Smegma pearl ? re my toddler

[earthmama4]

This is my first intact son so I am learning. I read the sticky and I saw the photo so I know that its a smegma pearl that is causing my 17 month old son's glans to look crooked with a large lump on one side. It is not red or irritated and he is not bothered by it. I understand this is a sign that the foreskin is starting to separate. I am wondering though - will this pearl work its way out? And when? Will it be present until his foreskin retracts?

[xbabymamax]

good question!

[MyBoysBlue]

My son had one after he was already retractable. It was like a pimple on the glans. I told him to just tell us if it doesn't go away or starts to hurt. About a month later we asked him about it. He had forgotten about it so he checked and it was gone.

[glongley]

My older son had a lump (a smegma pearl) under his foreskin that started developing when he was about a year old. As time went on, his foreskin got more and more lopsided looking. This was in the 80s, and there was no Internet or information on this kind of thing, so I was kind of worried, but I figured I would just let things take their own course. And they did. When he was three, the lump finally discharged spontaneously as about 1/4 tsp of whitish pasty odorless material, i.e. smegma. At least I knew then that his foreskin was separating underneath and the separation had extended to the opening, allowing the smegma to work its way out. That was it, no recurrence, no need to intervene. It did indeed take care of itself. BTW, the outlet of his foreskin outlet stayed tight and completely non-retractable another 5 years after that. Foreskin development is very variable, and the process is unique for every boy. It took two years for my son's smegma pearl to work its way to the tip, but it could be a shorter or longer period for your son. Just leave it be and be patient.

Gillian

[earthmama4]

Originally Posted by glongley

My older son had a lump (a smegma pearl) under his foreskin that started developing when he was about a year old. As time went on, his foreskin got more and more lopsided looking. This was in the 80s, and there was no Internet or information on this kind of thing, so I was kind of worried, but I figured I would just let things take their own course. And they did. When he was three, the lump finally discharged spontaneously as about 1/4 tsp of whitish pasty odorless material, i.e. smegma. At least I knew then that his foreskin was separating underneath and the separation had extended to the opening, allowing the smegma to work its way out. That was it, no recurrence, no need to intervene. It did indeed take care of itself. BTW, the outlet of his foreskin outlet stayed tight and completely non-retractable another 5 years after that. Foreskin development is very variable, and the process is unique for every boy. It took two years for my son's smegma pearl to work its way to the tip, but it could be a shorter or longer period for your son. Just leave it be and be patient.

Gillian

Thank you. Yes thank goodness for the internet, I'd be worried he had a tumor or something without it! I will try to be patient, but I am hoping it will work its way out sooner rather than later. I can't imagine it being there for years. It bothers me to see it look lopsided like that. My son is the only intact child in our whole family and there are a lot of boys and I guess I just want him to be the poster child for how wonderful it is to leave your child intact and not have any "issues". I will get over it but its bothering me. Though not nearly as much as its bothering me to see circ'ed penises now that I know what normal is. They look injured, they really do.

[glongley]

Originally Posted by earthmama4

Thank you. Yes thank goodness for the internet, I'd be worried he had a tumor or something without it! I will try to be patient, but I am hoping it will work its way out sooner rather than later. I can't imagine it being there for years. It bothers me to see it look lopsided like that. My son is the only intact child in our whole family and there are a lot of boys and I guess I just want him to be the poster child for how wonderful it is to leave your child intact and not have any "issues". I will get over it but its bothering me. Though not nearly as much as its bothering me to see circ'ed penises now that I know what normal is. They look injured, they really do.

Well, I wouldn't think of a smegma pearl as an "issue." It's a normal variation in intact penile development, that's all, certainly not something pathological or harmful for your son. If you're concerned about the other boys in your family, or their parents, if they notice that your son happens to have a lopsided penis for a little while, just see it as an opportunity to teach them about how the foreskin develops, and just treat it like something normal, and no big deal - which is what it is.

