Please help -- swollen penis (intact)

[T-man's Mama]

Tonight my son (21 months) was signing "hurt" and pointing at his penis. I noticed that it seemed red and swollen, and he was crying and seemed in pain. This went on for close to an hour. I removed his pajama pants/underwear when we put him to bed, as these seemed to further irritate him, and he eventually fell asleep. I am hoping it is cleared up in the morning, but I was wondering if this sounds like a normal experience to you mothers with intact sons at this age??  I have noticed in the past month or two the appearance of a few miniscule "balls" visible beneath his foreskin, surrounding the glans. I assumed this was smegma buildup as the foreskin separates on its own. I don't know, but it never seemed to bother him before tonight. For the record, he has never been retracted (absolutely not!).

Potentially complicating factors are that he had diarhea this morning and vomited two different times today (several heaves each time). The second time, just before he started complaining about his penis, he had vomited on his own lap while sitting on the toilet. I wondered if he'd gotten stomach acid on his penis, and perhaps that was part of the problem. Ugh. I am hoping this is all cleared up by morning, as I have a great reluctance to let a doctor examine his penis, for fear he'd do more harm than good.

[eepster]

At first it sounded like run of the mill separation, but the timing with the stomach bug seems like an odd coincidence, so I would be reluctant to right it off as that.  

If he is still in diapers, the diarrhea may have caused a really bad diaper rash on his penis, but you would also expect it on his scrotum and bottom in that case.

If he is becoming dehydrated, his urine may be concentrated enough to burn.  Dehydration is a big danger with stomach bugs like this.

There is an off chance that he has a UTI, so watch closely for fever.

It's possible that he pulled a muscle from the retching and what not.

It certainly could be from throwing up on it, especially since it was the second time, so there was less food to buffer the stomach acid.  You would expect some redness on the other parts of his lap that were vomited on as well, but the penis is more sensitive, so it might look worse.

If you do need to take him in to the Dr, don't let him/her try to retract.  If they want a urine specimen say no to the catheter and insist on a baggy instead.

[T-man's Mama]

Thank you for the reply. He vomited again today, and had diarrhea this morning, but he has not complained about his penis. It looks much less swollen and red than yesterday. I will continue to keep and eye on it but for now, I don't see a reason to visit the dr.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Hope he is feeling better soon. I agree with the pp and want to add that it could be separation related as well since it is already clearing up. Have you read this thread on the separation process http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=764732

[Jerlin]

My DS had this a couple of months ago when he was about 12 months old. His penis was swollen and red. And I saw discharge on his training pants (we're doing EC). Come to find it, it wasn't pus/infection but just normal smegma perls. It went away in a couple of days, and I think it's his normal process of retracting. Just keep an eye on it, and hopefully it will be back to normal soon.