smegma?

[alana1980]

A couple of weeks ago, my almost 5 y.o. ds had a 5 day bout of diarrhea. At the end of that, his uncirc'ed penis got red, swollen and he complained of it "bothering him". He never said that it hurt, just that it bothered him. I noticed a white milky liquid under the foreskin and a crust on the tip of his penis so I took him to the dr. I was thinking that possibly bacteria from the diarrhea got in there and caused an infection.

She said that it was balanitis and gave me an abx. After I got home, I researched it a bit more and was not comfortable giving him the abx without her having done a culture.

The swelling and redness went away, but it still has the white milky substance in it. He is constantly pulling his penis out and picking at it. I also notice a crusty substance in his underwear. He has been able to retract for awhile now, but he won't now. He is either just afraid of it hurting or it might. Not sure.

Dh just wants me to give him the abx. Does this just sound like smegma to you? If so, I know they say to make sure to dry it out really well after a bath, but how if I can't get him to retract it? Should I take him back and ask for a culture even though it does not seem to be an infection?

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Sounds like smegma to me honestly. Ds has the same thing and picks at it. He however is only about 1/2 retractable and does it a lot.

If your ds hasnt been retracting it like he was then smegma very well could be building up under there. What I would do is gently encourage him to retract in the bath or if he wont do that just swish it really well in the bath and rinse with clean water before getting out.

As for drying it out I have never heard of that. I would never rub anything on there to dry it actually that would hurt.

Can you ask your ds why he dosnt want to retract in words he can understand and see if he is in pain? Like ask him if he can show you the inside of his penis and if it hurts something like that. As long as he is doing the retracting it would be fine.

I wouldnt get a culture at this point unless he is in pain or the redness is still there and I wouldnt be moving his foreskin myself at all. If I misread that ignore

[alana1980]

Thanks!

With smegma, I read that it is good to rinse with clean water and to make sure to dry it off. That might be more for adult males though? I read a recommendation of using a hair dryer.

Does smegma go away? He's that child that will obsess about a string hanging off his clothes. Now he's obsessing about this and pulling his penis out all of the time, even in public. I've been talking to him about only doing that in the bathroom or his bedroom in private, but he's still doing it.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Smegma is a part of life even for us woman so no it wont go away totally but trying to get him to retract and rinse in the bath or a really good swish will remove the majority of it.

I have a 5yo to and I am going through the same thing about the proper time to pull his penis out. It is really hard to be serious about it when I am usually inside because it is just so darn funny sometimes.

My plan is to just keep working with him on the proper time to mess with it and the improper time. So if I see him with his hands down there I gently remind him that he needs to do that in private away from us or redirect him when it isnt possible for him to have privacy.

I figure he will get it eventually I consider it an accomplishment that he hasnt peed on the play ground at school since the beginning of the year The joys of little boys

Rinsing is good but I do think the drying thing is more geared toward older guys though the only one I know who uses a hair dryer is my dad (info my mom shared that I really didnt need to know ) He does it more for heat rash though.

[eepster]

It is most likely smegma.

Another possibility is toilet paper lint. If he got into a habit of retracting and wiping when he was having the diarrhea he might have some trapped under his foreskin.

Yet another possibility is he has a yeast infection. If he does have a yeast infection, then the antibiotics will make it worse, not better! This might explain the constant need to play with it if it is itchy.

Nothing you describe sound much like a bacterial infection. I would not use a hairdryer down there, wway too much risk of burning him.

[tutucrazy]

This is definitely not an infection. Infections get worse and swelling extends into groin. Untreated infections result in fever and massive swelling. Infections are rare and generally occur when there is trauma/wound to the penis. This is likely just smegma. In adult intact men it is more rare to see it b/c they retract and rinse regularly, but in childhood the foreskin isn't usually retractable so this is how the body rids itself of dead skin cells. It is probably milky from mixing with a little urine. Here is a good link to read: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/basic...act-child.html

You should avoid abx as it can cause yeast infection and other side-effects.

[Bea]

Originally Posted by alana1980

Thanks!

With smegma, I read that it is good to rinse with clean water and to make sure to dry it off. That might be more for adult males though? I read a recommendation of using a hair dryer.

Does smegma go away? He's that child that will obsess about a string hanging off his clothes. Now he's obsessing about this and pulling his penis out all of the time, even in public. I've been talking to him about only doing that in the bathroom or his bedroom in private, but he's still doing it.

Just a couple of points.

Never use a hair dryer on the genitals, not only can a burn happen in seconds but drying the glans of an intact male (or female) is equivalent to drying the inside of your mouth really well after brushing your teeth. I'm assuming you don't give your gums, inner cheeks and tongue a good rub down with a towel twice a day

Smegma will never go away. It is a fact of life for intact men and women. If you have a spare 2 minutes in the bathroom tonight, assuming you had your shower this morning or maybe not at all, have a good old look around the folds and nooks and cranies of your own genitals, you'll find some white vaguely musky matter. That's smegma. It's normal and healthy. Smegma means 'soap'. It's shed cells and lubricates and protects the genitals. You can rinse it off but it'll just reappear.

The smell actually has pheremonic/aphrodisiac qualities as well as being protective but you (we!) have been culturally conditioned to be freaked out by the slightest hint of smell from the genitals that isn't perfume/vanilla/chocolate or whatever.

As far as a little boy picking/poking/tugging/repositioning his penis...this is just a an ongoing conversation about acceptable public behaviour and privacy. He'll never stop, he'll just learn to be more discrete about it with guidance.