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Navigate: FAQ Home Page > Masturbation > Pain after masturbation
Posted on: 09/16/2004
Question
Hello....I read one of your answers for a question and it said that masturbation was not harmful. Well for me after masturbation, the bottom of the shaft, or the soft side (underside), gets red and hurts. Also sometimes even when i'm not masturbating my skin peels around the base of my penis. Not really peeling but more like flaking off. Another problem is these red bumps that look like pimples and hurt sometimes but they last forever like maybe a month or more. I'm sort of embarrassed to tell my mom to take me to a doctor but I have no problem going to one. These bumps sometimes excrete white fluid, like a whitehead on your face being popped, if it is disturbed too much and after it just leaves a dark red mark for a long time as I have already stated that. I have never had sex but I have had oral sex. I don't know if this might have given me genital herpes but I hope that is not what it is. Please help me figure something out..Thanks.
Answer
The skin of the penis can be very sensitive, and it is apt to get red and hurt if one masturbates too hard or without enough lubrication. It's important to use a lubricant which is water soluble and which won't dry out the skin. K-Y jelly is an example of a good lubricant.
The "whiteheads" make me wonder if there is a skin infection. Skin infections are also more likely to develop when there is not enough lubrication. It is unlikely to be genital herpes if you have never had vaginal sex, but not impossible. It would be best to show a doctor sometime when the bumps are there, and before they burst.