Foreskin tight at tip of penis, any solutions

[3greatkids]

I have 2 little boys and have no interest in circumcising them The younger one is 18 months and the older one will be 4 in November. Here is my issue, my older son's foreskin is really tight at the tip of his penis. I only noticed it the other day because he was complaining that his penis hurt so I pulled back a little on his foreskin to see if I could see any signs of infection or any thing that could be bothering him. The opening at the tip of his penis is very small, so small that it looks like it would not be able to ever retract.
Is there anything that can be done to slowly stretch the opening over time so that in the future he will be able to retract?
It may be TMI but my husband has the same issue, his foreskin will not retract because the opening is too small, it has sometimes caused some uncomfortable situations for him where the skin has retracted a bit and then gets stuck and it is quite painful for him. Just wondering if there is a way for my older son to avoid this issue down the road.
My younger son seems fine, the opening is definitely large enough, it just seems to be an issue with my older son.

[bandgeek]

4 is very young to be retractable (average age is closer to 10). You have many years before it becomes an issue. In the meantime, no one should be attempting to retract it, even a little. If you have a reason to look, have HIM retract as much as he feels comfortable with. It's possible your husband was forcibly retracted many times as an infant/child...this used to be the recommendation. But forcible retraction can cause scar tissue to form and that could cause phimosis (tight foreskin). Your husband can try gentle stretching exercises to make retracting more comfortable, but your son's penis needs to be left alone. As long as he's peeing fine, the opening is plenty big enough. Ballooning and/or swelling when he pees is normal and not an indication that the opening is too small.

Even some amount of pain from time to time is normal. It could just be irritation, or separation of the foreskin from the glans. If you think about it, girls and women have a little pain from time to time too...it's just a very sensitive area of the body. Unless he's in agony or shows signs of infection I wouldn't worry.

My 4 1/2 year old is about as retractable as the day he was born....basically not at all!

[glongley]

You ask if there is anything that can be done so it will become retractable in the future. Yes, there is - just leave it alone, and wait, and it will become retractable on its own!

I'm not being facetious. Really, it will take care of itself. It is extremely normal for boys to have a very tight, small opening. As quoted in NOCIRC's pamphlet on care of the intact penis "What looks like a pinpoint opening at 7 months will become a wide channel of communication by age 17." The average age of retractability is about age 10, so as long as your son can pee OK, there is absolutely nothing to worry about or any need to rush things.

My older son did not retract AT ALL till he was 8 years old. The opening of his foreskin was literally the size of a pinhead the whole time. Then when he was eight all of a sudden the opening started getting looser and looser and almost overnight he become fully and easily retractable.

The opening of the foreskin in a child has a high proportion of inelastic fibers, but these naturally are replaced with elastic tissue as he develops towards adulthood. So it takes care of itself. It's pretty fantastic how it all works!

I wouldn't worry about him have some genetic issue. His Dad's tightness could be because of mishandling when he was a child (forced retraction was often advised which can scar and tighten the outlet). BTW, his Dad could use steroid creams and stretching exercises to help his situation. But this is totally unnecessary for your sons at their age.

HTH Gillian

[Greg B]

Your husband can treat his tight opening too, btw. Here are some resources:

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

http://www.norm-uk.org/phimosis_clin...uidelines.html

Regards

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

4yo the foreskin tip is a sphincter like the anus when not in use it closes up to keep stuff out. If he is hurting he may be starting the seperation process see this thread for more information http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=764732

Your dh should do stretching to loosen it up. Odds are he was retracted to clean as a child depending on age and this has caused a bit of scare tissue and by gentle stretching with or without steroid cream he can find total relief from his issues.

[Yulia_R]

It is supposed to be small. It will loosen up and retract when it is time for your son. Your son is the only one who should pull his foreskin back (if he wants to, of course), please don't try doing it again and make sure no doctor does it as well.

[eepster]

If you watch your DS peeing, you will see that the end relaxes and opens up when he pees, then a few minutes later will tighten again. This is normal and healthy.

Pulling on it is not good for it. If done repeatedly it will cause damage and eventually lead to the opening becoming scarred and tight all the time. This is likely what happened to you DH, since until recently parents were advised to pull back on the foreskin and clean it at every diaper change.

For your DH there are steroid creams and stretching exercises he can do. If these don't work there are other more drastic treatments such as purepuceplasty, but he may not think they are worth the discomfort, since it only bothers him a bit.

[Ron_Low]

Originally Posted by 3greatkids

It may be TMI but my husband has the same issue, his foreskin will not retract because the opening is too small

Usually a male's own curious manipulation over time is all it takes to make the foreskin retractable. Your husband can use 0.5% to 1% Betamethasone ointment and do daily gentle stretches for a few months if he'd rather be retractable. Your son can do the same thing after puberty if he is still in the same situation.

[tutucrazy]

As others have said it is 100% normal for a boy not to be retractable until after puberty. Puberty hormones cause the more fiber dense tissue to be replaced with a more elastic tissue. This is why retraction is a sexual function. There is no reason to worry about your son, he is perfectly normal. Actually, trying to manipulate his foreskin prior to puberty could cause scar tissue to develop and make it harder for him to retract down the road. You should just leave it alone and let nature take course. The opening is a sphincter that only relaxes to allow urine to pass. This serves to keep harmful pathogens away from the developing penis.

Your hubby was most likely forcibly retracted in childhood. This is b/c only recently have doctors started to recognize the harm. Before they used to tell parents to try to retract for cleaning. This left many men with tight foreskins due to scar tissue buildup. My hubby was a victim of this as well. Your hubby can use steroidal cream and stretching to solve this problem. It works great. *Please note, this cream should never be used on a pre-pubescent child.