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intact 5-year-old with red, swollen penis

10K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  erinmattsmom88 
#1 ·
Yesterday morning, my son complained that his penis hurt. We looked and it was red and swollen. He urinates normally and has no pain or burning when he pees. The only time it hurts is when he wipes it after peeing. This happened one time before, back in March, and his doctor called in an ointment. After 48 hours, that ointment worked like a charm and he got better. We are not in it 48 hours yet this time, but I am still concerned. We had some ointment left from last time and have been applying it a few times a day. Tonight I plan on giving him a baking soda bath, will let it air dry and apply more ointment before bed. Have been reading up on this all over internet. I've read about ballooning, separation process, balanitis, etc. His symptoms don't correlate perfectly with any of these afflictions. The tip of the foreskin isn't ballooning. I can't tell at all if his foreskin is separating, as I don't want to retract him, and he does have a few symptoms of balanitis, but no pain with urination. He has not had a fever, plays and acts normally, and it only hurts when he touches it. The swelling is in the midshaft area away from the tip/foreskin. It hasn't gotten worse from yesterday, but I would have liked some improvement today. Does anyone have experience with this? If no change tomorrow morning, I guess I will call doc. I am trying to let nature takes its course.
 
#2 ·
It could be separation which is a totally normal. Some boys will get this often lasting between 1-3 days. The penis might be red and sore and slightly swollen but no other symptoms develop and it gradually goes away. This only needs something soothing, no ointment as it's a toss up if it simply ended after 48 hours or if the cream actually did anything as 48 hours is a normal time period for it to fix itself even with nothing done. His foreskin does not have to balloon for it to be separation. next time do the baking soda bath and have him gently rub on some organic virgin coconut oil, that has antibacterial properties as well as being soothing.
 
#3 ·
Could he have injured it somehow? My son is always playing with his and sometimes hurts himself, but it's always minor.

If it doesn't resolve in a day or two I would definitely call a doctor.
 
#4 ·
Definitely improved today! So, last night things escalated a bit a few hours after my OP. My husband and I checked him after dinner and he had green-tinted discharged, more white than green. It had dried some on the tip and, in all seriousness, it looked like a few blades of grass!! I tried very hard not to freak out in front of him. So, my husband went and grabbed some bacitracin and we gave him a baking soda bath, let him soak for 15 minutes with just baking soda and water, then dried him off and applied a thick layer of bacitracin. Well, when he woke up this morning there was marked improvement! So, we'll do the same thing tonight. Thanks for the replies. I think his issue was perhaps a little separation, buildup of smegma, and maybe a little trauma too. On Saturday night, he was jumping on the bed and was literally throwing himself around and just being a goof ball. He may done a little damage with that!!
 
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