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Son's intact penis hurting...Frank? Help?

955 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Frankly Speaking 
#1 ·
This afternoon, my son started complaining that his penis was hurting. I asked him to show me where and when he pulled his foreskin back, his penis looked raw in a spot where it had not previously. It *did* also look as though his previously semi-retractable section was now pulled back all the way, but honestly, it looked red, raw, inflamed.

Later, when he peed, he cried that he hurt when he peed.

He is very familiar with his penis, and play with his foreskin constantly. He likes to pull his skin back, but his Dad and I are careful not to.

I'm a little worried, and since he's been crying and complaining about it since early afternoon, I went ahead and called his foreskin-friendly ped. He wasn't on-call, but his partner was. She told me that it's probably just becoming more retractable, which is sometimes painful, and I could put neosporin + pain reliever on it, if I wished.

I'm reluctant to put *anything* on it, especially since I would have to have him pull his skin back to do it... It feels wrong to do that, and it would be excruciating for him. We've given him some blueberries to munch just in case its a UTI.

Any thoughts? I'll probably take him to our normal ped tomorrow, but in the interim, how can I make him most comfy?

Thanks!
 
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#3 ·
I honestly think the doctor was right on target When an area that has not been exposed before becomes exposed, it can be so tender that even air hitting it will cause it to burn and sting some. This is even the case with men who have never fully retracted. We had a wife bring this last week about her DH who had never completely retracted. My recommendation was to retract as far as comfortably possible each time he urinated or bathed and a little farther each day until the foreskin could be comfortably retracted fully. In just a few days, she came back to report it was working and that he was making significant progress. In a male that has never retracted his foreskin fully, the glans and inner foreskin are internal organs and are not used to contact with things like water and air and these things will be mildly irritating until that tissue becomes accustomed to experiencing them. It would be like one day turning your vagina inside out and outside your body. I'm sure that that would be irritating to it too. This will pass quickly.

I suspect the red, raw looking spot is just an area that was still attached just a few days ago and in another few days it will look like the rest of his glans. Just keep an eye on him to make sure that there is no infection and if there is, take him to a doctor, get the area cultured if the doctor agrees there might be some infection.

As far as the neosporin . . . You didn't say how old your son is so I don't know how much cooperation you can get from him but if he is old enough, you could ask him to pull the foreskin back and hold it while you gently apply the neosporin. Even if you don't get the exact spot, it will move around under the foreskin to get to the right spot. I'm sure your son will be holding and manipulating his penis afterward and this will help to smear the neosporin around under the foreskin.

It is also quite common during the separation process for the outside of the foreskin to become red and angry looking and there may also be some swelling. These symptoms almost always start disappearing within 24 to 36 hours so if that happens, just watch him. As long as there is no urinary obstruction from the swelling, there is no harm in watching it for a day or so. If there is evidence of obstruction of the urinary flow such as a fine, thin stream, get him to medical care immediately.

Frank
 
#4 ·
Thanks, Frank!

He's three, and pretty cooperative. He'd participate in putting meds on as long as it's not outageously painful.

Feebeeglee, thanks for the suggestion about the bowl of water. He's not gone again (sleeping, still) so we'll do that when he rises.

Thanks, guys!
 
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