic: certainly a positive factor for the carrier, but certainly not for the woman. In fact, the man suffering from asymptomatic balanitis could transmit the beat responsible for the disease to the woman (in this case, the theory of some Authors according to which the balanites do not fall among the venereal diseases collapses).

The possibility of contracting balanitis increases in diabetics.

Symptoms of balanitis

The symptomatology of balanitis indicates a considerable inflammation of the glans, always accompanied by erythema, itching and / or burning of the area itself. Often times, subjects affected by balanitis complain of urination, bleeding, edema; in some cases, although sporadic, balanitis also manifests itself with ulcerative lesions associated with whitish secretions that give off a bad odor (a sign of proliferation of anaerobic bacteria).

Sometimes, the balanites manifest themselves with the enlargement of the inguinal lymphatic glands, which are particularly annoying or painful to the touch.

Causes

The balanites are the consequence of several causal factors, sometimes very heterogeneous among them. Suffice it to say that the balanites can achieve:

  • Bacterial, parasitic, mycotic or viral infections (which may also be favored by poor hygiene or the use of too aggressive detergents)
  • Immunological deficiencies (eg diabetes)
  • contact dermatitis
  • Lichen planus (chronic autoimmune disease affecting the skin and mucous membranes)
  • Drug allergies
  • Gonorrhea (also called blenorragia)
  • Syphilis
  • Intertrigo

Classification

As we have seen, the causes that predispose the balanites are manifold: in this regard, there are numerous forms of balanitis. However, generally, the glans inflammation also extends to the foreskin, so one speaks more correctly about balanoposthitis.

The following are the most common forms of balanitis:

  • Psudoepiteliomatous balanitis of Lortat - Jacob and Civatte : it manifests itself with typical keratotic masses and belongs to the category of immunological balanitis.
  • Xerotic balanitis obliterans (sclero-atrophic lichens): precancerous form of the balanitis that shows whitish spots that generate strong itching and dryness at the level of the glans. It could generate stenosis of the urethral meatus or phimosis.
  • Zoon's plasma balanitis (or balanopostitis): a rare (if not improbable) disease in infants: it is particularly common among adults who are over 30 years of age. This type of immunological balanitis generally causes the formation of red spots at the glans and foreskin (in this regard, we speak of balanoposthitis, since it is rare for inflammation to remain confined to the glans)
  • Circulated Balanitis (Reiter's Syndrome): manifested by hyperkeratotic pustules (apparently equivalent to those of psoriasis) at glans level, caused by bacterial infections.
  • Allergic Balanitis : generated by latex allergies of condoms, cosmetics, metals, drugs. Generally, the most common manifestation of the allergic form of balanitis is itching.
  • Moniliasic Balanitis : a consequence of diabetes.
  • Immunological balanitis: determined by autoimmune diseases.

Care

After having ascertained that it is a balanitis, the doctor must search for the triggering factor through a scrupulous fungal / bacteriological diagnosis: the patient will have to follow the most suitable therapy depending on the cause that caused the disease.

The most frequent treatments are:

  • Administration of specific antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial medicinal products
  • Topical application of cortisone
  • Circumcision (not surprisingly, the circumcised subjects tend to manifest balanitis more rarely than the uncircumcised ones).