My poor little boy--advice needed please - Page 2

[momto3boys]

OK. I just did a google search on balanitis. I didn't know what it was. On 3 of the websites circ was the last result. So hold off. A few common causes was infection and yeast. Very hard to determine which is which and treatment for an infection with antibiotics will INCREASE the yeast. If he isn't getting better from the antibiotics it is probably yeast.

Here is what I would do.

First off the phimosis is bulls**t. My son is 21/2 and isn't close to retracting. The opening is very small but I can see the urethra.

2nd: I would stop using any wipes besides a clean soft cloth with warm water only to clean. He could be getting yeast from any soaps involved. I get a yeast infection if I use condoms, soap, too much jacuzzi time etc..

3rd: Try the baking soda bath. It can do wonders. Maybe try a little lotrimin or monistat lotion. That was one of the recommendations I saw. My husband has contracted a yeast infection from me and has had red bumps on his penis. He immediately used my monistat and it was gone in a day. have they done a culture. Has he ever had any type of yeast before? Have you? You could have passed it in the birth canal a year ago and something just got out of whack with his body and it took over. Candida is a crazy thing and circ will not help it.

4th: Let him be naked. I know it can get messy but I think the air will help alot. Let it dry up a bit. One thing I read is trapped moisture( a diaper) can increase the irritation. My son is naked(but potty trained) at least an hour during the day and he sleeps naked. I think it's better for their skin. Both sons actually hate having clothes on when they sleep. "
It's too itchy!"

5th: Call Marilyn Milos at 415-488-9883. She may know a dr in your area that really understand the foreskin and logical treatments.

Seems silly that he wants to circ when a culture wasn't even performed.

[Xenogenesis]

I also agree with contacting :

Marilyn Milos, RN, Director at www.nocirc.org
Post Office Box 2512
San Anselmo, CA 94979-2512
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Her email address is [e-mail]

She is absolutely fantastic with answering questions.

[Breathe]

Whit, I just wanted to say,

OH MY GOSH!!! It is SO amazing to me when these idiots turn out to be just as bad we we're afraid they're going to be!!!!

Altho I know nothing about either of the conditions you discuss, I think all of the advice above is excellent, regardless. (except -- I would NOT apply Lansinoh -- if it's yeast, that will just give it a moist place to grow!) I would do the antibiotics for a while to see if it's a bacterial infection. And I agree that if it gets worse, you might consider some heavy-duty yeast treatment, for BOTH of you. (oral, powdered, prescription Nystatin -- not cream or suspension, it has sugar which feeds yeast -- coupled with a very hi-quality probiotic like Culturelle -- www.culturelle.com -- expensive, but fabulous!) In fact, now that I think of it, after the antibiotic, you should do the yeast treatment anyway!

Where is Frankly Speaking? He always has good advice, too.

Hang in there! And hugs to your little one!

[MaWhit]

Shouldn't you be administering ALL the antibiotic first before determining if he's better?

Good point.

Very hard to determine which is which and treatment for an infection with antibiotics will INCREASE the yeast. If he isn't getting better from the antibiotics it is probably yeast.

Yeah, I know, and I will watch out for this. The doc did do a culture, right before I was going to suggest one. I'll call on Monday to see if they got the results back.

I would stop using any wipes besides a clean soft cloth with warm water only to clean.

That's all we use anyway, so no problems there.

Try the baking soda bath.

Will do. It was bath night tonight and we went soapless, washing his hair at the last minute and showering it off so he didn't sit in any soap. I'll give him a baking soda bath next time.

Maybe try a little lotrimin or monistat lotion.

If the culture comes back showing yeast or the antibiotics worsen the condition, I will do this.

Let him be naked.

Doin' it. He will wear a diaper at nighttime, but during the day I'll leave him nekkid. If we have to go on errands, I'll put him in cloth with no cover so it can breathe more.

I'm also planning on picking up some probiotics...for both of us. Should we take this simultaneously with the antibiotics or afterwards?

[MaWhit]

And thanks, everyone, for all the wonderful advice so far. You guys are an awesome resource and I am so grateful to have you to come to...

[Frankly Speaking]

I'm glad you took your son to see a doctor. I hate to tell you that he hasn't told you anything of value yet.

