Can't decide what to do

[lucysummers]

DS is 5 1/2. About 5 months ago he got a really horrible and sore infection in his penis. We went to the GP who gave him antibiotics which cleared it up and also gave us some cream to apply to help his foreskin retract...it wouldn't retract at all. After a couple of weeks it was retracting fine so we stopped the cream.

It went back to hardly moving again so we started reapplying the cream. We saw the GP who said that although he would happily give a referral for circ he hoped that the cream would work and this time it would stay retracted. This was about a week ago.

Problem we have is this evening DS has turned around and he clearly has another infection in there. It's starting to swell a little bit but there is a load of gunk there.

I will take him to the doctor tomorrow but I know he is going to ask whether we want to go ahead with circ.....fortunatly he is not pushy on the subject.

I just don't know what to do...i don't want to put him through a general anaesthetic but I also don't want to keep putting him through these infections.

[overitand36]

i would be trying another GP first, find out what is behind all the infections why does it keep on reoccurring

[SuperGranny]

hi, I agree, I would not want to be having to treat recurring infections, and it would seem better to have the circ done. Maybe get a second opinion, or give your boy the full explination of the procedure and ask if he wants to have it done. Marie.

[Fellow Traveler]

Ask the doctor to do a culture and make sure that you are actually dealing with a bacterial infection. The issue is that antibiotics, while working well to kill bad bacteria, can also kill good bacteria which could permit a yeast infection. So it's important that you sort that out because if it is yeast another round of abx won't help. Doctor don't always culture and might misdiagnose this possibility. Also a bath in clean warm water with a bit of baking soda wouldn't be a bad idea. If it is yeast something as simple as monistat should do the trick.

I wanted to add that I am not sure why he prescribe the creme boy aren't necessarily retractable at that age, the average age is 10.5 years. So it seems a bit premature to worry about that.

[andrewJ]

i would get a second opinion, but dont feel too bad about having to get it done.
this might be exactly the kind of situation where it is justified - an actual medical problem

[Theophania]

I would get DS checked out again, but I wouldn't go for the circ yet. It is only the second infection and who knows once you clear this one up it could stop them all together.

I would hate to have to put DS under GA at any age, let alone so young.

[Father]

I just don't know what to do...i don't want to put him through a general anaesthetic but I also don't want to keep putting him through these infections.

I feel for you and your boy. I have a friend who's 8 year old boy was having similar issues - repeated infections regardless of their best attempts to avoid them. They didn't know what to do either and hated seeing their boy in so much pain and discomfort. The decision was made easy for them when their son was pleading to get circumcised to get rid of the pain. That wouldn't have been an easy decision for an 8 year old to make.
So your boy might be able to provide you with some input there too.
In hindsight, they told me they wished they had of done him earlier to save some of those 'extra' infections.
My 2 yo boy is due to go under a general in November too to get his tonsils out. I'm a little nervous about it, but I know that he won't have any problems afterward so I am actually looking forward to it all being over.
Good luck with your decision.

[lucysummers]

:flowerz: Thank you so much the replies guys. Will hope to get culutures done today and take it from there. Certainly something we're not going to rush into but certaiinly not anti it either. Your comments have all made me feel a lot better

[circangel]

hi, I agree, I would not want to be having to treat recurring infections, and it would seem better to have the circ done. Maybe get a second opinion, or give your boy the full explination of the procedure and ask if he wants to have it done. Marie.

Great advice joshcamgrandma just helps if it is what they want even though they might be too young to decide.

[serendipity22]

to the GP who gave him antibiotics which cleared it up and also gave us some cream to apply to help his foreskin retract...it wouldn't retract at all. Completely normal for the skin not to be retractable at 5 years old, nobody should be touching the penis (except the boy himself) thats exactly the sort of thing that can cause infections. Scrubbing with soap can also lead to infections.

Sounds like the GP might falsely believe all boys need to be retractable at five. i.e. the GP is clueless and circ-happy. Don't go back to them.


It's starting to swell a little bit but there is a load of gunk there.
Sounds normal.

Its a normal part of the separation process for there to be a build up of gunk. This will disappear in time. A little bit of transient redness in the tip is normal too.
I will see if I can find more info on this.



In countries like the US there have been countless needless circumcisions because most people there (including doctors(mostly men circed at birth) ) don't understand the separation process.
Circs have been done for ballooning (normal)
redness in the tip (normal)
build up of gunk during seperation (normal)
non retractible at an arbitrary age (normal)
swelling during seperation (normal)

Also for transient infections which if left alone would disappear.

In countries like Finland only 6 in 100,000 males per lifetime have a circumcision for medical reasons, because they are familiar with the foreskin and its development.



or give your boy the full explination[sic] of the procedure and ask if he wants to have it done
wth He is 5 years old!!!!

Maybe this is what is happening

Oh no! Your son has a very red, swollen or inflamed foreskin! Classic symptoms of a dread foreskin infection, right? Well, maybe but probably not. But, how do you know?

Often its not most of the time, it can be something called separation trauma that is a normal part of development in boys.

[MotherNurture]

My first reaction to your situation is that the underlying problem is probably the retraction. Your son is very young, and the foreskin isn't designed to retract at that age...it's designed to protect. When babies are born, the foreskin is adhered/fused to the glans (head), much like your fingernail attaches to your nail. It's that way so there really isn't a space between the foreskin and glans for anything to collect. The tip of the foreskin-the preputial sphincter-is actually a purse string-like muscle that isn't very elastic at that age.

Combined, these two completely normal and healthy physiological issues mean that a.) Pulling back the foreskin of a baby prematurely breaks the adhesions between the glans and foreskin, causing wounds on the inner foreskin and glans surface and b.) Pulling back the foreskin of a baby prematurely can can cause microtears at the foreskin's opening.

The human body is really smart and resilient and when damaged attempts to repair itself quickly, and repeatedly if necessary. This would explain why you get his foreskin to retract and then it heals and gets tight again. It's doing exactly what it's supposed to.

In addition, the penis of a young child is just as "self cleaning" as the vagina. Healthy urine is sterile and regularly flushes out the foreskin's opening. Retracting and washing under a young child's foreskin is as much a bad idea as douching out a baby girl would be...it disrupts natural flora and the mucousal tissue is very sensitive and soaps and bubble baths can irritate it and can be difficult to rinse away fully.

There is absolutely no reason to be retracting him or applying a steroid cream to get him to retract. All that premature encouragement/force and repeated damage can lead to scarring which will make it more difficult to retract when it's physiologically designed to---sometime between about age 5 and puberty.

Please review the information and links in this thread:

http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=70500

IMO...

Stop retracting him.

Stop applying the steroid cream.

Get cultures; treat the bacterial or candida (yeast) infection if it exists. If he takes an antibiotic, consider probiotics afterwards to ward off yeast (yeast is common after a round of antibiotics)

Leave the foreskin alone. He should be the first one to retract it and there's no reason to be cleaning beneath it at this age.

Avoid soaps and bubble baths around the penis.

Use a gentle/natural laundry detergent.

Educate your practitioner about accurate foreskin anatomy, development, and care by printing out information/contacting DOC (http://doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/) or ARCLAW (http://arclaw.org/) to prevent other children from being harmed by improper advice.

[bada]

How did it go Lucy?

[lucysummers]

Thanks Bada - all going good. The infection cleared up REALLY quickly. So at the moment we leave it as is and hope that he doesn't get any more. This one ended up being nothing like the one before and the GP was great...saying it was still an option but he would try and treat it a few more times before going down the circ route. :flowerz:

[bada]

Glad to hear he is ok!