This page on normal foreskin development is very informative:
http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/

Also, this article talks about a lot of normal variations in raising boys and is very reassuring:
http://www.mothering.com/health/prot...advice-parents

Cheers, Gillian

[langdonslady]

Glad to read about this, because my toddler (he's 2 1/2 in a couple of days) had a red, inflamed opening to his foreskin, and said his peepee hurt, so I checked him out, and upon palpitation, a blob of smegma came out, but it smelled cheesy/bacterial. There was a bit more, but once it came out, I gave him a soaky bath, and the inflammation cleared up and he has been fine since, but his foreskin is definitely getting more mobile, as he likes to pull it back as far as it will go (just barely showing the tip) but it makes me nervous, because it looks like it would have to hurt. But DH and I keep reminding ourselves that if it hurt, he wouldn't do it.

I never knew the smegma thing and loosening of the foreskin were connected, and it's good to see all is normal.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by MyBoysBlue

My son had one after he was already retractable. It was like a pimple on the glans. I told him to just tell us if it doesn't go away or starts to hurt. About a month later we asked him about it. He had forgotten about it so he checked and it was gone.

That actually sounds more like a cyst than a smegma pearl, but since cysts are also harmless, no need to worry about it.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by langdonslady

Glad to read about this, because my toddler (he's 2 1/2 in a couple of days) had a red, inflamed opening to his foreskin, and said his peepee hurt, so I checked him out, and upon palpitation, a blob of smegma came out, but it smelled cheesy/bacterial. There was a bit more, but once it came out, I gave him a soaky bath, and the inflammation cleared up and he has been fine since, but his foreskin is definitely getting more mobile, as he likes to pull it back as far as it will go (just barely showing the tip) but it makes me nervous, because it looks like it would have to hurt. But DH and I keep reminding ourselves that if it hurt, he wouldn't do it.

I never knew the smegma thing and loosening of the foreskin were connected, and it's good to see all is normal.

Minor inflammation is something that many little boys have during separation. Smegma can smell slightly just like most things that come out of the human body can have a slight odor, as long as it doesn't smell very very foul, it is not a problem.

[.pilot.]

Thank you all!!

I've been scouring the internet for the past few months for information on this, and this is the first I've found that has made me feel better! My son has had the same smegma pearl for almost a year (it's not red or inflamed or anything) and I've been so worried about it. Even though my doctor said it was fine and that it would go away on its own, I've worried that since it was there so long it must be a tumor or something! I don't know if any of you still check this, as these posts are a few years old, but you've pretty much reduced my stress level to zero. Thanks for all the great information!

[eepster]

Originally Posted by .pilot.

I've been scouring the internet for the past few months for information on this, and this is the first I've found that has made me feel better! My son has had the same smegma pearl for almost a year (it's not red or inflamed or anything) and I've been so worried about it. Even though my doctor said it was fine and that it would go away on its own, I've worried that since it was there so long it must be a tumor or something! I don't know if any of you still check this, as these posts are a few years old, but you've pretty much reduced my stress level to zero. Thanks for all the great information!

The thread pops back up to the top when you post.

It's great that your Dr knew what the smegma pearl was. It is amazing how many don't know anything about normal penis development. I you have any other questions, feel free to start a new thread.

[MavericksMama]

I know this is an old thread, but my son has had a lump in his foreskin for a few months, which I assumed was something like smega. I had got used to the lump, and he is potty training (just turned 2), so when I opened up his diaper just now and there was no pee but a big smudge of stinky white, I panicked a little. I wasn't so much worried about it being something bad, as I was like "waaaah! My son is growing up if this is coming out!" haha! But the lump, which was just there yesterday, didn't even occur to me. Sure enough, (after reading this in a google search) I opened his diaper back up, and it was gone. No wonder it stunk so bad, it's been there for months! (And no, it's no that it is severely infected, I just have an incredibly good (or today I should say BAD) sense of smell! Thanks! Will just have to give him a bath to get him a little less stinky! He does not retract at all whatsoever, so it was stuck there for quite awhile, even upon slight manipulation with a wipe at diaper changes it wouldn't budge! So glad it is gone, so I no longer have to wonder how long it will be stuck there. So happy to see it is normal development!