My son is almost 8 and intact. He mentioned to me last night that his penis was hurting (also mentioned some pain in his groin, which I chalked up to a strained muscle) and then this morning he told me he saw some blood when he pulled the skin back. I took a look at it and there is a "slice" (about 1/4" or so) right where the foreskin meets the body of the penis. It is a little red as you would imagine, but the redness is very localized with no streaking or spreading from the immediate area. There was no active bleeding or oozing of any kind. He denies any type of trauma or any idea where it came from. He says he just noticed it yesterday morning and that it feels like it is getting better today. It doesn't look infected (I am a nurse, but I only work with women currently so this is NOT my area of expertise), but I am just concerned because I don't know what would cause a wound like this to occur. He does not routinely retract his foreskin and clean under it, although I have suggested that he do so. I sent him to the shower to get cleaned up and told him we would keep an eye on it and see if it gets better/worse.
On a side note, I am reluctant to take him to the ped because the last time we saw him, he attempted to retract his foreskin, and he told us he was concerned that his foreskin was "tight" and wanted him to consult a urologist for possible circumcision. He was very ominous and used scare tacticts. I did my own research (including posting on here), and found that non-retractibility at this age is completely normal, plus my son showed me that he actually can retract it himself without difficulty. I have not yet confronted the ped with this informantion, but was planning to do so at his check-up next month. But you could see why it would be uncomfortable to make an urgent appt for a foreskin issue, and why I don't trust him on that topic anyway!
Any thoughts or suggestions or experiences with a sore like this would be appreciated! Thanks in advance...
Cindi
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