Balanitis and BXO are two different things. Telling you your son has balanitis is like telling you "Your son has something, I just don't know what it is." BXO is something that is very specific and balanitis is a term used to cover a wide range of infections. It's the difference between saying "I own a car" and "I own a white 1999 BMW 325i 5 speed convertible." BXO is a very specific thing while balanitis is like saying "your son has an infection." If the antibiotics don't clear up what he has, a trip to a specialist is definitely called for.

BXO is very rare and is curable. However it appears that some children (again very, very rare) have a factor that allows it to recur and it is these very few children who will have recurring bouts of it and may be one of the very few legitimate candidates for circumcision. However, your son is not there yet. He is not old enough for the damage to have occurred yet.

Now for the phimosis diagnosis. Again, your son is not old enough to have the damage of pathological phimosis. There has not been enough time for the damage of pathological phimosis to occur. That is not to say that there could be some damage because there could. It's just to say that if there is any, at this point it is insignificant and certainly doesn't call for circumcision. Here is a site that shows the difference between normal developmental phimosis and pathological phimosis:

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/...w10610_fm.html

If pathological phimosis should develop, the first line of treatment is betamethesone .05% cream. This is a skin softener/relaxer that allows the skin to stretch and open the restrictive phymotic foreskin opening and is an effective treatment in almost 100% of cases.

When you go to see the urologist, remember that by definition, a urologist is a surgeon and surgeons are likely to take the surgical treatment first. You just need to know that and resist until all conservative treatments are tried first.

Most of all, just relax and be prepared and let us know what happens.



Frank

[gurumama]

Nothing to add to the great advice here except UGH to the doctor and good for you to Whit.

I think we're forging new paths with doctors who have been taught that circumcision is somehow natural (someone here once wrote that many American medical schools use textbooks that depict a naked man with a circumcised penis--as if that's how men are born) and that being intact is not.

If we quietly but steadfastly make our way through the system, more and more doctors will at least be exposed to gentler, more natural methods, and it will hopefully provide them with some exposure to parents who act from a deliberate, well-informed position. Even if they don't change their minds, simply meeting one, two, three, or more parents who work to keep their child's bodily integrity will show them that there's a different way.

Good luck to you,

Mel

[Sara29]

You can give children probiotics during and after antibio treatment.Add it to some plain yogurt or a drink.Try some calendula soap for daily washing.I use only wet wash cloths on ds to clean up diaper changings.Oh and ot but I nursed my then 2-3 year old dd during my pregnancy with ds.I even managed to nurse her while I was in labor,lol(we had a homebirth).
I am not suprised that cutting was the solution the doctor gave.
Speedy healing!
Sara

[MaWhit]

He's doing okay. The oozing has improved, but it is still just as red and swollen. It's been a little less than 24 hours since his first treatment though. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, and surprisingly is NOT enjoying diaper-free time very much. So I've been putting him in cloth fitteds with no cover...When he pees he takes it off and brings to to me, then signs "diaper" so that I'll go get him another one. : But he's doing well.

I don't understand why the doc said if there was no improvement by Monday that it was a big bad thing. He is supposed to take antibiotics for 10 days, but it is the topical cream that shuld show improvements sooner, and in the paperwork for it, it said that if after 3-5 days no clinical improvement is noted then the situation should be re-evaluated. Monday morning would be only 1.5 days. So I think I'll see how he is doing on Thursday afternoon (5 days) and go from there.

[Frankly Speaking]

Usually infections will respond quickly to antibiotics. They reduce the infection level in the bloodstream and tissues and therefore reduce the symptoms. It is not unusual to see results in 24 hours. However, this doesn't mean the infection is cured. There are remaining bacteria that must be killed and that is why the prescription is continued for 5 to 10 days. If the treatment is discontinued after the symptoms disappear, you run a very good risk of developing an antibiotic resistant strain of the bacteria which means double trouble. Not only do you have the same problem again, when the doctor tries to treat it with the same antibiotic that appeared to work the last time, it won't work. Then the problem must be treated with a stronger cure which may have undesired side effects.

Even though you appear to be cured, continue to take the prescription until it is used up. Better to be safe than sorry.

