symptoms
it's tricky to tell when men have yeast infections, because they can have a penile yeast infection without having symptoms. when they do have symptoms, it can be really awful; i was once told by an infected man that he "wished it would just fall right off." here are some signs of the dreaded penile yeast infection:
the most common symptom is irritation and soreness of the head of the penis. apparently it can itch like crazy, too.
yeah, men can get a discharge, including that clumpy nasty white stuff. also, the head of the penis may turn reddish or get little blistery things.
i haven't heard of it smelling like anything, but if you can smell yeast, you better bet you should get your boy some treatment.
according to the emails i get, the symptoms can be perilously close to those of genital herpes: little red itchy bumps are not uncommon with penile yeast infections. if you aren't absolutely certain, go see a doctor for testing and diagnosis.
prescriptions
the only tried-and-true method of treating a penile yeast infection is to blast those yeasties with prescription drugs that are ingested systemically and probably have side-effects. furthermore, procuring such drugs will almost always involve a trip to the doctor. take heart, though, that your man almost certainly won't be subjected to stirrups and speculums. there are two drugs commonly used to treat penile yeast infections:
Diflucan (fluconazole):
broad spectrum: will kill other species of Candida and some other fungi.
allergies to it are not uncommon.
Nizoral (ketaconazole):
really broad spectrum, powerfully evil stuff: kills everything.
trashes your liver, and reduces the adrenals' ability to make steroids, like testosterone.
