DS aged 3.9 penis balloons when he wees and now he's saying it hurts

[Nutgirl]

Hello just after some advice. Ever since we potty trained DS1 aged 2.5 I have noticed his penis balloons massively when he wees. It has always been like this but never caused him any discomfort until now. This week he has started to say his willy hurts when he wees in his nappy (he still wears a nappy at night) and today he has started to say it hurts when he has a wee in the loo. A fee months ago I spoke to a doctor who said to try stretching back the foreskin every day in the bath but this hasn't helped at all as there just isn't anything to stretch, you cannot see his glans at all and he says it stings. He definitely has a tight foreskin as none of his friends' willy's look like this. Plus my DH was circumcised as a child for same problem, too tight foreskin and pain when urinating.

I guess I just want to hear from any parents who have been through this with their own kids and what the outcome was? NHS website says circumcision is absolute last resort. I knew this was on the cards as it's always looked strange and obviously DH had it as a child
but I was never concerned until it started to hurt him. His willy isn't sore looking or infected and goes down to normal size after a pee so don't think he has balanitis.

Any advice?

Thanks

[HirplesWithHaggis]

There is a steroid cream you can use, and if that doesn't work there's an operation (short of circumcision) to loosen the foreskin. But in any case, it's off to the GP to see what can be done.

(DH circumcised at 6mo, DS was about 7 after trying cream etc, DGS was five...)

[DottyCotton]

My eldest had this problem. His foreskin was very tight, and so we were not offered the options of creams etc. and he was referred straight to surgery. I will add that on the whole he didn't complain of pain from what I can remember, it was the ballooning that was the main issue.

He had day surgery, was off school for about a week and made an 100% recovery in about 10 days. He was 4 then, is 9 now and all you can see is a faint scar.

[PooSweats84]

Same story here too, DS had the ballooning with discomfort when weeing, got referred straight for day surgery for a circumcision as his foreskin was too tight, no more problems since

[SewingAndCakes]

Ds2 has the same problem and occasional infections. He can't retract his foreskin. He was recently referred to a urologist, who saw him, managed to retract his foreskin, and then discharged him. Ds2 still can't do it himself and he's 8. I'm not sure what to do now tbh.

I'd see your gp and take things from there.

[Ahemily]

My DS has the exact same thing, to the point where his nursery called me at work and told me to take him to a doctor. We got referred to a specialist who said that, at this age, the foreskin is still attached to the shaft, so it can't retract, making it harder to pee sometimes (sounds very odd to me, but then I don't have one!). He put my mind at ease though and said that a circumcision wasn't necessary at this stage - he said eventually it will loosen and become easier. I'm given to understand that, so long as they're not showing symptoms of a fever, it's nothing to panic about.