Help, swollen foreskin w/pus, here, too

[rosybluestar]

My 6 yo son called me into the bathroom wondering what this white stuff was coming from his penis. It was pus. His foreskin is swollen but to my surprise he can pee w/out any pain. I called the doc who told me, for now, to put antibiotic cream on it and that we might need to start antibiotics. He told me to use a q-tip to swab the cream inside (around the head) between his penis and foreskin.

I also put grapefruitseed extract on the q-tip. My son screamed when I did the swabbing thing. The outside doesn't seem to be painful. I started him on a goldenseal/echinacea combo, GSE internally, emergen-c, and emptied a garlic capsule into his soup. He has a slight temp. of 99.3

Should I be worried? I'm concerned, too, about scar tissue developing and the slight fever. He has never had an infection before, only rarely a flu or stomach virus. Does anyone have any suggestions? Am I giving too many remedies? As I came to the computer to look this up I was feeling a bath would be a good idea, too.

I know a few people who have had great results packing topical infections w/powdered goldenseal. Does anyone know if that would help?

Thanks,
Debbie

[rosybluestar]

It's fine, now.

I read through the posts regarding this, before posting my questions and was sure that my son did, in fact, have pus leaking from under his foreskin. Now, I just don't know. I know what smegma looks like and this was more liquidy.. it looked just like pus. Anyway, I kept him on the goldenseal combo, continued w/the neosporin (I am very conservative when it comes to using antibiotic ointment... but this is his penis!) showing him how to put it on himself (listening to the docs idea to have me swab ointment w/a q-tip inside the foreskin was a bad idea), and he soaked in an epsom salt/lavender oil bath.

Today his penis is perfectly fine. Thanks to Frank for all his very helpful information. Just as he described, this resolved in 24-36 hrs. The thing that threw me was the pus-looking stuff and that my son had a slight fever. That combo freaked me out. My mother had felt the fever was a coincidence. Perhaps it was and the remedies I gave him helped to knock it out.

Our regular family doc who respects our alternative approach to health had suggested the antibiotic cream and had also rec. that I start my son on a broad spectrum antibiotic immediately. All day long my mother pestered me to start it (she's in the medical profession, too). I am so glad I held off and waited and will be emailing the docs a link to the Sticky thread.
Thanks again Frank and everyone else who posted in other threads their experiences, concerns, and how they handled similiar situations.

Debbie

[calngavinsmom]

I'm so glad your little guy is doing O.K. now It really is a learning curve when raising kiddos isn't it?

Take care,
Tara

[hummingbear]

Originally Posted by rosybluestar

He told me to use a q-tip to swab the cream inside (around the head) between his penis and foreskin.

I also put grapefruitseed extract on the q-tip. My son screamed when I did the swabbing thing.

As far as the screaming when swabbing the inside, that may have been the grapefruit seed extract! Grapefruit seed extract is extremely potent stuff. It is cautioned never to use it undiluted in the mouth and once I did (not knowing any better) and it was horrific. I could not get rid of the awful feeling for the better part of a day. When I have drank it very diluted it still lingers; so even if you diluted it a lot I could imagine that it might be too irritating to sensitive membranes.

Glad to hear that things are doing better now!

[Frankly Speaking]

Debbie:

Stories such as yours were so common here that I had to write the sticky in self defense. I was answering the same question several times a week. Thanks to Mothering for getting board software that will accomodate stickys!

Everything you describe, we have heard before, even the part about something that looked like pus, not smegma. I don't know what it is but it is common and apparently is not pus nor is it apparently harmful. It seems just a normal part of being male.

It is pretty rare that these conditions don't clear up in a day or so and even when they don't, the cure is simple and effective.

Glad to hear your son is doing well!



Frank