If there is no noticeable improvment after 36 hours, the medication is probably not working. Most likely, the doctor doesn't know specifically what your son has, thus the diagnosis of balanitis. Most likely what he has prescribed is a broad range antibiotic that will kill many different bugs. If it doesn't work, he will try something else that may or may not work. That's the nature of medicine. There is a lot of trial and error. Most of the time the first prescription will work. Sometimes it won't and you try something else until you find the solution. This does not mean
that this is not a "good" doctor. There are millions of different bacteria out there and they can not always be identified conclusively. The antibiotics will kill millions of different bacteria but sometimes the one you have is not one of the millions it will kill. Then you try another. That's what this doctor is doing.



Frank

[Aloe]

finally grapefruit seed links

Here are some good links about yeast and grapefruit seed extract.
the 1st link states "also strongly inhibits many types of pathogenic fungi and yeast.......and fungal and parasitic diseases in the male genital area"


http://www.findarticles.com/g2603/00.../article.jhtml

http://www.pureliquidgold.com/diaper...infections.htm

http://www.drjaygordon.com/bf/thrush.htm

Continued luck to you, Aloe (another mom who nursed through a pregnancy)

[Millie Ivy]

Man this sounds like what I went thru with my dd last summer!!! What finally cleared all the recurrent rashes (and also improved her whole demeanor) was an anti candida diet, lots of acidolpholus, yoghurt, and lanolin or aquaphor topically. She had antibiotics (the bane of everything!) at birth and has always had a hard time making her own probiotics. I would be really leery of any dr who was quick to prescribe anitbiotics (not to mention all the other crap he said... : )
btw, I nursed thru my preg and am now tandem nursing, it's great! keep up the great mommy work!

ps
although Addie doesn't have to be on a really strict diet anymore, we still avoid sugar and grains (except on special occasions, have to have treats every now and then!) and she gets acidolphilus every day and yoghurt pretty regularly still also. That seems to keep it at bay!

[MaWhit]

another update

Leo is showing improvement, but not as much as the Dr. told me to look for by yesterday morning. The swelling and redness have decresed, the oozing/bleeding has stopped, and he seems to have no pain at all.

I called the Dr. to find out the results of the culture. It is not yeast, it is Staphylococcus aureus, a common infection that will hopefully clear up by the end of the week with this round of antiiotics.

I am also giving him probiotics.

[Aloe]

yahoo!

so happy for your little one! best wishes

[Frankly Speaking]

Staph infections are very common. It is most likely he picked it up at the hospital or doctor's office. Those are the most common sources. Those are not great places to be for well people.


Frank

[Breathe]

Wow, a common staph infection. Thank goodness they did a culture! Does that not make you want to go into the dr's office and do the "I'm-so-glad-I-didn't-let-you-mutilate-my child" dance?!?!?

[sunmountain]

make sure you keep up the probiotics for a good long time after you finish the antibiotics, the body will still be in the throws of imbalance, even after taking them along with the antibiotics.

You can pm me for an anti-yeast diet that worked really well for me when I got thrush from a round of antibiotics. It's very easy to follow. And you need to be on it too, for maximum effect since you are still nursing.

phooey on his advice to wean. That's a bunch of crap.

[MaWhit]

Originally posted by Breathe
Wow, a common staph infection. Thank goodness they did a culture! Does that not make you want to go into the dr's office and do the "I'm-so-glad-I-didn't-let-you-mutilate-my child" dance?!?!?

LOL! Yes! Exactly!

[alissakae]

I hope you're considering finding a new doctor. This guy is not up to date. Fewer boys are circumcised now, so doctors need to be learning about foreskins....and the "wean because you're pregnant" advice is very old fashioned. Having a doctor you can trust is worth the search.

[nightowl1234]

Whit,
I've just been lurking and since you have gotten so much great advice I haven't posted.
But I do have one thing you might try: Use Disposable diapers for a while. You might have the yeast infection in the cloth diapers and it can not be washed out.
When we were diapering we noticed that if there was a sever diaper rash, and we used dispoable for a while, it seemed to clear up. I don't know how to explain it, but it seemed to work for our little fella.
Of course when it was warm outside we let him run nacked all day in the sun shine (with sun cream).