I have 5 boys all intact. Well, my 4 yr old used to be able to retract his foreskin. We have never ourselves or anyone else allowed his foreskin to be retracted. Only he has done so. Well, last night he screamed in pain when he went pee. We asked him to show us where it hurts. Well, his penis is pink and swollen and he says it hurts to touch the tip and where it's swollen. Not only that he can no longer retract his foreskin at all. The opening is nothing more than the size of a pinhole! When he pees it comes out very forcefully because of this. We haven't taken him to the Dr. yet and we know they will suggest circumcision. Has anyone dealt with this before or know what can be done? He's in pain. If he truly needs a circ -really- needs one then we will reluctantly agree to it but we are very anti- circ.
This isn't a case against circumcision, it's a medical situation that happens to involve the foreskin. It's not about circumcision, it's about probable injury that seems to require immediate medical attention. At this point, it is unclear what the treatment will be, you are allowing your own emotion about another topic to interfere with your recognition of a medical problem that is causing pain and distress to your child. Call your doctor, and take it a step at a time, and don't allow fervor to over rule logic.
This isn't a case against circumcision, it's a medical situation that happens to involve the foreskin. It's not about circumcision, it's about probable injury that seems to require immediate medical attention. At this point, it is unclear what the treatment will be, you are allowing your own emotion about another topic to interfere with your recognition of a medical problem that is causing pain and distress to your child. Call your doctor, and take it a step at a time, and don't allow fervor to over rule logic.
While I am awaiting his appointment to be seen by his care provider, I would like to know from anyone who has had a similar situation and ideas to run by the doctor. I WOULD NEVER ALLOW MY CHILD TO BE MEDICALLY NEGLECTED. PERIOD. If someone has dealt with something similar and has any useful information to relay to our family doctor, that would be the most helpful not some imbecilic judgments from someone jumping to conclusions.
Amy, does your son seem ill or have a temperature? Does he have discharge and if so how does it smell? A bad smell would indicate pus while a mild smell indicates smegma. A normal part of foreskin development is separation trauma, this occurs over 1-3 days with some swelling and soreness, but it should never be severe and the discharge is smegma not pus. Some baths of plain water and baking soda followed up by a gentle application of organic virgin coconut oil. Not all boys get separation trauma, others get it off and on.
If you believe it to be pus you will need to see a doctor to get a swab done. Do not be fobbed off with bad care. Do not under any circumstances allow them to pull back your sons foreskin or allow a catheter. Luckily he should be of an age where he can pee into a bottle. if he has an infection they may try and send him home with a broad spectrum antibiotic but avoid this if you can. Getting a swab done will mean he receives a specific antibiotic if needed since sometimes with broad spectrum it appears to work only to have the infection come back.
Do not agree to circumcision and preferably try not to see a doctor who does. Having an infection is not a reason for circumcision it's cause for antibiotics. Medically needed circumcision is a very rare thing.
Try the baking soda bath and coconut oil first unless your son has a temperature or seems ill. In that case take him straight in to a good doctor. If need be look over the intact friendly doctor list and drive him further than you normally would. http://www.thewholenetwork.org/intact-friendly-doctors
My own son has not been in this position but I have been helping people for many years with these types of issues.
Just adding, that swelling to the penis often looks alarming but this is because the area is designed to enlarge. It can be swollen one day and normal the next.
Hello!
I had a very similar situation with my son when he was about 3. We were out of town when it happened and our only option for medical care was an ER visit, so I was terrified that the doctor (who we had never met) would immediately suggest circumcision. We didn't see any obvious sign of infection, other than the swelling. Long story short, the doctor was very knowledgeable and calm, reminded my son in a gentle and instructive way about his own role in proper hygiene and cleaning his penis. Then he gave him a broad-spectrum oral antibiotic, and it cleared up almost immediately (much better by the next morning), without any mention of circumcision. Hope this helps!
If your doc would immediately recommend circumcision, then you need a new doc. My son had something similar occur. It was an infection in his foreskin and they gave him antibiotics (and a cream which we chose not to apply). He was in less pain within a day and completely better within a week. Good luck!
I had this exact problem when I was a little boy. You know what the problem turned out to be? My prudish parents not teaching me how to wash.
You event admitted this by saying you have "never allowed" his foreskin to be retracted. Why? Would you never wash under your armpits? Never wash between your bum crack?
I don't blame you, I blame prudish culture (and wager that you're from the USA which is largely pro-circumcision and largely unaware of how to wash an intact penis).
My situation was so bad at the time, the foreskin was (for a time) actually FUSED to the side of my penis head (glans). After a visit to the doctor, he just explained that I should be washing it properly. Also we're in Australia, which is why he recommended this and not circumcision which I bet is what would happen in the USA.
And you know what? Within a few weeks of washing every day by pulling it back, and just with plain water mind you, not soap, it gradually became unstuck, and has been in perfect working order to this very day, at the age of 38. There was a lasting side effect of my penis having a slight bend to the left due to the fused foreskin holding the penis back during the growing period, I imagine, but this eventually straightened itself out, so to speak.
Washing under the skin folds daily, with plain water, and not soap, is same way you'd treat a vagina - which is another thing that blows my mind - all the arguments pro-circumcision don't seem to apply to women when it's pretty much the same situation going on down there.
Domarius a child's foreskin is not the same as an adults. At birth the end is small with a sphincter muscle that keeps it closed so that feces can't travel into the urethra and the skin is fully fused to the glans. A child's foreskin takes anywhere from 1 to 18 years to become retractable. It should never be rushed or 'helped'. Helping it causes tiny tears which heal and become tight. It needs no cleaning 'under' it's fused skin. A four year old's needs no more than a decent soak in the bath.
OP you are exactly correct in never allowing anyone to retract your son's foreskin. Forced retraction causes tearing, bleeding and trauma and is the leading cause of introduction bacteria into those tears.
Sorry guys, I've come back to apologise. The truth is I'm not a parent but I'm subscribed here to train up to be a parent in the long term. As I'm no where near ready to start a family yet, it's not the worst thing that I didn't know this particular fact (I would have researched enough to learn it eventually once the time came closer) but it's still my ignorance that caused the unnecessary tangent I took, so I apologise, especially to Amy Ramirez. And I'm also floored that something so significant has escaped me for so long, even without my direct research into how to take care of a baby.
Hope the infection heals up, and hope to hear how it goes.
(I put the quotes in so that maybe people get notifications.)
I check back every day even though this board is slow.
It's good to be prepared, especially if you live in the US where many doctors and nurses are not educated on the normal development of an infant and child's foreskin. You need to be ready to jump in and literally stop a doctor or nurse from injuring your baby. How are regular parents to even know when their doctor is handing out bad advise, so I do not blame you. The ignorance amongst the medical profession is shocking really when even their own medical board says not to retract; but most US medical texts show a circumcised penis and doctors are only taught how to cut it off, not what a normal one looks like or how it functions. There are Don't Retract packs made by Saving Son's written by doctors for other doctors to help educate them and there is an intact friendly doctors list on the Whole work. The fact that such a list is needed shows how bad it is.
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