"Numbness" down there?

[manlymatt83]

Hi all. 5' 8". 260 pounds. 40/m. Really want to know if this has happened to anyone else...

About two weeks ago, I got a cold / upper respiratory infection. Lots and lots of coughing over the last 10 days. Around the same time, I had also done a killer squat workout at the gym... more than I usually do. Not sure if either are related, but hopeful one is.

A day or two after the cold symptoms started, I started noticing some numbness on the bottom of my penis shaft. From the base to just before the head. It comes and goes. It's very subtle, there's no pain. There's also a little tickling/numbness on the inside of my legs... can't really describe it. Maybe the scrotum too, almost like a feeling of scratchy hair. I also notice a slight decrease in erection and sensitivity during sex (I've tried once since this occurred) but it could be in my head or due to anxiety.

I also have some pain just above the penis (lower abdomen I think? in between that area and below my belly button) when I cough, especially if I cough while bending over

I did see a GP and they said blood flow to the penis is fine but she couldn't tell me much else. Suggested it could be a pelvic floor issue or strained muscle due to the coughing, or simply something related to the cold I have. I am about to go on a trip this weekend and I'm trying to calm my nerves a bit.

No issues / changes in urinating. Orgasms themselves also still feel normal. It's mostly just when I'm sitting or walking around that I feel this tingling / numbness. Almost like it's falling asleep because I sat in a position too long. One other related bit -- when I cough, I definitely feel like a little bit of "pressure" is coming out my urethra. Appreciate any help anyone can provide, or at least if anyone can acknowledge this has happened to them before.

 

[Torn Mind]

I'm inclined to believe your viral infection popped a few precious cells down there.

Don't expect doctors to do anything for you based on the same testimony provided.

If it has never happened before, it's real. The matter is whether it's worth "clinical attention", and typical of most GPs, your GP "couldn't tell".

 

[manlymatt83]

I'm inclined to believe your viral infection popped a few precious cells down there.

Don't expect doctors to do anything for you based the same testimony provided.

If it has never happened before, it's real. The matter is whether it's worth "clinical attention", and typical of most GPs, your GP "couldn't tell".

Interesting. So do I just wait a few weeks and see if it gets better?

 

[Torn Mind]

Interesting. So do I just wait a few weeks and see if it gets better?

It's probably going to be that result.

I had a bacterial infection on my thumb that eventually turned into severe arm weakness and resulting nerve damage.

I went the hospital...they took it as a opportunity to put me on the stroke protocol(I'm 34, thin at 125lbs for a 6ft male). Ordered a ton of MRIs, blood tests. In the end, the first neurologist told me just to basically ride it out.
Tried elsewhere, with no luck. Urgent care gave me prednisone...utterly irrelevant treatment. It just made me realize that for me, it boosted my "latent testosterone receptors". The last neurologist...basically said in my medical report I was a-ok when I clearly was not and reported as such.

Some damage, even significant damage like with me, can't be "detected clinically" and thus they just tell you to suck it up.

 

[quikah]

Did they check you for a hernia?

 

[Amol S.]

Since your talking about your weird feeling in your genital area, this looks more like something that a urologist and a gynecologist specializes in. It actually is a stereotype that gynecologists only deal with woman, in reality they also deal with issues relating to the male genitals. Ask your GP if they could refer you first to a urologist. If nothing works there, then a gynecologist.

 

[manlymatt83]

Since your talking about your weird feeling in your genital area, this looks more like something that a urologist and a gynecologist specializes in. It actually is a stereotype that gynecologists only deal with woman, in reality they also deal with issues relating to the male genitals. Ask your GP if they could refer you first to a urologist. If nothing works there, then a gynecologist.

Ha! Funny story. My wife is actually an OBGYN. I did ask her and she wasn’t too concerned, told me to get some tests done when I’m back from vacation. But since she’s not male, I wanted to see if anyone else could relate.

 

[Amol S.]

Ha! Funny story. My wife is actually an OBGYN. I did ask her and she wasn’t too concerned, told me to get some tests done when I’m back from vacation. But since she’s not male, I wanted to see if anyone else could relate.

