Foreskin trouble :(

[MissAnthrope]

My 18mo had a nasty diaper rash a few weeks ago that is only now fully cleared up :(

At one point, his foreskin was part of the rash and had contact redness.  It's now much better, but the excess skin on his foreskin beyond his glans seems calloused...it's pale and stiff.

That said, he can still urinate easily, and he says it doesn't hurt, but he tugs at it during every diaper change (I think maybe it itches because it's healing, or it just feels strange to him).  It seems to have stabilized in its current state...with the callous.

I've tried applying cocoa butter to it to help it soften up, but so far no luck.

Does anyone have any experience with this?  I'd really like to have it on the mend by his next pedi appointment (our pedi is a wonderful lady, but she's not very familiar with intact boys).

Any experience dealing with rashes that extend to the foreskin and the foreskin healing itself afterward would be hugely appreciated!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I would say that given time it will go back to normal. I have never dealt with what you describe though. How about contacting Marylin Milos and getting her opinion she is an RN and very knowledgable and can maybe even help you find an intact friendly Dr.

[MissAnthrope]

Thanks for the suggestion!  It hadn't occurred to me that she actually, you know, came down out of the clouds and spoke to parents like a regular person might :)

I'm perfectly happy with our pedi, and she has no philosophical trouble with not circumcising, she just isn't very familiar with the natural development of the foreskin, YK?  I think that's a very common issue with doctors in the US...they simply haven't had the opportunity to learn about what the foreskin is supposed to look like and do.  I am a little concerned with presenting her with anything that isn't textbook "normal", but I'm sure she wouldn't freak out, she just would be out of her depth and I'd rather be able to say "I have it handled."

In our very limited choice due to our health insurance, she's the only Dr. we've found who is remotely okay with our other choices (vax, BLW, unassisted HB, etc.), so it doesn't bother me that much that she hasn't read the latest BFing research and doesn't know much about foreskins.

[KOTFrank]

I have to make it a point the foreskin past the glans is not excess skin as this skin is what the penis will grow into. Being the penis grows faster than the penile skin. The skin past the glans is called the akroposthion or acroposthion.

Glossary of the Foreskin

 

www.circumstitions.com/Glossary.html

Itchy foreskin is nature's way of speeding along the natural separation between the foreskin and glans by the owner's attending manipulation.

(At puberty, the foreskin will teach the owner how best to pleasure himself and thereby how best to pleasure his partner in intercourse. Circumcision teaches how best to pleasure by hand. Now where does that intermediate with intercourse?) Nature works best.

Marilyn Milos is a great resource. There is also Doctors Opposing Circumcision DOC. 

[MissAnthrope]

Thanks for the link!

I do know that his foreskin is normal and that it has a function.  I think that for boys his age he has more skin past the end of his penis than is textbook "normal", because he was in the NICU for a long time and was forcibly partially retracted :( but aside from it getting this callous sometimes when he's recovering from an epic rash, I don't think it makes a difference.

The pedi actually handled the issue really well at his 18mo well visit.  She confirmed that it was just part of the healing process, suggested I put Vaseline on it, then remembered that we don't put petroleum products on or in our kids, and suggested coconut oil.

[LonelyPageTurnr]

Some men have more foreskin some have less.  Don't jump on her for calling it 'excess'.  It's not hurting anything.  The foreskin length is not 'for the penis to grow into', some men' penis grows past the foreskin, some men' foreskin is very very long, going far past the meatus.  Every person is different, every human body is different.
 

Originally Posted by KOTFrank 

I have to make it a point the foreskin past the glans is not excess skin as this skin is what the penis will grow into. Being the penis grows faster than the penile skin. The skin past the glans is called the akroposthion or acroposthion.

Glossary of the Foreskin

 

www.circumstitions.com/Glossary.html

Itchy foreskin is nature's way of speeding along the natural separation between the foreskin and glans by the owner's attending manipulation.

(At puberty, the foreskin will teach the owner how best to pleasure himself and thereby how best to pleasure his partner in intercourse. Circumcision teaches how best to pleasure by hand. Now where does that intermediate with intercourse?) Nature works best.

Marilyn Milos is a great resource. There is also Doctors Opposing Circumcision DOC.