Ballooning normal?

[CheriK]

Hi,

My first time posting here, as my son's un-circ'ed penis has always been a non-issue.

K is almost 8 years old. A couple of weeks ago, he began complaining of pain in his penis while urinating. We treated like a diaper rash - flushing to remove urine, barrier cream. Within 12 hours, he was screaming in pain, holding his urine, and basically a very miserable little boy who was telling us "I hate my penis" - as DH says, something a boy should never say!

Dr. (who we love) noted signs of bacterial infection, tx w/ oral abs and topical ab cream. Within 24 hours, urinating much less painful, and redness/inflammation resoved soon after. At the end of ab course, K said no further pain but it feels "funny" to urinate. Oh, and we did use probiotics during antibiotic treatment to avoid yeast infection.

He previously could retract his foreskin enough that the glans was visible, although the foreskin was not fully retractable yet. Now the opening of his foreskin is very very tight over the glans and cannot be retracted at all. The opening for urine to come out is extremely tiny. The end of his foreskin is ballooning when he urinates. He is beginning to complain of discomfort (although not as bad) while urinating.

So my questions. . . I THINK, based on what I read on this site (and this is the BEST place on the web for info re. un-circ'ed penises, thanks!) that the new tightness and ballooning is normal and will return to his previous level of retraction with time. Is this correct? In the meantime, how do we prevent irritation within the foreskin/on the glans of the penis? I don't think water can get into this area now when he bathes, and I worry about urine scald. Will his body's natural secretions prevent this? What about the discomfort he says he's experiencing? I wonder if it might be simply the odd sensation of the ballooning foreskin, but I really don't want another night with a little boy in excruciating pain if we should be doing something else.

Thanks!

[momval]

My son, who is just turning 8, experienced some burning/pain that was really worrisome to me this past year, but that completely resolved within a few days on its own. I'm definitely think it was simply due to normal separation of the foreskin from the glans. He felt great relief if he urinated with his penis completely immersed in warm water. We used a plastic cup full of water and held it over the toilet to catch the overflow. He has always ballooned (sometimes more, sometimes less) because the opening of the foreskin is very small. I don't think the ballooning is a problem, but maybe it feels strange to your son if he's never had that happen before now. The opening can evidently close more if there is some sort of irritation, and will open more again when it's ready. Hope this helps!

[Greg B]

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, so do not have much knowledge in this area.

It could be that the intial pain was from natural seperation. Had he ballooned before that?

Ballooning does feel interesting. I now have enough foreskin regrown that I can do it with the aid of my tape, and it is interesting. I could imagine that if I was sore from a recent foreskin seperation that it might not be so good feeling.

It also seems a rather short time for swelling and irritation due to an infection to be gone, so the tightness of his opening may be residual effects that will clear up soon without additional intervention.

The inner foreskin seems well adapted to urine, so urine "scald" is nothing to worry about.

A tight foreskin opening that passes urine freely is nothing to worry about. There are men who are unable to retract and do quite well. If this becomes a problem of some sort in the future, there are methods for treating with cream and gentle stretching. But first give his foreskin a chance to heal and return to normal. If your doctor recommends circumcsion, get other opinions.

Best wishes

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Have you read this thread http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=764732 there is an article linked there about retractable foreskin becoming non retractable and what the issue might be.

[eepster]

Did the Dr take a culture to confirm infection?

Infection are usually caused by something. Some possible causes for foreskin infections would be: Flora imbalance from overly vigorous cleaning, chlorinated pool water, or bubble bath; premature retraction; or the child sticking things in there while exploring himself (this is really normal even though scary to us moms.) If the cause of the infections is still going on, it might also be irritating the foreskin making the sphincter at the end tight and his foreskin feel funny.

Another possibility is if you used neosporine to treat the infection, it has caused your DS to have a reaction that is making him feel funny. Some people who tolerate neosporine else where on the body will react to it on sensitive gentiles, so it is advised against using it on foreskins.

If the infection was not confirmed with a culture though, nothing you described sound out of the normal range for separation.

[CheriK]

Thanks for all the comments! MCatLvrMom2A&X, I did read that thread and it was what led me to believe that what he's experiencing is normal and nothing to worry about. What concerned me more was the discomfort/pain he was talking about, and making sure the bacterial infection didn't recur.

No, we didn't culture as the infection appeared very obvious (redness, inflammation, discharge, plus the minor fact of a child awake most of the night crying in pain and clutching his penis to avoid urinating!). And, no, we didn't use neosporin. We (dr and parents) suspect irritation due to overvigorous play (i.e. sticking things up there -isn't it fun to have a boy?) that became infected, especially since it was just sore at first. Peeing in the bathtub helped slightly; I didn't think of having him pee into a cup over the toilet, we just ran a LOT of baths for a few days!

It sounds like there's nothing we need to worry about or do at this point. I wonder from the comments if perhaps the ballooning is tearing some new adhesions, or separating the foreskin more from the glans (since it never fully retracted from the glans). That would fit with what my son is telling me. I'm glad to hear urine scald probably isn't a concern. And I think he's temporarily avoiding putting things in his foreskin!

[adamsfam07]

I posted the exact same problem with my 8yr DS just a couple of months ago. And I have to thank you again mommas for all the great information you gave. We did go to the nuerologist as requested by our Dr, (he said that DS needed a circ-that was never going to happend but DH wanted to make sure DS was going to be okay) and she informed us that this is normal, the ballooning and even the pain at times, it's all part of the separation process and once hormones kick in here in the next few years that "mother nature" will do her thing and he'll be just great. Hope that puts you at ease momma!