Foreskin question

[PoptartPoptart]

DS (age 6) is completly disinterested (and always has been really) in his willy!

This is fine as I'm sure he will discover the delights of owning one when he is older! It's just that because he never fiddles, his foreskin has never been pulled back - in fact I don't think it has moved at all. He has no bother with it, no infections or anything, it's just that I read somewhere that it should have come back natuarlly by now? Is there a hygiene issue? Do I need to worry that it's too tight or anything (as it's never been pulled back I have no idea if it's tight or not, iyswim).

Watching with interest as my ds is similar. He is nearly 4 but it has only come back once when he pulled it back while sitting on the toilet. it always looks a bit red on the end but GP says it's fine.

He has a bath every night so it gets a good soak!

have you asked him to try and retract it? It could have detached but you dont know until he tries. I get ds to do his when he is in the shower so it can get a rinse under the water

DS1 (age 6) is the same - not interested...yet! :) His doesn't retract either and it doesn't cause him any problems. Apparently it's really common. It usually 'sorts itself out' around puberty. :)

My son is 8 and I have never seen his retract, when my youngest was 2 (a few months ago) I was changing him one day when he pulled his back out of the blue. I was worried because my eldest's hadn't that my youngest was too young for that to happen and I was advised by my health visitor that it is normal at age 2 and that most children's should come back by age 3 and should then start to do so for cleaning purposes. I asked my eldest to see if he could clean his like his little brother does and he couldn't so he was taken to the doctors who reiterated it is not normal at his age.

This week after referral he has been to see a specialist at the hospital who has said that because it does not come back to any degree that it will never correct itself and is thus a hygiene issue as it means when he pee's small amounts of urine will be remaining behind the skin which could in turn lead to regular infections in the future. He has now been put on the waiting list for circumcision.

The specialist also said it is only ever left at that age if it comes most of the way back as a minor amount of stretching may correct at puberty. If it came back only far enough for you to see the tip of the penis they first try creams to put more elasticity into the skin.

So my advice is if your unsure or it isn't coming back get it checked by your GP.

Gobbledygook. You need another opinion. There are plenty of studies out there sowing that it is perfectly normal for a boy's foreskin not to retract . Around 60% of boys have a foreskin that does not completely retract at age 10! If it is not causing any problems then the advice is to leave it alone and it will naturally detach. Only a very small percentage of boys at age 17 will still have a non retracting foreskin and,of those, only a small proportion will ever have any problems associated with that. I can try to dig out some links for you tomorrow - we looked into it a lot because of DS1 - DS2 has been pulling his back by himself since he was very young!

Gobbledegook-I'm sure that's not right. Any chance of a second opinion?

Oops, sorry. Cross posts!

:)

Technically I've had 4 independent opinions though and all the same.

It was the health visitor that initially told me it was not normal and he'd probably need circumcising if it doesn't come back at all and to take him to the GP. The GP also said it was not normal at his age and in her opinion he would need circumcising but that would need to be double checked by a specialist to confirm. He then went to a second GP who also said at his age it should be coming back and that he would probably need circumcising and referred him to the specialist at the hospital and I've already told you what the specialist has said.

Why are they recommending it if it isn't causing problems though? That's what I would be asking if it was me. He's obviously gotten this far without those little bits of urine getting trapped and causing infections so is it not a bit speculative to suggest that it might happen? It might not! Some adult males have non- retracting foreskins and it doesn't cause them any problems - sexually or otherwise. Obviously it is still within the boundaries of 'normal' if over 60% of boys have some attachment at age 10. I think it has been standard procedure for a while to recommend circumcision if it hasn't retracted by age x (where x depends on which doctor you see!) but more and more doctors now seem to be concerned by this and, given that there are risks with circumcision as well, are more inclined to let it resolve itself as long as it isn't causing problems.

We're in the same place right now with DS1 - age 6, no retraction, not causing any problems - and we aren't even thinking about circumcision at this point because there's still plenty of time for it to sort itself out.

here is one link from a medical journal. Heading off again now but I'll try to come back again later. From the link:

"Therefore, non-retractability (in the absence of scarring or other abnormality) can be considered normal for males up to and including adolescence. "

A genuine question. How would you know whether your child's foreskin retracts or not?

gobbledegook1 My DS1 couldn't move his at all not even the slightest bit,by the time he was 9. We were referred to a consultant who said the latest research was that puberty does correct in 99% of cases.
He's 16 now and it all came right when puberty kicked in.

Thanks for the info but I think am going to let it go ahead anyway, the specialist seemed pretty certain it was never going to correct itself. Whilst he has no health issues he does fidget quite a lot and won't pee until he's so desperate he can't hold it and they have said it could be because it is causing some discomfort. Also my dad apparently had to be done when he was older for the same reason and my mum's fella also said he had the same problem and his never corrected itself either and he had to be done when older and he found it so embarrassing he wished he had been done younger when he wasn't as self conscious.

Secret, it's good to hear a personal experience. DS1s doesn't move at all at the moment either.

Seeker, my experience was a bit similar to gobbledegook's in that I didn't even think about it until DS2 came along and started pulling his back in the bath. I was actually quite shocked because I didn't think they went back that early (he was about a year old). We got DS1 to try his gently and it didn't go anywhere. He's never really been too interested in it tbh whereas DS2 is always fidgeting we've asked DS1 to try it again a few times since (in the bath) and it's still firmly fused so we'll just wait and see what happens. I don't want to put him through an operation unnecessarily and I don't feel like it should be my decision to cut a piece of him off seeing as he's the one who will have to live with it! I'm pretty sure he would go with the 'wait and see' option if it was his choice. ( obviously if it started causing problems then the decision is made for us)

I'm a mum of 4 boys and never demanded any if them pull their foreskins back! I certainly ask my eldest ds nearly14 to have a good old wash but tbh i think he'd think me a bit strange if I demanded a run through of operations now! However I know if there was a problem he would talk to me r u sure intervention is necessary?

4 boys here as well and my ds1 last summer at age 11 was treated with as steroid cream as his foreskin was tight and didnt retract at all, the cream worked! thankgod as we didnt want him circumsised unless necessary. our gp recomended circumsision, but the consultant at the hospital was of the opinion that he didnt like to unless it was a last resort and there are f ew things they can try first such as the cream and manual retraction under general ( i think they use a little balloon of water to help it stretch?) anyway i am glad we went for the cream option, everything i have read says the cream works in 85%-90% of cases and the remaining ones are often treated succesfully by the manual retraction method. circumsision should always be a last resort imo!
ds2's moves back and he is 9, it has done so for a while, i have no idea about ds3 and ds4, i have never tried to pull it back and you shouldnt, its omething they will do themselves, in the bath and as they get older by being naturally inquisitive and fiddling. If there are no problems such as repeated infections etc i have no idea why they woudl be suggesting circumsision and i would be getting a second opion.

its not uncommon for it not to retract up to puberty and it generally does sort itself or the cream works, (with lots of fiddling to help it along!)

i would just encourage a good fiddle in the bath etc and leave be unless there are any problems, certainly no rush for circumsision at all!

Thanks for all your replies. The thing is, because he is so disinterested in his willy I don't think he will want to fiddle in the bath and pull it back. I think I'll just leave it for now. Lots of you have reassured me that it shouldn't be an issue. As he is only 6 I'll think about a trip to the doctors in a few years time if need be.

no he wont want to fiddle yet, but he will as he gets older honestly as 6 mine werent interested in their willies, well except for ds2 he always was. but as they get older they will be and you can just encourage him to give it a good wash etc. it will come with time, def not something to worry about :)