Tight foreskin - circumcision - please can other parents advise?

[Bumpsadaisie]

I was wondering if someone can advise me.

My son is 5.5 and has a very tight foreskin - it can't be "rolled back" at all and if he retracts it as much as he can you can only see a tiny dot of the head of his penis peeping through.

He has had three infections in the last two years, I think due to urine collecting inside. These have quickly cleared up with antibiotics but the doctor has referred us to pediatric surgery to see if he needs circumcision.

Before the appointment I am anxious to get as much info/details of others experiecne. I am a bit worried about agreeing to circumcision (if indeed this is what is recommended) without really being properly informed.

He hasn't had steroid cream for it yet and I had thought this might be the best next step? Of course the consultant may well suggest this first anyway .

Any help you can give appreciated.

Similar with ds. Just watching for replies if that's ok.

Ds had similar but it only became an issue at his teen years. He wishes he had been circumcised earlier. We tried the cream to no avail.

My ds's always rolled right back and he played with it constantly. I think he was a bit rough and it bled. Now he says it hurts to pull it back and I've never seen it back. I've tried not to make an issue of it, but have asked him to keep trying.

Surely the surgeon will recommend less invasive techniques if they are viable? Suregery should be the last resort as it is the most invasive and the paediatric surgeon should be aware of the alternatives and of your DS is a candidate.

You might check the NICE guidelines to see what the treatment pathways are - it might give other options prior to surgery.

Just a quick glance does say steroid cream and also surgery to alter the foreskin but not necessarily remove it are recommended in less severe cases.

I was in this position with DS 10 years ago. Creams got us through and he's kept his foreskin, but recently has had a recurrence of the infections. Obviously this is not something a 16 year old would discuss with his Mum if it wasn't causing him significant distress. The upside of not circumcising now is he might "get away with it", the downside as we are finding out is a potentially more painful not to mention excruciatingly embarrassing procedure later on. In your position, I'd certainly not have any qualms in circumcising him now rather than taking the chance.