If you've ever spotted small, whitish-yellow bumps on your... erm private parts then don't worry you’re not alone and they're likely absolutely nothing to be concerned about.
The slightly raised bumps are known as Fordyce spots and, according to the NHS, are ‘sebaceous glands (tiny glands found near the surface of your skin) without hair follicles’.
They’re usually cream-coloured or yellowish-white, 0.2mm-2mm in size and either clustered together or scattered.
Advert
While they can be itchy, they aren’t usually painful or irritating, and sometimes aren’t even visible unless you stretch the skin.
As well as the genitals, they can pop up on the edges of your lips or inside your cheek and are extremely common, with the NHS suggesting up to 95 percent of people have them.
Planned Parenthood helpfully explains: “Many people have lots of tiny, painless bumps on their scrotum or penis shaft. These are called Fordyce spots - they’re totally normal and don’t cause any health problems.”
Fordyce spots are a completely natural part of a person’s anatomy and are most likely present at birth, although they may not become noticeable until puberty hits and hormonal changes enlarge them.
Advert
As well as the scrotum, Fordyce spots can appear on the penis - but, again, they are generally harmless and don’t need treatment.
The NHS explains: “Fordyce spots are small yellowish or white spots on the head or shaft of the penis. They can also appear on the inside of the cheeks or on the lips, and are present in 80 to 95 percent of adults.”
However, having said all of that - if you discover any new lumps, bumps, itches, pain or any other changes to your genitals then visit your doctor to get checked out.
It’s a good idea to get used to checking your balls so you know what to look out for and can pick up on changes - and if you’re ever concerned then arrange an appointment with your doctor, who I promise you has seen worse things than your d**k and balls.
Advert
And while on the subject of ‘normal scrotum things’ (bet that’s a sentence you didn't think you’d be reading today) - if you’ve ever pondered on the ‘stitch’ across your ballsack, then ponder no longer, because I have the answer and it starts in the womb.
Boy and girl embryos are pretty much indistinguishable until about nine weeks into the pregnancy, at which point they start developing their own personal set of privates.
This scar on the bottom of your balls, medically known as a Scrotal Raphe, forms during the development of the genitals.
The tissue in the babies where your genitals develop is the same and it's called labioscrotal swellings, it just develops into different things depending on whether the child has a Y chromosome or not.
For females, this tissue develops into the outer labia, whereas if the baby is male then the labioscrotal swellings will fuse together and develop into the scrotum. The more you know, eh?
Topics: Health
Claire Reid