Many men may think they have a sexually transmitted disease (STD) when they see penis pimples, however may have a condition called Sebaceous Prominence (but also known as Fordyce Spots). These penis pimples are generally caused by over active skin glands. The sebaceous glands secrete too much puss which causes pores to become blocked forming little white bumps under the skin. The bumps may appear on the penis shaft and scrotum, but also on the lips of your face.
Fordyce spots should not be confused with pearly penile papules which look very similar. Pearly penile papules are visible around the glands of the penis.
Women may also have sebaceous prominence pimples on the labia of the vagina too which have the same characteristics to the pimples for a man.
Associated Symptoms of Sebaceous Prominence:
- Generally 1 to 3mm in size.
- White pimples/whiteheads/bumps/lumps found mainly on the base or shaft of penis.
- Can be found in small numbers 1-5 or in abundance, occasionally in rows.
- Sometimes individual spots become red,inlfamed or swollen.
- When some spots squeezed white puss comes out and the spot is then gone or white spot and small amounts of blood and spot remains.
- Pimples become more visible when penis is erect.
- Pimples look like hair follicle glands.
Because sebaceous prominence is not life threatening or a large market demand, there is no medically backed cure, although patients of the disease have tried finding their own alternative methods to help reduce the effects.
Treatments for Sebaceous Prominence
The various treatments available for penis pimples includes gels and surgical removal. The Sebaceous Prominence forums used to be a good source of information for suffers of the pimples, however due masses of spam, the community boards were removed.
Some members tried squeezing out the sebaceous glands with tweezers and even tried using a surgical knife to cut them out. I personally would not recommend either of those! It could lead to scarring of the penis and even worse if you slip and cut yourself.
Laser Treatments
Laser treatments are said to be the most effective method to remove and prevent Fordyce Spots returning. Laser treatment is more costly than gels, however longer term, the stress and pimple free gains outweigh the pricing.
Laser Pulse Dye Treatment
One recommendation is the use of laser pulse dye treatments. This type of treatment is available on the NHS, but unfortunately doesn’t cover sebaceous prominence. Having private treatment appears to be the only feasible solution.
Hyfrecation
A hyfrecator is low-powered medical device used in electro-surgery. The electrical pulses are used to destroy tissue and can even stop bleeding during surgery.
Q-switched lasers
Q-switching was first proposed in 1958 by Gordon Gould and first demonstrated in 1961-1962 in a ruby laser. It is generally known as a giant pulse formation which outputs a high gigawatt peak power laser beam. The Q-switching means that lower repetition rates of pulses are needed because each pulse consists of a higher energy.
This type of laser treatment is generally used for removing tattoos and has been a potential method to remove penis pimples too.
Sexual Health
Penis pimples are not harmful, however they can cause lots of stress to men who suffer from them. I have created a sexual health section on MaleVue to help with the various cases that affect mens sexual health on a day to day basis. Sebaceous Prominence is just one of many.
0