my son has an infection?

[kinrice01]

Hi, I don't post much on here, though I lurk alot!

Anyway, my almost 4 yr old son is intact (my 1st son is circ'd because I didn't know any better)....but anyway today Noah woke me at 5 am crying his penis hurt. I looked it, the tip looked a little red but I didn't see anything.

Few hours later, he is screaming in the bathroom, penis is swollen (I can see the head BULGING beneath the foreskin) , the whole penis looks pinker than usual, and to make it worse, he had a small erection so that made it more painful I think, as I couldn't pull up his underwear.

I took him to the dr... our new ped is pro circ I think (it's just the vibe I got), anyway, he said it's a mild infection, put him on Kflex antibiotic, told me to take him home give him a long bath and let him pee in the water since it burned to pee....

Does this all sound like good advice? I just wonder why this happened?
Kindra

[Fellow Traveler]

Originally Posted by kinrice01

Hi, I don't post much on here, though I lurk alot!

Anyway, my almost 4 yr old son is intact (my 1st son is circ'd because I didn't know any better)....but anyway today Noah woke me at 5 am crying his penis hurt. I looked it, the tip looked a little red but I didn't see anything.

Few hours later, he is screaming in the bathroom, penis is swollen (I can see the head BULGING beneath the foreskin) , the whole penis looks pinker than usual, and to make it worse, he had a small erection so that made it more painful I think, as I couldn't pull up his underwear.

I took him to the dr... our new ped is pro circ I think (it's just the vibe I got), anyway, he said it's a mild infection, put him on Kflex antibiotic, told me to take him home give him a long bath and let him pee in the water since it burned to pee....

Does this all sound like good advice? I just wonder why this happened?
Kindra

Sounds like good advice to me. Adding some baking soda to the bath will help with this too. It's hard to say why this might have happened, if he had dirty fingers and was playing with it or something along those lines. Has he begun the separation process? I know that's a bad answer but it's the best I have

[l_olive]

I would strongly suspect that this isn't an infection at all -- just normal separation beginning. My son experienced exactly the same thing you're describing, and there have been countless threads I've seen here over the years with the same symptoms. If you haven't read this excellent thread,

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=764732

you really, really should.

[kinrice01]

Thanks ladies! I have been reading through that thread and it had alot of info I had never heard of before. Ok, but that last penis problem...where the forskin gets stuck behind the glans. That is really freaking me out. I didn't know that could even happen!

But anyway, I will watch ...so i guess if it gets better in a day or so, it is probably separation beginning.

[kiara7]

Paraphimosis usually only happens as a result of premature forcible retraction.
Your son's issues sound like separation/ballooning. In absence of a fever, a culture and other symptoms it doesn't sound like infection.
Keep an eye on it - baking soda baths and peeing in a cup of warm water. Let us know and good luck!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

: Unless someone retracts him the odds of him having paraphimosis are pretty much zero. Even if it where to happen it isnt that hard a problem to fix if caught early on.

I am thinking seperation as well time will tell. Peeing in water is a good way to remove the sting. If you have had a tear near your urethra then you know the kind of sting that can happen.

[kinrice01]

ballooning question

does anyone have any photos of what ballooning looks like? today it looks pinkish red and kinda more bulbous towards one side.. He says it still hurts...

[mntnmom]

If you've started the antibiotics, I would definately finish. I'm not a big fan of them, but it sounds to me like your doc gave you relatively very good advice.
And keep up with the daily baths.
In my experience, if it's swollen when he's NOT peeing it's not ballooning. Ballooning is just urine making the foreskin "balloon" out while the sphincter at the top is still tight, but the rest of the foreskin is separating.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Yes ballooning happens only when the boy is urinating. Swollen on one side could still be seperation or it could be a bacterial infection or even yeast.

He may have been exploring and got a bit to ruff and caused a tear between the foreskin and glans. If that happens on occasion bacteria can move in.

[tutucrazy]

This sounds exactly like what happened to my son. The screaming is happening b/c the urine stings the freshly separated glans. This pain will go away in about 4 days as the glans will smooth over. The redness and swelling is a normal reaction to the separation trauma and will also subside in a few days as the trauma subsides. Please read this thread I have written specifically about this. Also, I would advise AGAINST the antibiotics. Bacterial infections are very obvious as the swelling continues into the groin and there is usually fever. Bacterial infections are rare and usually occur with forcible retraction or a wound to the penis. By giving him antibiotics you can cause a secondary yeast infection. Remember most doctors don't know anything about normal separation. I was lucky to have a pedi that is a member of DOC so he knew exactly what was happening and that nothing but time could help. Read these threads:

Painful urination/stinging/ballooning:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ting+urination

Intact care and special info about the intact boy:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...893&highlight=