I do not have experience with this as I'm near my late 20s, so probably someone else who experienced this could reply here in regards to my theory of what could be causing this to happen. You said your 40 and your wife is a OBGYN thinks it is not something emergency. My theory is that your aging and you might be experiencing the starting signs of ED (you did say in the OP something relating to election not lasting long or something). I am no doctor, I am just basing this assumption on viagra and ED med ads that sometimes pop-up on cable TV.

 

[mindless1]

^ Nope, ED does not mean nerve damage, getting numb.

 

[mindless1]

You need to rest and recover, NOT:

- Super squats /other exercise
- Sex
- Going on Vacation

You probably just have temporary nerve damage, unless you keep pushing your luck and the infection spreads because you did not let your body devote all energy into recovery ASAP.

Almost like it's falling asleep because I sat in a position too long.

Shift positions more often? I mean before you start getting numbness, not waiting till you do.

Do seek a specialist if the symptoms don't go away after a week or two of rest. That week or two does not start, until you DO rest and attempt to recover.

 

[Torn Mind]

You need to rest and recover, NOT:

- Super squats /other exercise
- Sex
- Going on Vacation

You probably just have temporary nerve damage, unless you keep pushing your luck and the infection spreads because you did not let your body devote all energy into recovery ASAP.



Shift positions more often? I mean before you start getting numbness, not waiting till you do.

Do seek a specialist if the symptoms don't go away after a week or two of rest. That week or two does not start, until you DO rest and attempt to recover.

Temporary can last up to a year or longer.

I can't freely lift my left arm above my should and my bacterial skin infection was basically from end of Jan to beginning of March. I was getting a free preview of rigor mortis...things were tightening up all on my left arm and neck, weakness was growing as time passed. Maybe the second course of antibiotics simply killed the "suppression of symptoms" by the bacteria and exposed the damage.

The worst type of infection is the one that suppresses your symptoms and you answer to the doc that you don't feel anything really that wrong.

It's also irksome seeing some of these posts...only shows that the docs and common folk really aren't different in cooking up diagnoses that do not consider the totality of circumstances...even if an infection literally did occur. They had me on MRIs, stroke, STDs(virgin, but I didn't say, so i understand why they tested, but still). Not a single antibiotic pills to continue the course that I was still supposed to be on at the time.

Now's as good a time as ever for OP to clean up his diet as well. Omega-3s and D sources should be upped.

As for my infection, the bacteriua impaired motor function but did not trigger pain at all.

 

[mindless1]

Also, please tell us that you are not going to get on a plane to take your vacation, while recovering from a respiratory infection. That's a lil bit contagious....

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm 76. Willie has shrunk. He might be dead -- dunno. But I'm beyond worrying about it. I don't even care for buying Viagra at the reduced prices. Sometimes I wonder if I should hire a midget carpenter to build a six-inch long coffin, so I can wear it on my jeans for "the viewing".

Mostly I just care about leaky hydraulics after I pee, because the stain builds up in the jockey shorts and it stinks. So I take a bit more time to shake the lily, or even pull it like milking a cow.

 

[Muse]

This IS a mystery. Not saying there aren't good ideas here, but figure it NOT stupid to see more (other!) M.D.s in trying to figure this one out.

Myself, the last time I did squats was in IIRC 1993. I was visiting relatives and in a strange gym. I wasn't in the habit of doing ordinary squats. I wasn't going super light. A few days later I developed shingles. Was it a coincidence? Could be. But they say the virus goes dormant after chicken pox and resides in your spinal cord, so maybe the stress of squats released the germs, and it was a tough couple months or so. Now, I'm fully vaxxed for shingles.

Also, please tell us that you are not going to get on a plane to take your vacation, while recovering from a respiratory infection. That's a lil bit contagious....

Well, if you do, please mask up for real with a well-fitting N95.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Around the same time, I had also done a killer squat workout at the gym... more than I usually do.

Best never to overdo anything. I would suggest Swedish or Yoni massage so the increased blood flow can help to repair things in that region.