10 m/o, possibly partially retracted?

[groovynaturemama]

my intact, 10 m/o ds may have partially retracted himself...

i was changing his diaper this am and noticed his foreskin was back (not all the way, or even all the way past the glans) and the side of the head of his penis had a white area that extended partway around the rim. at first i thought it was penile discharge, but then i noticed that the corresponding area of foreskin was red and a little irritated. he's not seeming to be in pain and i'm not noticing any swelling. it just looks like the foreskin was well attached but was pulled away and the white area appears to be granulation tissue, like it's healing. ds has been "busy" with his hand in that area for the last few months, and i've seen him pull up and push back his foreskin quite vigorously. could he have done this to himself? dh and i DO NOT ever retract ds's foreskin, and he's not been to a medical professional recently or anything. what could this be? should i do anything about it?

eta: this is the only part of his foreskin that seems to be retracted to this extent. the rest of it is still very attached, i think.

[eepster]

If I understand your description (I'm having a bit of trouble actually picturing it,) it is probably a smegma pearl that is pushing its way out.

[groovynaturemama]

i initially thought that too, but the way it looks is as though it's been retracted, and both the side of his glans and the foreskin look as though there are areas of granulation tissue from a healing injury. it was only that part of the foreskin that was back when i changed his diaper; the rest seemed tight to his glans. then, just about 20 min. ago, i got him undressed for a bath and there was a small spot of what appeared to be blood in his diaper. the foreskin was back to its normal position and there was no visible swelling or anything, just some redness at the end of the foreskin. i'm assuming i ought to leave it alone, but look out for infection. i am worried about an adhesion, but as i understand it we can't do anything about it until ds retracts himself the rest of the way (hopefully not any time soon).

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Until the separation process is complete, which can take many years, you might see spots still attached while others are not it is normal. Have you read this thread http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=764732

[eepster]

Originally Posted by groovynaturemama

the foreskin was back to its normal position

Did you not return it to the normal position after you discovered it retracted? If you didn't do so in the future. Though rare, it is possible for the foreskin to get stuck in the retracted position (this is the biggest danger of forced early retraction.) Leaving it retracted also leaves the meatus (pee hole) exposed, having the meatus protected is one of the functions of the foreskin that is lost with circ.

[groovynaturemama]

i did return his foreskin to the normal position after i discovered it this morning. i haven't messed with it otherwise, and thought that was the best thing for it if it was in fact "injured". should i be concerned about the blood in his diaper at all? is there anything i need to be doing, or is leaving it alone the absolute best policy?

eta; i realized that in my previous post i said "back to normal position"; i put it back to its normal position after i saw the white area on his glans.

mcatlvr: i just looked at that thread, and it is a wealth of info!! however, what my son has does not look like any of the pictures. if this doesn't clear up by wednesday, i'll get him checked out by our family nurse practitioner. she is well versed in care of an intact penis, thankfully, if we need to go.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

If you do end up taking him in make sure that the NP dosnt retract him at all. Nothing can be gained by her looking under there and she could actually make things worse by doing so.

I wish there where more pictures on the net dealing with the intact penis of children but there arnt and part of me is grateful about it because that way no one is retracting when they shouldnt just to take pictures.