Questions from a beginner...

[MamaMem]

My oldest son is circ'ed. (Please don't ask me how I feel about this. I do not have time to meltdown today.) Anyway, I need some answers on caring for his penis. His foreskin basically grew back as it healed, however it is very loose. There is a lot of stuff under it at any given time. It is often a bit red and we have had issues with yeast several times. Am I making life worse by cleaning it? (perish the thought!)


disclaimer: the only experience I have with non-circ is my little cousins who had "no foreskin". They looked as if they had been circ'ed minus the scar. It seems to be a genetic thing in the family.

[MommytoB]

Hi there,

What actually sounds like what happened after your son's circumcision his glans was uncovered and then his glans became recovered again.

This is called an adhesion because after circumcision there is a bunch of remaining foreskin so it starts to self heal by trying to recover the glans as in depending on how much was left was from the circumcision.

Also, what stuff under there as in white stuff or anything else ?

How much does the 'remaining foreskin cover your baby son glans ?

Also, did your doctor do any culture for yeast infection ?

[MamaMem]

When the circ was done, it looked like a circ'ed penis. As he grew, there was more and more skin to the point that several moms who have seen it thought he was not circ'ed. The stuff is white. No, there was no culture done for yeast. So far I have cleared it up with Monostat.

[Night_Nurse]

Does your son complain of pain or itching?

It could just be that the "inner" skin is normally more red/pink than what you see on the rest of the penis because even though he is circed, maybe that skin doesn't get rubbed against a diaper or clothes as often and it's taking the appearance more of an internal skin than an external one. I'm not fully awake and maybe I'm not making sense. But if you pull your lower lip out you'll see how that is a bit redder and more moist than the outside of your lip. Do you think that's what the color difference is, or is it red from irritation?

Can you describe what the stuff looks like when you say it collects and needs to be cleaned? Is it odorous and yeasty looking or is it dried looking (like what you could gently collect if you ran your fingernail around your belly button or outer ear)?

[MamaMem]

Originally Posted by Night_Nurse

Can you describe what the stuff looks like when you say it collects and needs to be cleaned? Is it odorous and yeasty looking or is it dried looking (like what you could gently collect if you ran your fingernail around your belly button or outer ear)?

The yeast was very red, puffy, raw irritation.
The stuff is totally different. kind of moist though not gooey, not nearly as dry as the belly button example. I really wonder if it should just be left alone. He is more bothered by trying to keep it clean than letting it be. Of it is part of the adhesions thing, then it is bothersome/painful to "keep it clean", right?

[MyBoysBlue]

What are you doing to keep it clean? I really don't think much needs to be done other than a swish in water. Never use soap on genitals. As long as it isn't huring him or infected I would just leave it be. Once he is older if the adhesions having detached on there own that can be looked after but it really shouldn't be a problem until teen years.

[MamaMem]

To keep it clean either a swish in the tub or wiping it with a wet wipe during diaper change. The longer I think about it and read on here the more I think it should just be left alone...

[claddaghmom]

the way i taught my toddler/young child brothers to clean themselves:

start running the water in the tub then have them kneel in front of the spout and swish around.

he should only retract as much as he is comfortable doing and no lotions or cleaners should be used.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I wouldnt retract any remaining foreskin at all to clean this can be very irritation and cause him more trouble. Never use soap on there either. Unless it was bothering him I wouldnt mess with it at all other than swishing in clean bath water.

[AXEius]

there is a very good chance the "cleaning" is causing the irritation. It is a very sensitive area, especially since he still has some foreskin to keep his glans and inner foreskin protected. I would also be concerned about the wet wipes, there are quite a few chemicals in wet wipes such as fragrances, preservatives and detergents, any of which he could have a sensitivity to. water is the best cleaner for that area and cleaning too often can cause problems, especially with detergents (soaps).

[tutucrazy]

Sounds like your attempts to clean his foreskin are actually making matters worse.

The genitals do not need soap during childhood. Using soap and trying to vigorously clean causes an imbalance in the natural flora (good bacteria) and results in yeast infection. Think of it as if you tried to clean out a girl's vagina. Normal secretions are not dirty and are in fact self-cleaning.

If he is retractable he can pull it back and rinse with plain water. If he is not able to retract then just rinse the exterior. If he is uncomfortable retracting himself then there really is no need to do it. A soak in a warm bath (no soaps or bubble bath) is sufficient. Adhesions tend to resolve themselves after puberty so I would not worry about that for now.

Btw, it is actually a very good thing that he has some of his foreskin left. This will be of great benefit after sexual maturity.

[MamaMem]

So would you TEACH him to retract and swish or just let it be and when he does, he does? He mostly takes showers (w/ dh) as opposed to baths...

To the pp who mentioned it being good he had the "extra" (though not really) skine, he actually has enough that it pretty much covers the head. When we had his testicle retrieval done, there was talk of re-circ'ing bc it was constantly so irritated but I thought not bc I was afraid of further marring his future sex life. Better to have "too much" (ha) than not enough and wish we had never...

[tutucrazy]

Originally Posted by MamaMem

So would you TEACH him to retract and swish or just let it be and when he does, he does? He mostly takes showers (w/ dh) as opposed to baths...

I'd just let him do whatever he wants at this point. Tell him if he feels like it he can retract, rinse, and replace the foreskin back over the glans. If he doesn't want to then it is not a big deal. When he reaches puberty he will naturally do this as most boys retract for pleasure.

To the pp who mentioned it being good he had the "extra" (though not really) skine, he actually has enough that it pretty much covers the head. When we had his testicle retrieval done, there was talk of re-circ'ing bc it was constantly so irritated but I thought not bc I was afraid of further marring his future sex life. Better to have "too much" (ha) than not enough and wish we had never...

This is wonderful b/c he can still use his foreskin for a gliding mechanism during intercourse and masturbation. It also keeps the penis moist and the blood-flow close to the surface. Which is why the normal appearance of his inner foreskin and glans is reddish and moist. Good for you for following your instinct and not letting them remove what is left of his foreskin!