Foreskin Not Retracting

[Supermum]

Hi all

I'm after input from anyone who has had this issue with a son and whether or not it needed medical/surgical intervention.

My son is 2½ and uncircumcised. Around twelve months ago we noticed the end of his penis becoming quite red so we whipped him off to the doctor. The foreskin was incredibly tight and the doctor was unable to retract it. So he gave us some cream and sent us home with instructions on stretching the skin back once a day.

We went back for a check-up about six months ago and the skin was still quite tight. We have taught Ben how to retract it himself because he knows when to stop before it hurts.

It started getting red again a couple of days ago doesn't retract fully allowing yucky stuff to build up underneath which is so hard to get to. I feel so sorry for the little dude. :(

We have an appointment with the Doctor tomorrow but I was curious if anyone else had been through the same thing with their son and how much medical/surgical intervention was required as we would only consider circumcision on medical grounds.

Cheers, deb

[angcaltam]

Both my boys had the same problem. We were told to use the cream and it worked for our youngest but not Angus. When he was 4 and after a hell of a lot of infections we only had the one choice and that was to get him done. It was hard for us to have to put him through it at his age but it had to be done. He got through it better than we did. He was only sore for a few days and that was just when we had to pull his undies down to go to the toilet. We did have a nappy liner covered with vasilen in his undies so nothing would stick to him. He is now doing great.
I hope this has helped you in some way, if you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Good luck.

[mollyandkurtsmum]

Hi Im not going to be much help to you but my son who is 7 only started to retract his foreskin when he was about 4 because we were told just to let it go and he would learn how to do it by playing with it (finally men have a real reason )
He told me one day that he could make the skin go back and thats when we explained to him about cleaning under it. Touch wood he has never had any infections or trouble with it.
I hope it all goes well and wish I could be more help

good luck

[talon]

i am probably not much help either as we didn't get to the point of even considering retracting. ds was way to young (was about 4 months at the time) to even consider messing with that. he did have a tight foreskin though which is why he was getting uti's one after the other. he was circ'd as a result and no problems since. i have heard that the cream has helped others though and i think it is a first point of call before they would consider offering a circ. circ's are the last option i would think after all other bases are covered. if you are able to, maybe consider getting a couple of opinions on your son's circumstances. i also did a lot of research over the internet. there is a long and unpronouncable medical word for a tight foreskin (suprise suprise! :p ).

anyway good luck with it and if you have any specific questions about my circumstances feel free to pm me.

:)

[Supermum]

I'm always appreciative of the sensitive responses I receive on this forum.

We had a check-up this morning and the Doctor says that the skin is stretching ... slowly but surely. He (Ben not the Doctor ;) ) also has a sebaceous cyst which needs squeezing every so often. Poor little guy.

Thanks so much for your assistance and insight.

deb

[talon]

that's great to hear deb!

i hope it all works out for you. just a question with the cyst - do they eventually disappear by themselves?

[serendipity22]

I have read that ages in which boys can retract their foreskins varies enormously. I think a very small number can do it when infants, while others not until puberty or even after (and everything in between).

I don't think its to be worried about. Let nature take its course.
(and retraction should never be forced)

Some boys reach puberty at much later ages than others, everybody develops at their own pace.

[Mrs Potts]

We also were told never to touch it, IYKWIM.

DS showers with DH often, so DH would just keep an eye on the situation, get DS to show him every so often how far it would go, that sort of thing. Then teach him how to clean it properly.

It's only been the last 6 months or so that the foreskin retracts totally.

[xkwzit]

Poor SuperDude, but sounds like it is getting better (Even if slowly). Hugs to your little man SuperMum.

Cheers