Stop a guy on the street and ask about his penis, and the police are likely to get involved. But ask any adult about pimples, and most can tell a story involving a big day, a red blotch and a lot of embarrassment. Pimples are just part of growing up, and they happen to almost everyone. Most people aren't shy about discussing them. Pimples on the penis, however, are an entirely different matter. First off, they're not something people feel comfortable talking about. And secondly, it's hard to know how common they are, because most men keep things under wraps. So when a man, who will be referred to as Duane, agreed to discuss penis pimples and the penis care tips he used to fix the problem, this seemed like a blessing. Here's what Duane had to say.

A Grave Mistake

"I had a lot of acne when I was a young guy, so when I got a few penis bumps that looked suspicious, I figured I knew just how to handle them," Duane says. "I held a warm washcloth over the spots, and then poked them with a needle I'd dipped in alcohol. I figured that would get the puss out without injecting anything nasty."

While this approach certainly seems reasonable, it caused some big problems for Duane, and he found that out at the doctor's office.

"As soon as I poked that needle in, I knew I'd done something really stupid and wrong," Duane says. "There was a whole lot of blood everywhere, and it hurt like crazy. So I went to the doctor to make sure that I hadn't done any long-term damage. Thankfully, I hadn't done anything so bad that I'd be scarred up or something, but they did tell me that I shouldn't poke around down there anymore. I could have ended up needing stitches or something!"

Better Options

Instead of trying to poke, squeeze or otherwise manipulate his penis pimples until the puss drained away, Duane was given some more reasonable tips that could help him ease the pain.

"My doctor reminded me that pimples like this usually go away on their own, even if I didn't touch them or do anything at all to them," Duane says. "Rather than trying to poke these things, they told me to find ways to make them less painful. My immune system would do its work, and the puss would be reabsorbed in time."

Duane used frozen vegetables wrapped up in towels to soothe his skin, and he took over-the-counter pain medications to help reduce the discomfort. Within a few days, the pimples felt less swollen and, in time, they did fade away, leaving no scars behind.

Focusing on Prevention

While Duane was able to get rid of his penis pimples using time and patience, he really didn't want to deal with the problem ever again.

"Once was more than enough for me," Duane says. "Those little penis bumps were just awful, and I didn't want to either see them or feel them ever again."

Duane says he followed a few basic prevention steps, including:

- Drinking more water. "I never drank much water before, so I started bringing a bottle of water with me everywhere I went. It did help," he says.

- Avoiding trigger foods. "Chocolate and dairy seemed to make me break out when I was a teenager, so I started avoiding those foods as an adult, too," he says.

- Keeping things clean. "A daily shower was optional for me before," Duane says. "It's not now."

A penis health crème (health professionals recommend Man1 Man Oil) can also be quite helpful for people like Duane. These products provide skin with the vitamins and minerals it needs in order to fend off infections, and they keep skin smooth, so it's less likely to harbor bacteria. Such a cream could be useful as part of a penis pimple prevention plan.