16 mo, retraction? tears? What on earth?

[cristeen]

Ok, I'm going to try to give a thorough verbal description of what's going on - if it's not clear enough, please ask.  But I'm very concerned by this, so anybody who has run across something similar, please speak up. 

This morning as DS and I were laying in bed he peed again, and I realized that he had just soaked his dipe beyond capacity, peed through the wool cover and soaked the bed.  So I stripped him down immediately, and his penis was still ballooned (is that a word?).  The tip of it looked like a mushroom with the inside of the foreskin creating the dome of the mushroom, and on that soft shiny skin were what looked like red stripes running from the crown of the dome down towards the edge (if you imagine a mushroom, that makes more sense).  I couldn't get a good look because it was dim in the bedroom and he was squirming, so I grabbed the camera and pinned him while I took a couple pictures so I could blow it up to see what was going on. 

It doesn't look like infection, it looks like actual tears in the interior of the foreskin running that 1/4 inch or so that was exposed in 3 (?) places - what I would imagine would happen if someone tried to retract him.  But no one ever has.  And he had been in his dipe for 12 hours or so, since bedtime last night, and I don't think he can get his hand in there. 

We have been battling a nasty rash for a while now - it's finally healed up, but one poopy can set it off again.

I just don't know what to think - what caused it, or what to do about it.  And while his ped has never retracted him or made any of the stupid suggestions so many of you run into, I'm still terrified to take him in because the first thing they're gonna want to do is retract him to see what's going on. 

I covered it with aloe vera gel - which is what I've been using on his butt, but I just don't know what to think or do at this point.

Oh, and he's been crying with pee and grabbing himself (through the dipe) a LOT the last few days, not consistently though. 

Ugh.  Anyone? 

ETA - over half an hour later, we changed his dipe, and it's still not back to normal.  It's no longer looking like a mushroom, but it's still partially exposed and I guess swollen, maybe? 

And I guess I should clarify that at no point could I see the glans - this is entirely the foreskin. 

[Lauren82]

The redness and swelling is possibly from normal foreskin separation. Ballooning is part of the process too.

http://www.circumstitions.com/Care.html

Can you let him run around without a dipe to get some air to it? Some people swear by baking soda bath time soaks where you dissolve some baking soda in the warm water and let him soak in it. Definitely keep soap off of it for now. If it's already looking better than it did before, that's a good thing. My son went through this too when he was between 1-2 years old.  I know it can be alarming to see but it's usually not an emergency.

I'm sure others will have some advice too!

[eepster]

It sounds like the skin is may be less elastic than normal due to the diaper rash, and he has gone through separation at the same time.  The separation caused the ballooning (which is perfectly normal and generally harmless.)   The ballooning stretch out the foreskin.  Normally the foreskin is quite elastic and simple expands to accommodate the ballooning.  If the rash has caused the foreskin to be less elastic than normal and the skin to be more brittle than normal, then the skin would tear when it was stretched out by the ballooning.

Treating the diaper rash seems like the first priority.  Switch from using aloe vera gel and use something stronger and specifically for diaper rash.  We used Burt's Bees diaper cream.  Give him diaper free time to let everything air out.  Change diaper more often.  After poopy diapers, rinse him off with plain water, either in the sink if he still fits in it, or the bath tub.  

If the rash is very severe, it might be yeast.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Cracking with swelling is often a sign of yeast. If you have some otc monistat on hand I would give that a try and see if it helps. It wont hurt anything if it isnt yeast but if it is it should help.

[cristeen]

So I rubbed some Nystatin into the tip of his penis last night before bed, and this morning the redness is gone.  But it's still seriously mal-shaped.  It doesn't look swollen any longer really, but like one side is now longer than the other, so it has nowhere to go but out, if that makes any sense. 

eepster - we've been dealing with this rash on and off for months, and I've tried just about everything.  At this point I'm using prescription creams most of the time.  The aloe was what I used the other night because the open sores were very, very painful for him (usually they don't hurt) and I was hoping the aloe would help them heal, and it did. 

[AnnieNimIty]

My son had very bad diaper rashes for months. I tried zinc creams, medicated creams, blah blah blah. He had surgery when he was a couple weeks old on his diaper area so the rash was even more problematic. We found some stuff called "Butterfly Weed Nappy Rash Cream" it is cloth diaper friendly and works for both yeast infections and the many other types rashes he got. Knocked out his rash after 4 days.
He had had a rash for so long I didn't know what his skin should look like anymore.

I would buy it for you if I could afford to buy it for every stranger that needed it.

[Lauren82]

have you tried the monistat cream? It's over the counter.

If it is yeast, a lot are resistant to Nystatin. I know Nystation did not work on me when I had thrush on my nipples.

Originally Posted by cristeen 

So I rubbed some Nystatin into the tip of his penis last night before bed, and this morning the redness is gone.  But it's still seriously mal-shaped.  It doesn't look swollen any longer really, but like one side is now longer than the other, so it has nowhere to go but out, if that makes any sense. 

eepster - we've been dealing with this rash on and off for months, and I've tried just about everything.  At this point I'm using prescription creams most of the time.  The aloe was what I used the other night because the open sores were very, very painful for him (usually they don't hurt) and I was hoping the aloe would help them heal, and it did. 

[cristeen]

Well, the good news and the bad news...  I wound up taking him to the ped yesterday.  She absolutely did not retract him.  In fact, she barely touched him - she let me do the touching.  Bad news is that it was an infection. 

She prescribed epsom salt soaks, 20 mins 3x/day and neosporin on the red area at every diaper change, and if it didn't show improvement within 18 hours she wanted us back in for a RX for oral antibiotics.  Luckily, it is responding well to the treatment, and it is no longer red and angry. 

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Neosporin should not be used on the genitals because it can be irritating (though sounds like not with your ds) the proper cream to use is called bacatracin it is also OTC and a lot like neo without the irritating ingredients.

I am glad he looks better