Possible fungal infection from penis pump

I have been pumping intermittently through out this year. Recently used a cyclinder which was shelved for quite some time. A day or 2 after pumping, noted my penis skin to be glistening, then itchy. subsequently noted formation of whitish rash with well defined border on my penis skin. This goes away after applying Miconazole cream (anti-fungal).

I have tried cleaning the cylinder on multiple occasion using detergents, however with each pump, the problem seems to recur. Hate to discard the cylinder as it was my long time favourite. Any suggestion of cleaning material to rid my cylinder of the fungus?

What kind of lubrication do you use when you pump and how old is it? I can’t imagine it’s the cylinder causing the problem especially after a good cleaning, unless you are somehow allergic to the acrylic plastic.

You can make sure your cylinder is disinfected by cleaning it with a cotton ball or cloth or paper towel wet with rubbing alcohol.

If you did get these symptoms from the cylinder, it must be a cleanliness issue. Did you clean it before you used it? Do you use a brush? How do you get in there?

The cylinder is less than a year old. Mostly I pump dry as the pump the cylinder is of large diameter - lubricant isn’t necessary. Haven’t tried rubbing alcohol but I used detergent, still not working. Possibility of fungus being a fomite in the cylinder?

Cleaned it with hard sponge. The cylinder was in my shelf for few months. Did clean it thoroughly before using.

Well, it’s the rubbing alcohol that will truly disinfect your cylinder. Get the alcohol and that will eliminate the cylinder as the source of your problem.

But still a clean dry cylinder is not a likely place for a fungus to grow. Unless of course you store it in a dark moist closet full of creepy dirty stuff. 😨 But you said that is not the case.

If you are seeing signs of infection on your penis you need to take it very very seriously. If you can see a doctor, not everyone can, I would do so as soon as safely possible. It could be done over the phone with pictures sent to the doctor. There’s a possibility it is not even fungus, but something else entirely. If I couldn’t get a doctor’s diagnosis, I would stop PE entirely and rub povidone iodine on the penis 2-3 times a day until it’s completely resolved.

The skin residue left in the pump can serve as a substrate and food for fungi or bacteria, as can lube.

When you pump, you disrupt the skin barrier to a greater or smaller degree that can facilitate infections. It’s also possible that what you’re seeing is not actually an infection, but the result of chronic disruption of the skin integrity.

There is such thing as an acrylic allergy, which can develop over time. Degradation of acrylic from heat or some substances breaks acrylic into monomers (often modified by the reaction that degraded the acrylic) that can find their way into the body and trigger an allergic reaction, this is normally only seen in people that paint their nails and people that work with acrylic. You may be able to tell if the tube is degraded by its clarity, if it has become foggy and it continues to cause this reaction it might be best to just throw it away.

To mitigate the risk of fungal or bacterial growth in the tube, I use a glycerin water lubricant when not tube packing.

Sigmoid’s hygienic carrier lube

The tube is indeed foggy, just realized it after reading your comment.
Considering visiting a GP or Derm now.
Really really good advice. Thank you for the feedback.

You’re welcome.

I think the average recovery time for contact dermatitis is a week or two after non-exposure to the allergen, or less, it can really depend on the allergen as some impregnate the skin for longer than usual. If it’s oozing, I think the normal recommendation for minor contact dermatitis is to use a talcum based medicated powder containing menthol and zinc oxide. In the USA they have a product called “Gold Bond”, however I think many physicians have stopped recommending it because of asbestos contamination in talcum powder products. If it is oozing, it’s at risk of secondary infection so it must be kept very clean, and ideally sterile. Zinc oxide powder in many medicated powders is a weak antiseptic. Povidone iodine is my preference for keeping an injury sterile for long periods of time though, it only really seems to pose a complication when it’s a very large area, like a burn victim, as it can slightly affect the functioning of the heart.

Yeah, TP is filled with informed people. I’ve found there’s no better place to fiddle with your Willy mate :-)
I actually use a very large baby feeding bottle brush which had a stand so the brush-head doe not touch any surfaces :-)

3 options that destroy candida spores:

Bleach
UVC light
Heat

Soaking in a 1% bleach solution or boiling water would both do the trick. UVC light could embrittle the plastic of the tube, so probably isn’t ideal.

I appreciate user “gprent” for his role as a moderator and very active posting (17,000+ wow!). However, I am compelled to warn about the use of alcohol and other organic solvents on acrylic as they can cause “crazing” or tiny micro-cracks. Just do an internet search on “crazing acrylic alcohol” and you will have plenty of credible reading material - there are even a few videos demonstrating the effects of alcohol on acrylic.

For disinfecting purposes to avoid bacterial and fungal infections simply wash the cylinder with dish detergent using a bottle brush, rinse thoroughly and follow with a short soak and thorough rinse in diluted bleach solution.

I didn’t know that, but it explains a completely unrelated phenomenon I’ve been experiencing at work with an acrylic item that has been breaking unexpectedly.
Thanks for the info!

Yet to see a doctor but the skin irritation seems to die down without pumping. I have tried a different cylinder only to have the skin inflammed badly.

Inside the pump, can already see severe blackish discolouration with surrounding reddish rims. After 2days, the intense itching sets in near the base. Then tiny white spots will appear which spreads to the while shaft.

Somehow my antifungal cream able to cut down duration of inflammation shorter but it still could be an allergic reaction.
Might have to permanently stop pumping.

Condom pumping method is working great.