Question regarding red swollen intact penis in 3 year old

[ccdail]

I noticed that my 3year old intact son's penis was red and swollen this afternoon. It hurts him for us to touch it. The area is mostly concentrated at the base of his penis and seems almost ballooned. He has had plenty of wet diapers today (not potty trained yet) and does not complain when he goes to the bathroom. He is not retractable yet but has come close to doing it himself a few times. The opening of his foreskin seems to be red also and not quite as big as in the past. I called the doctor's office but could not get in until tomorrow (Thursday) morning. I am concerned that we are making it worse by waiting. The nurse suggested trying some yeast infection medicine on it in the meantime. He has never had any problems with it before other than saying it hurt when he got an erection. Throughout the evening at different times he has let us look at it and it did seem to get somewhat better with the swelling but was still red. Sometimes he would say that it hurt when we touched it and sometimes he seemed ok with it. Other than that he has been running around playing and acting like everything was fine.

I guess my question is has anyone ever experienced these same symptoms and what was the diagnosis and what did they have to do to get the diagnosis? I am so afraid that the doctor will try to retract his penis to see what is going on under there. They have never done anything other than just look at all of his well baby appointments and seem to be supportive of our decision to not circumcise him.

Anyway if anyone can shed some light on this and hopefully make me feel better I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks! Cindy

[l_olive]

This sounds very, very much like normal separation. It looks so scary, but it's really, really not!

Read through this really wonderful information:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=764732

My son had exactly what you're describing several months ago. It resolved itself within a day. There are many, many threads here from scared parents and almost without fail, their son's swelling, redness, and often some discharge went away without any medical treatment at all.

If it's a true infection, the symptoms will worsen instead of improving. If you suspect that's happening, go to the doctor and have him or her do a culture WITHOUT retracting.

[LavenderMae]

Baking soda baths really help with the discomfort!

[ccdail]

After I posted my question yesterday I read the post regarding separation. If I had read that first I probably would not have posted my question. It sounds like exactly what happened to my son. He is better today. Still is red and swollen somewhat but he says it does not hurt and he allows us to touch it without it hurting. It is not any worse and maybe a little better so for now we are holding off on going to the doctor. I thought I knew everything about being intact but apparently not. This site is really been helpful! Why does the medical community not put this information out there for us parents that decide not to circumcise? It would have been really great if our doctor had told us this might happen.

Thanks! Cindy

[l_olive]

I'm so happy your son's situation seems to be resolving itself. Thanks so much for updating us, and stick around! This is a great group to learn from!