Alternative treatments for adhesions???

[alysonb]

This is my first time in this subforum so let me first bow my head and admit that both my DSs were circ'd. Anyway, my 18 month old was *left long* by an inept pediatrician who in retrospect should not have been allowed anywhere near anything with the word surgery in it. Well this week at his 18 month well baby check up we noticed that he had adhesions and it looks like some tightening of the foreskin. Since he also has a mild hypospadias (opening of the penis is slightly off center) my pediatrician wants me to take him to a pediatric urologist for an evaluation. I didn't think anything of it until a friend of mine said that when her son had his adhesions manually *fixed* it was obviously extremely painful to him, so now I am getting really nervous. I was reading some posts here on adhesions and someone mentioned the existence of alternative treatments. Does anyone know where I can find more info on these? I am really distraught over this whole thing and appreciate any direction. My older DS was circ'd during surgery for an inguinal hernia, so I didn't have to go through any complications or issues with him, but now I definitely have a better appreciation of why it shouldn't be done. Thanks in advance for your suggestions and understanding.

[sadkitty]

The most prudent treatment is to leave them alone. If they fail to dissolve naturally by the onset of sexual activity, then steroid creams can be tried, but until then tell the doctors HANDS OFF!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

#1 they leave more skin now because they have learned that taking to much off was causing major issues for grown men so be thankful he has more left so he can restore later on if he wants. The down side to leaving more foreskin is that as the foreskin heals it does so by reataching to the glans like it was before it was torn off. This leads foreskin ignorent dr's to say it needs to be fixed. They do NOT need fixed they will resolve on their own given time. If they dont then as a teen/adult your ds can choose to have them snipped loose using local anesthetic.

#2 leave the adheasions alone. Do not mess with them not allow the dr to tear them loose and he honestly dosnt need to see a urologist. The adhesions will release on their own just like his foreskin would have released had it been left there. As for the mild hypo if it is very mild like you described that should be left alone as well.

Here are several links on adheasions all say the same thing LEAVE THEM ALONE.

Adhesions: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

Adheasions: http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/adhesions.htm

Adhesions: http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/ponsky2/

Adhesions: http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/...il.cfm?id=3420

Adhesions: http://www.medem.com/medlb/article_d...NC&sub_cat=474

Adhesions: http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weekl...l_adhesion.htm

Adhesions: http://www.henryfordhealth.org/19160.cfm

Adhesions: http://www.circumstitions.com/Complic.html

Adhesions: http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/persad/

[mamaverdi]

I agree with the above about adhesions.

WRT to hypospadius, the ONLY value I could see to having him evaluated, is that it is not uncommon for boys with hypo to have other urinary tract issues: VUR (kidney reflux) being the most common.

I think it's a borderline call though in that while silent reflux does happen, it's fairly rare. And w/o a history of hydronephrosis or VUR in your family, unlikely that a doc will look for it from jsut a simply very minor hypo.

[guestmama9908]

I am going to have to echo the previous posters here.

Your son is lucky to have been "left long" as you put it. This is called a loose circumcision.

The tight circumcisions that were done in previous generations caused many problems for adult men. The ranged from painful erections to the pulling of scrotal skin onto the shaft during an erection.

Your son's remaining foreskin is attempting to act as an intact boy's foreskin would and protect the glans. This is why adhesions form.

These adhesions should be left alone! Do not allow anyone to manually break the adhesions. If left alone they will eventually become retractable much like an intact boy's foreskin would.

Read the stories in my signature line below to learn just how damaging messing with adhesions can be.

Molly

[Quirky]

I would definitely leave the adhesions alone. If there comes a time when they're problematic, then there's a steroid cream that can be prescribed to loosen them up. Not an 'alternative' treatment in the sense of crunchy, but definitely a better alternative to having them ripped open!