Red, swollen, and painful

[pearlgirl]

My ds is 19 months and intact. We are on vacation of course, and this evening noticed his penis is red, swollen and painful. We were in the car for about three hours earlier today and he kept grabbing at his crotch and was very cranky but all he got was his buckle so I thought he just wanted out of the car seat. Now I realize he was hurting.

His testicles are normal, the redness is most red on the tip but goes up further as well.

It seems to me it's infected, though no fever. Motrin helped him considerably. I really do not want to take him to an urgent care as surely they would want to retract.

I have some prescription antibiotic cream I thought I could rub on there in hopes it might make it's way up there though with him not being retractable I doubt it would do much good.

What should I do?

Sarah
If you don't mind emailing responses to Taylor.sp at gmail.com that would help as I am on my phone browser which is not easy to use.

[pearlgirl]

Ok, I looked at it some more, he is asleep. The tip is where the swelling is, it is almost blister like.

[Night_Nurse]

I'll email this as well, but here are my thoughts...

He's drinking and peeing alright, yes?

Is he used to wearing cloth diapers and now he's in disposables for the vacation? Or has there been a change in the brand of sposies?

Is it possible that the car seat buckle was too tight (or the diaper) and that it might actually be a blister???

Are you lactating? If so, you could put some breast milk on it. I never had to try it but I've read it can really help heal in situations such as this.

While on vacation, has he been exposed to any new soaps or even chlorine from a pool?

Does it seem like it might be yeast? Is there any discharge?

Because my best *guess* at the moment w/ the info you've given is that it might be irritation/blister from a tight diaper, the car seat straps, or a combination of both, but I'd like more info.

The fact that he doesn't have a fever is a great sign. Watch his drinking and urination - as long as he's doing both I wouldn't worry too much at this point.

[mama24-7]

my 4 y.o. ds gets a blister and/or brush burn on his foreskin when he's rubbed against his clothes/car seat buckle the wrong way. this has happened 2x. it's healed on its own (w/ reminding to stop pushing against the buckle).

so i won't be able to email this. sorry.

sus

[eepster]

Don't use the antibiotic cream, it might not be designed for genitals and cause a reaction. Also killing off the normal bacteria can cause a yeast infection.

People often come here with the exact same problem while travelling by car. It is most likely chaffing from the seat belt. Treat the symptoms and keep an eye on it. It usually clears up a few days after the trip is over. A little diaper cream can help and be extra vigilant about changing him.

[MyBoysBlue]

My Son had blisters on the tip too back when he was still in diapers. We figured it was the ammonia, he was in cloth. But a disposable for a long time can do the same thing.

[tutucrazy]

I emailed you. This is not an infection. You can check out this thread for more information: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...893&highlight=