Circumcision due to tight foreskin?

[MajorMajor]

Just wondered if anyone has any advice. DS (6) has always had a tight foreskin that won't retract at all. He's occasionally had pain when weeing but has not had a problem with infections (only ever had one infection).

GP referred him to consultant at local hospital, who took one look and arranged circumcision. I did a bit of googling and decided to try steroid cream first, the GP had not heard of this but was supportive and prescribed the cream. After 3 weeks DS's foreskin was fully retractable! BUT, we then stopped applying the cream (it thins the skin, we were told not to apply it for longer than necessary) and 3 weeks later, it's back how it was :-(

We have another appointment with the consultant in a week, I need to decide whether to accept the surgery or keep trying with the cream. Anyone any advice or experience please?

Dh had a circumcision at age 8 for the same reasons you describe above. It would get better for a while then worse again.

He said it was painful and uncomfortable but lots of treats helped him through it he is very glad he had it done as a child and didn't suffer the issue of painful tight foreskin as a teenager and older!

agree TheHeir, if it has to be done then better sooner rather than later for sure

The gp was wrong to refer him for a circumcision. The foreskin should be retained if possible:

www.drmomma.org/2009/09/functions-of-foreskin-purposes-of.html

www.drmomma.org/2011/08/intact-or-circumcised-significant.html

I know quite a lot about the foreskin and circumcision. It is normal for the foreskin not to be retractable in children.

www.drmomma.org/2010/01/basic-care-of-intact-child.html
www.drmomma.org/2011/06/ballooning-in-intact-child.html
www.drmomma.org/2010/01/painful-urination-during-prepuce.html

As long as it becomes retractable when he starts sexual activity, that is all that matters.
You should just leave it alone. I would avoid anything like steroid creams that interfere with the natural skin structure, as it could lead to permanent scarring which will lead to difficulty in retracting in the future.

Ds is eight and has a non retractabe foreskin and has seen the dr with a couple of infections. The dr is of the opinion that they nearly aways sort themselves out by the age of 18.

I would leave well alone.

Ds1 had his done at four. We used the steroid cream for months to no avail. Unlike your ds he did get a lot of infections.

The operation was ok and he's been fine until now but we've just been on holiday and spent a lot of time swimming. His swimming shorts rubbed a lot and I couldn't help but think if he still had a foreskin he would have been more comfortable.

He's 16 now and this has been the first issue we've had. If it were me and your ds is not getting infections I would try to wait and see.

V interesting to read, as my ds is 5, never had any infections but his foreskin doesn't retract at all. On that basis, I'm not visiting the dr!

if it became retractable and then after a while went tight again, does that mean he didn't keep up the bathtime exercises?

^not trying to blame, am trying to understand how it works)

Dh's problem (he says, from what he remembers) was that his foreskin was hardening causing tightness, and pain when he went for a wee.

As I said this is only what dh remembers from when he was a child and not medical evidence, but could that explain the difference between needing a circumcision in dh's case and not needing one in the examples from other posters?

The doctors seem to be of the opinion that ds's will eventually retract. He is nearly 11 this year and it is starting to go back a bit - enough for him to clean the tip though not behind the whole head yet.

Ds also got infections but strangely no one suggested circumcision

If he gets pain, or infections or if the foreskin 'balloons' when he urinates then get it sorted. DS2 had this condition and quite bad infections eventually developed. It is a condition called 'balinitis'. Better done early than late.

There is a more minor procedure than full circumcision called a 'dorsal slit' but it is not always possible to do this.

A few weeks after the operation DS2 was as right as rain. Try and schedule it for school holidays as he will not want to be at school for a while.

Sorry spelled that wrong. It is called 'balanitis'.

DS (6) was circumcised 2 weeks ago due to a tight foreskin being caused by an underlying condition called bxo - if you google it there is information out there. It might be what is causing the problem to recur, though from what I understand it is very rare.

His consultant said that some trusts do try steroid creams for problems caused by bxo but he was very doubtful about the efficacy. He felt that circumcision was the only real option.

DS's problems started with a bit of pain just after weeing. It would come and go and over a few months got more frequent and eventually very painful indeed. He was repeatedly tested for UTIs but nothing found. I looked at the pages that have been linked to further up the thread and reassured myself he would be fine and it would be best to leave alone - however in ds's case this was wrong and he was in pain far longer than he should have been.

DS was 'done' age 5 - had the ballooning thing, pre used to squirt everywhere! has had no problems. He's now 19 and has an active sexual relationship with GF and no issues/complaints.

Pee not pre - dratted predictive text

It made sense!

My ds had to be circumcised this time last year when he was 10. It was so tight it was ballooning at the end and taking him approximately 3 minutes just to urinate. We were also put off having it done by certain websites. So glad it's all sorted now, wish I'd never waited so long.

Ow the weeing issue must make it fairly clear tbh

my 11 yr old had this, we had to use the steroid cream for 8wks and then he had to continue with ltos of fiddling, esp in the bath to keep it loose, sometimes it does tighten up again which is why the follow up app is normally 8wks after they finish using the cream. in my ds1's case it was fine with lots of fiddling after the cream.

we were told to use the cream for 8wks by the consultant but also that lots of fiddling by ds1 was a MUST for during the time he used it and for the weeks following and that the bath was the best place to do it as the water helps.

i would be inclined to try the cream again for longer and encourage your ds to fiddle!

also its very common for it not to retract up to and including early puberty when it often then sorts itself.

Thanks... lots to think about here. It does 'balloon' when he wees, but he tells me it doesn't hurt at the moment, although it did a few weeks ago which is why we ended up at the GP looking for a UTI. DS1 has never been a big fan of 'fiddling' with his willy, compared to his younger brother (4.5yrs), who has a standard retractable foreskin.

if its not hurting and he is not getting infections i would be inclined to either try the cream and fiddling, just get him to have a go in the bath, and leave it for a bit, he is very young still so it may sort itself with age.

but then i wanted to avoid circumcision unless it was totally necessary with any of mine.

it obviously can go back, so may be worth leaving it a while and get a second opinion, some consultants are more snip happy than others!

Dh had his done for the same reason when he was 32. He would urge you strongly to deal with it now, I am fairly sure

thanks christinemum, those links are very interesting

DS1's ballooned when he was little (age 2-4) and was referred to a consultant who was very quick to say circumcision. I withdrew ds from the waiting list after similar reading that christinemum has very helpfully linked. He didn't get any infections, and whilst retraction still is rather minimal it stopped ballooning at age 6. Am hopeful that as he goes through puberty the problem will totally resolve itself, but if it doesn't then ds can have input in the decision-making.

BobbiFleckman - that's why this is stressing me out I think... the longer we go for 'wait and see', the more likely that he will have to have the op as a teenager or older.... but I would so much prefer that he does not have to have an operation at all