Theory

I said I would explain my theory a bit more.

Well, there are various possible explanations floating around in medical literature for BXO. But there is no consensus. My opinion is that it is an infectious agent. The reason I think it is a virus is because that is probably why it hasn't been discovered yet - virii are tiny, really, really tiny. Compared to a baterium, a virus is is as small as a pinhead is to a Volvo. More or less. Only when a disease is really high profile does it get the attention required to find if and what virus might be responsible. And then testing patients is costly too ... a true test will require costly DNA analysis ... because virii can't be cultured in a dish like bacteria. So a simple swab taken from the patient and inoculated on agar in a petri dish (which is a common, cheap test for baterial infection) doesn't work for virii (viruses ... I dunno the correct terminology for multiples)

Remember, I'm only a factory manager, so you will have to forgive me for my wikipedia science education.

Anyway, the other reason I think it is infectious is due to the way the disease progresses over time, transfers from foreskin to glans and possibly into the urethra. However, it obviously isn't contagious, at least not the way we currently thinking about contagion. But I don't think we have good grip on contagion anyway. They've told us for decades that cancer isn't catching. But it is, isn't it? How can I make such a rash statement? Because it is simply true. You can catch cancer. Its not that simple of course ... but we DO know this: Human Papillomo Virus (HPV) is known to be responsible for cervical cancer. HPV is a virus that can be transmitted through sex. In fact, the INCREASE in cases of throat cancer even when overall rates of smoking has been decreasing is attributed to increased tranmission of HPV through oral sex. I dunno how well-established that last statement is in the medical community, I read it on some website I can't even remember now. But anyway, we know HPV is contagious, and it causes cancer. Someone who HAS cancer (cervical in this case) could quite well still have an HPV infection, and could transmit this sexually to another person. That person could then develop cancer. So cervical cancer IS contagious - for all practical purposes. Also, how come other cancers tend to run in families ... is it because of genes ... or could it be the virus responsible for the cancer is contagious (though only slightly ... not enough to get passed on through coughing or sneezing like the cold virus) and the close promixity that families members live in gives the virus ample opportunity to spread amongst the family, but not amongst other contacts. Of course, the genes and even dietary habits of the family could affect how their immune systems respond to the virus too.

Anyway, I digress. I take it I have a rather captive audience, because you're probably only reading this blog because you are suffering with BXO, and so are probably highly motivated to read all my crap in the hopes I can help you. So I'm taking advantage of you. Sorry. But I'm not asking for your money, I just want someone on this planet to listen to my crazy theories!

The reason I don't think it is a bacteria is because it probably would have been discovered already. But I could be wrong. It seems a common thought amongst the medical community is that it is some sort of auto-immune disorder. I think 'auto-immune' is a quack's term. I think it is used by the medical community way too much these days, simply for things we haven't found the cause for yet, that respond to immune-system suppressing drugs. Just because a condition responds to immunosuppressives doesn't make it auto-immune. It could well be the immune system fighting a "cold war" against a pathogen that is too smart and slippery for the immune system to ever really win against. And if the pathogen is outsmarting the immune system, it is probably stealthy enough to evade scientists too ... unless they have a great deal of motivation. Would they have ever found HIV if AIDS wasn't such a devastating and contagious disease? Think of how long HIV slinks around the body in stealth mode before causing AIDS. I bet $1000 that cancer is the same deal. Some slinky virus that sneaks around for years or decades before causing cancer. Hell, we basically know this already in the case of cervical cancer. We just have to find the viruses responsible for the other cancers.

So anyway, back to BXO and phimosis.

I don't want to go on about this forever, but basically, it seems consistent to me that an infectious agent would form on the underside of the foreskin near the end of the foreskin ... at first ... and then spread from there. The hardening and whitening may well be the body reacting. I'm not sure if the tissue IS scar tissue or not. This would explain why steroidal creams sometimes help - they prevent the body from reacting, and let the virus just live on. The virus itself probably doesn't do much harm. The most evolutionary succesful viruses would do no harm at all ... because then they wouldn't kill their host and could live on and multiply and spread forth and succeed. The worst viruses that kill their hosts quickly don't get much chance to spread.

And finally, I believe its an infectious agent, because so far, manuka honey seems to be getting rid of the problem. My foreskin is much looser and I haven't been doing any stretching.

I will post photos in a week or two when it will be obvious that this has been working (or not, I might have to post a photo of the nub where my penis used to be :(