Should I take him to the doctor?

[mhenry]

When I changed ds's diaper this morning I noticed a hair had wrapped itself around part of the tip of his foreskin(it must have been there all night). The skin there is VERY red and almost raw looking. Should I put neosporin or something special on it? Wash it with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide? Take him to the doctor(they aren't open yet)? I'm worried, I've heard of hairs wrapping themselves around babies fingers and sometime leading to amputations. Advise please!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I would just watch it very close. Chances are he will be just fine. You could give him a nice bath. I would avoid neosporin it can cause irritation.

[Quirky]

Ditto, I would leave it alone. Alcohol/hydrogen peroxide would be damaging to the tissues and hurt like heck. You might worry if the skin were white, meaning circulation had been cut off, but red means there's plenty of bloodflow. I would just watch and wait.

[rozzie'sma]

OMG!!! This just happened to a lady in my DDC! They took her ds to the ped and they cut the hair off VERY CAREFULLY with a scalpel because it was that tight.

[mhenry]

Well, it was looking a little less red, but then I just checked again and it's very red again. I'm waiting for the doc to call me back. I think the hair actually cut his foreskin. My poor baby.

[mama_at_home]

Poor baby! I hope it heals quickly.

[Sijae]

I would keep him away from the dr. and put an herbal salve on it. You can get salve made with calendula at most health food stores. Also keeping it clean is of course paramount but I wouldn't put anything on it like alcohol or hydrogen.

If the hair cut his skin then it's just like a cut anywhere else on his body. I imagine the dr. might muck things up and make a bigger deal of it than it is. Babies heal real fast.

Laura

[mhenry]

The nurse called me back, she said to put warm washclothes on it and a little neosporin. Is neosporin bad?

[urchin_grey]

Originally Posted by mhenry

The nurse called me back, she said to put warm washclothes on it and a little neosporin. Is neosporin bad?

I heard that it can cause rashes.

[mama_at_home]

If you're nursing you can squirt some breastmilk on it.

[mhenry]

Originally Posted by gemelos

If you're nursing you can squirt some breastmilk on it.

That's a great idea! I hadn't even thought of it. Thanks!

[mama_at_home]

You're welcome. The easiest way is to just hand-express a little bit out into a cup and use a dropper to put it on. I did the aim and spray from the boob thing for years, but this is much easier.

[MysteryMama]

if it comes down to it, don't be afraid to take him to the doc. if they suggest circ, you can always refuse and take him elsewhere for another opinion.

[bburnie2]

Well, think of it this way- as aweful as it is, at least his foreskin was there to protect him! Imagine if that happened to his glans?

Hows he doing?



Beth

[jeanine123]

A friend of mine had a granddaughter who had a hair wrap itself very, very tightly around her toe when she was an infant. They took her to the hospital because they could not get it off no matter what they tried. The folks at the hospital used Nair to get it off. Though if you've managed to get the hair off and you're wondering how to treat the injury, are you breastfeeding? If so you can express some milk onto the sore spot and let it dry. Breastmilk has tons of antibodies and is great at helping stuff heal up.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

: I totally forgot breast milk : I just had to put some in dh's eye. He is a welder and often burns his eyes. It sure has saved us many trips to the ER since I started lactating I forget sometimes what a miracle fluid it is

[mhenry]

Update, it's still a little red, but looks much better. I squirted breastmilk on it a few times, I think it helped. Thanks for the advice!

[PuppyFluffer]

Thanks for the update! I hope it continues to heal!

[momma2girls]

***

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

DH actually drives me nuts wanting me to when he burns his eyes. it is a very painfull condition that has ment more than a few ER trips before I had my dd.