Foreskin Infection

[regal]

Obvious TMI alert

Does anyone have experience with uncirc'd boys and infections?  DS1 has had two foreskin infections in the last two months.  He's been on the verge of getting another one but we've been doing twice daily baths and underwear changes, pushing fluids so he pees more often and using polysporin antibiotic cream (clinic doc told us to use the cream).  He is unable to pull his foreskin back at all, you can't see the head of his penis no matter how hard he pulls back, it's as if the opening isn't big enough and the skin is too tight (it was never like this before nor with my other son).  We have an upcoming appointment with the doctor but I was just wondering if anyone had experience.  We went to a late night walk-in both times in the past so no history with his regular doctor regarding the issue.

[happymama]

Circumcision isn't just a cosmetic procedure, there are quite a few medical reasons to have it done, a couple of which are the symptoms you listed. Hopefully that's not the case with him, but your pediatrician can tell you more and let you know what other options there are.

It's not terribly uncommon for this to happen, for some boys it's tolerable and for others it gets worse. It sounds like you're doing the right things, I would just try not to stress until you see the doctor as only they can give you the facts.

[mrsbuttinski]

How old?

[Deleted]

It sounds like adhesions are forming due to the infection. I have a nephew that was a preemie so he wasn't circ'd at birth and he was extremely prone to infections like this even with vigilant cleaning routines and they eventually opted to have him circ'd as a toddler.

[Deleted]

a good follow up with his regular pediatrician ASAP is in order. He may have swelling that is the problem, or sometimes the opening is actually too shall to push back the foreskin even as he gets older or it may be adhesions forming if it was moving done before. An infection happening there once isn't good but multiple times would be a big worry.

[regal]

Jun 24, 2015 7:48:59 GMT -5 mrsbuttinski said:

How old?

He's four.

It seems to be much better looking today so i'm thinking it has something to do with the swelling.  He was forcibly retracted by a nurse when he was an infant and I know that can cause scarring which can lead to this issue later in life.

I'm not against circumcision when it's medically necessary, but I'd rather exhaust all other other options before surgery.

[mrsbuttinski]

I see. I wasn't sure of the age.

It's amazing how much bad information there is about penis care. I'm sorry your family is dealing with the result of a medical professional's ignorance.

[ireland05]

My oldest had balanitis twice when he was probably 3.5 years old. Both episodes were within a few months. We just applied bacitracin two or three times a day, and it got better in a couple days. He hasn't had it since and he's 5.5 now. Hopefully that will be the case for your LO. He also still can't retract his foreskin at all at 5.5.