By: John Miley
Find out why an ingrown hair could be penis enemy number one
"I'm going to try and have you not lose your penis," announced Jason Faulhaber, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at Fenway Health in Boston, Massachusetts.
His patient, "Cadillac" Jack McCartney could hardly manage a response. "Really? What do you mean?" asked McCartney.
"We have to deal with this aggressively. This is no joke," said Dr. Faulhaber, who's also a clinical instructor at Harvard University Medical School.
What had started out as a small pimple on McCartney's left groin was threatening his manhood--and his life. The diagnosis? A deadly strain of staph infection called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA. The root cause? A pesky ingrown hair.
McCartney lives a stress-filled life traveling between Boston and New York, working as an operations manager and program director for top-rated radio stations, including Boston's KISS 108 and New York's Power 105.1. His normally clean bill of health was derailed one Friday night when he noticed an ingrown hair on his groin. On Saturday, what looked like a pimple was a little more swollen. When he woke up Sunday morning, his penis was growing. "Aw geez, it's getting swollen now," McCartney thought to himself. But things got even worse. By Sunday afternoon, his penis was painfully swollen, about seven times its normal girth. He could only wear loose-fitting sweat pants when he went to the doctor the next morning.
"I have to be seen," McCartney said when he arrived without an appointment.
Luckily, the only available doctor had the experience to save his penis. McCartney saw Dr. Faulhaber, who began treatment right away. "MRSA can be aggressive and can potentially gain access to the bloodstream," explains Dr. Faulhaber. "Once in the bloodstream, it can go to your heart, your brain, really anywhere in the body. It can be quite devastating."
He put McCartney on two different antibiotics, a pain-killer and an anti-inflammatory to help reduce the swelling. But that's not all: The doctor had to make an incision in McCartney's penis to get a culture to test for MRSA.
During his treatment, McCartney suffered through a 103-degree temperature, and had to see Dr. Faulhaber everyday for a week. But once the antibiotics started to work, his fever went down, and his penis began to shrink back to its normal size. "Dr. Faulhaber is a huge reason that I was only out of work two weeks and that it didn't take a worse toll," says McCartney.
Guard Your Groin
Keep an eye on ingrown hairs in your groin area--red bumps that look like pimples, especially ones that start to swell or become painful. "Because of the growth of pubic hair, which tends to be coarse, men are susceptible to ingrown hairs in that region," says Dr. Faulhaber. Staph is a normal bacterium found on the skin and ingrown hairs can trap the bacteria, giving them the opportunity to multiply and cause infection.
Ditch the Razor
If you're looking to manscape, consider an electric trimmer. "A buzzer tends to be better because you?re not causing nicks in the skin," says Dr. Faulhaber. "If you're using an actual razor blade, you can cause small cuts, which actually increases the risk of developing an infection."
Stay Squeaky Clean
"The best thing is to keep as best hygiene as you can," says Dr. Faulhaber. "The bacteria can even be transmitted through solid surfaces, like the weights or workout machines at the gym." Read: Shower after you've played a sport with a lot of skin-to-skin contact, have been to the gym, or are in close quarters with others, like in the military. Don't complicate it: "Soap and water are effective," says Dr. Faulhaber.
Don't Delay
Unfortunately, your penis is particularly vulnerable during a staph infection. "It doesn't take long for the testicles to be at risk for possible death of the tissue," says Dr. Faulhaber. "Time is definitely an issue." If you notice swelling in any part of your groin or privates, go to a doctor immediately. Even if the infection starts on your groin, it can spread through the pelvic tissues to the scrotum and the penis. "The penis is quite vulnerable as it cannot accommodate swelling as much as the scrotum can," says Dr. Faulhaber.
To learn even more about MRSA, check out this Men's Health Special Report, The Killer in the Lockerroom.
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