My 4 Year-Old Intact Son Has a White Lump on His Penis

[shayron]

It isn't just a little lump, I took him to the doctor thinking that it was a tumor. The right side is noticeably larger than the left when looking at him from a distance, and if you retract the foreskin some you can see a large pocket of yellow stuff under there. This pocket is growing quite rapidly, so we had it checked out.

The urologist said that it is dead skin cells. He offered to either force the skin back in his office or in the OR, or to circ him. The foreskin is fused still all around the glans so this stuff can't get out. The lump does seem to bother him though he states that it doesn't hurt. He has a very high pain tollerance though, so it's hard to say for sure.

I posted on another BB and found that we may have other options. If anyone has been through this please let me know how you handled it. I would like to avoid causing my son any pain if possible, and I would also like this thing to stop growing. Thanks in advance for your help!

Oh, you can email me at sjbccw at gmail dot com also.

[A&A]

It's called smegma (which actually means "soap" in Greek.) It's normal. Leave it alone. It will work itself out eventually.

[eepster]

Welcome to MDC.

It's just a smegma pearl. It will come out on it's own as your DS naturally becomes retractable.

The urologist is full of . Unfortunatly many are. Since the urologist pulled back on your DS's foreskin (the DR should know not to do this but many Drs are uneducated about the intact male) your son's penis may become red and irratated in the next few days, it should go away fairly quickly. If it doesn't come back here to get more advice.

Here is a good article to read written by a leading pediatrician
http://www.mothering.com/articles/ne...uncircson.html

And a pamphalete
http://nocirc.org/publish/4pam.pdf

[shayron]

Thank you both so much. I had heard about smegma pearls, but thought that they were smaller. The articles are very informative! I guess we won't be making that appointment afterall. Thanks again!

[vesper0]

It is smegma and it is normal part of having a foreskin. Retracting the foreskin to remove it is completely unnecessary and painful to the child. My sons had them periodically and DH had it when he was little. I had people/doctor, including my mother, telling me that if I didn't retract the foreskin and clean it out my son could get and infection and would have to be circumcised. This is just baloney!!! These people are actually hurting someone(the intact child) when they spread this misinformation.

[l_olive]

Smegma forms in these pockets that are created as the foreskin starts to separate. Watch your child over the next few days to see if his foreksin balloons out when he urinates. It can also get pretty red and swollen at this time -- and frankly it can look pretty scary. The urine trapped in the balloon should either wash out the little ball, or dissolve it enough that it slowly seeps out. It's often got a little color to it, and when it happened to my son, it had an odd (but not really strong) odor.

All of this is exactly what's supposed to happen. And your doc should know this.

[glongley]

You've already been reassured that this normal and nothing to worry about. It's true!

This happened to my older son. When he was about a year old he started getting a lump on one side of his foreskin near the base of the glans. This lump grew gradually larger until his penis looked really lop-sided. Then when he was three the lump discharged from the tip of the penis as about 1/4 tsp of white dryish-pasty odorless material. And that was the end of the story.

As the foreskin gradually separates, the sloughed cells that connected it to the glans can build up in pockets under the foreskin, before separation has occurred enough to create an opening to the outlet. In some boys this can accumulate to a noticeable degree, in others a route to the outlet is available early, and no major build up occurs. These cells work their way to the foreskin opening all by themselves. No squeezing, forced retracting, or surgery necessary! The AAP's handout on care of the intact penis says exactly this. I am continually amazed at the ignorance of pediatric urologists about normal intact penises!

BTW, these cells (collectively called "baby smegma") can get washed out periodically by urine flushing the space under the foreskin. This can cause the urine to look milky or cloudy in appearance on occasion. As long as this is a transitory phenomenon, and no other symptoms are present, this is not of concern either.

A PP mentioned her experience of redness, swelling, and ballooning associated with a lump of this kind, but this did not happen with my son.

Gillian

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

It breaks my heart to think of how many boys this man has circed for having smegma pearls If anyone didnt know better they would send their son in for the circ then we have another "He had to be circed later because of infection" stories.

This is why circ is so prevelent later here in the USA it isnt the foreskin it is the ignorence of the medical profession on the function of the intact penis.. :

Whenever you get a chance and something comes up about circ be sure to mention what happened to your ds and how the Dr. was willing to cause trauma by forcing retraction and circ. him for no reason at all.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Oh and a great big

Be sure to read the sticky at the top of the main page A Warning To Parents Of Intact Sons and The Definition of Retraction & Why it is BAD!!!

[shayron]

Thank you all so much! I am glad that I posted here before going back to the doctor. It really is sad that doctors are so uninformed regarding the care of an intact penis. I did a lot of research about circ vs not when I was pregnant, but haven't since then. I was looking in the wrong places when trying to research this issue before going to the doctor too.

Thanks for the sticky info too. I did read through all of those before I posted, but that was after going to the doctor. FTR, the doc had ds retract the skin, and then he didn't retract it any further than ds did. I will still avoid having docs do that in the future. Thanks again!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I am glad you found us here to. I hope you stick around so that you can share your story with others that may be in the same possition.

[meltf]

Shayron, I'm so glad to see that you posted here!!!

[APGoddess83]

Hi Shayron! Glad you were able to get the help/info you needed here!!

(aka DomesticGoddess83)