Need advice re: possible phimosis

[555Baby]

Hi, I have a 24 month old intact son and we were just at the doctor this morning. I mentioned to her that he has been pointing to his penis periodically and saying "ouch" (though he is lately using "ouch" to mean lots of stuff besides pain, so I'm not completely sure if he really means it or not.) Anyway, she looked at it and said that he is not retracting enough and that we should put betamethasone steroid cream on him for 2 weeks to promote further retraction--she said we shoudl be able to see the head of his penis. Right now his foreskin does not retract any more than it did as a newborn--I had understood that this was normal and we were supposed to leave it alone and it would retract naturally as he got older and played with it more. (Right now he is frequently diapered so he rarely touches himself.) I would appreciate any advice--of course I don't want him to be in any pain or be on the path to developing a problem but I also feel weird about putting steroids on his genitals.

[tennisdude23]

I am sure others will answer this more in full, but its absolutely normal for your son not to retract at 24 months. To my knowledge, the vast majority of boys do not at that age, and what she prescribed is a steroid cream used in cases of ADULT PHIMOSIS. I am not a medical professional, but I would NOT APPLY this cream. I believe the average median for retraction is 10 years of age. I myself became fully retractible by 11. As long as your son is urinating normally, and is no distress in relation to his penis, I would assume that his development is normal and not something you should worry about.

[Fellow Traveler]

There is probably nothing wrong. there is no timetable for retraction. I your son is urinating easily there isn't anything to worry about. You might check out:

http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis/

and

http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/

One other thing, if he is sore it might be because he has started the process of separation. When the foreskin separates from the glans the new surfaces can become a bit raw for a short period of time.

[Quirky]

You are right, and your doctor is just wrong. Wrong wrong wrong! There is no need for steroid cream and quite honestly I would try educating her, and if she won't be educated, leave and find another doctor, because she is a menace to intact boys.

There is no magic age for retraction, and two doesn't even come close to being a normal age for most boys to become retractable.

http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcisi...etraction.html

[MommytoB]

You got an uneducated doctor a 24 month old does not need to retract btw my son didn't even start to retract til he was 3 1/2 yrs old and that was only partial then he did fully retract at 4 then back to partial again is normal!

I will msg you some doc info

[A&A]

Originally Posted by Quirky

You are right, and your doctor is just wrong. Wrong wrong wrong! There is no need for steroid cream and quite honestly I would try educating her, and if she won't be educated, leave and find another doctor, because she is a menace to intact boys.

There is no magic age for retraction, and two doesn't even come close to being a normal age for most boys to become retractable.

http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcisi...etraction.html

:

[LavenderMae]

Like everyone else has said your ds's doctor is wrong. There's no reason for him to be retracting at all yet. Many many boys do not retract at all at 2 or 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ...... you get the picture. It doesn't sound like your ds is having any issues peeing right? so he's just fine. No need to do anything , nothing to do anything about.

[Yulia_R]

Your son is totally fine. Mine is 3.5 and is not even close to retracting. The doctor is very misinformed on the issue. It looks like she tried to retract your ds which is a big no-no. Please read this stickies:

A Warning For Parents of Intact Sons http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=129378

The Definition of "Retraction" & Why it is BAD http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=575627

[robertandenith]

How would you or your doctor know he is not retracting? Make sure in every appointment to tell the doctors NOT TO RETRACT OR MANIPULATE your baby's penis in anyway. Some kids don't retract until towards puberty.

Please print out this pamphlet, this is for YOU not the doctor. Make sure you read the graphs, they are easy to read.

http://www.asnatureintended.info/upl...74/babyboy.pdf

[MyBoysBlue]

My DS is 2.5 and says "ouch" too sometimes. Since he is potty trained and is running around naked most of the time I have noticed that he says it when he has an erection. I think it is not because it hurts but because it is a new and possibly a bit uncomfortable feeling. As far as I know he doesn't retract as I haven't seen him do it and no one but him will manipulate his foreskin. My DS 1 was able to retract by 5 but like the others have posted the age varies from baby to teen.

[Tinijocaro]

A good question for your doctor is "Why does he need to retract by a certain age? What purpose will it serve? How will it benefit him?"

I have two intact ds'. One was mostly retractable by the age of 4, the other didn't retract till he was 12 (he told me). Both perfectly normal.

[555Baby]

What about the pain?

Thank you for the replies--I appreciate the advice and reassurance that his present level of retraction is normal. However, then what should I do about his complaints of pain? It's been even more consistent since I posted--at least 10 times a day now he says that his penis hurts. I guess it's possible it's related to erections but I don't believe so--he gets those regularly on the change table and I haven't noticed a correlation with the pain complaints. I'm not aware of any problems peeing, though I have never actually seen the stream so I can't really comment on whether it is more dribbly or a real stream. I have noticed that he gets "ballooning" when he tries to pee in the bathtub, though the links you guys gave me said that is normal.

[LavenderMae]

He could be having some pain due to the retraction process, it can be a little painful /sore for some boys. There is a thread that talks about it, when I have time I'll find it bump it up for you, or someone esle can maybe.
Ballooning is normal.

[Fyrestorm]

The doctor might have also made it worse by attempting to force retraction and manipulating his penis. That can cause tears in the connective tissue and pain.

[LavenderMae]

I bumped that thread for you it is Possible seperation Issues .................

Also putting some backing soda in his bath water really helps with any irritation or soreness.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

If the dr attempted to retract to look at things it could very well be that it caused some tearing which would make it sting if the spot came into contact with urine.

This is one of the reasons why any pushing back of the foreskin is a bad thing. I can cause problems.

The ballooning is 100% normal and it is a sign that he is at least partially seperated but the sphincter isnt yet ready to relax to allow retraction.