Circumcision aftercare advice needed

[Mamahotfoot]

Dear Mumsnet mums

My son was circumcised at 5 months by a surgeon at the same time as he underwent a hernia repair. I prefered it to be done in hospital under a general anaesthetic as I felt that it would be done in the most sterile environment and be as painless as possible for my son. I was given very little aftercare advice - only to slather the penis with antibiotic ointment for 10 days then to leave alone to heal.

4 months have passed and my other half has begun to worry about my sons circumcision and feels that it may not have been done correctly. This being my first son, I do not have any prior experience to draw on. There is a lot of skin covering his penis still and when this is retracted gently, it seems that the skin is attached to the head of the penis. Having googled this I believe that it is probably what is called a penile adhesion.

My questions are ... firstly does anyone have experience of this? What did you do about it? Were you able to resolve this at home or did you have to undergo a second operation? When I asked the surgeon about it at our check up he seemed totally unconcerned and told me not to worry and that everything would resolve as time went by. I have read enough to realise that this is not necessarily the case. I will be going to my GP tomorrow. Advice from anyone who has dealt with this problem would be most welcome. I would especially like to know if I should ask for a specialist referral to say a paediatric urologist?

Perhaps more important than the antibiotic ointment, what the doctor or nurse should have told you, was to pull what foreskin was left, away from the glans at every bath or change and smear plenty of Vaseline on to the two surfaces so there is a film of it between them. This prevents adhesion. You have to keep this up for quite a while to be certain. You can drop the Vaseline after a short while but keep on retracting so the two tender surfaces can't adhere again.

You can gradually decrease these intervals of inspection but still check on a regular basis. Some boys are more prone to this problem than others, especially if the doctor has left too much skin behind and your boy is chubby down there, the skin encroaches on the rim.

Your surgeon is right that this condition can resolve itself over time, especially if you keep trying to retract and teach your son to do the same as soon as he is old enough. However, in a few stubborn cases it doesn't do so and a further procedure is necessary to resolve the problem. This shouldn't need to be a full blown op with GA. It should only take a minute and a local even in severe cases.

Your GP is quite likely able to resolve the problem in a second if she is willing to give the skin a quick jerk downwards, (something more than a parent would be happy doing!) There may be a cry and a moment's pain (sometimes none) and you are into the Vaseline routine until the surfaces have dried and healed.

It is normal for the skin to not pull back when they are young - even boys who have not been circumcised have this. It will usually detach when it is ready. DO NOT pull it!