Almost 9 year old son and tight foreskin....

[boble1]

Hi

My almost 9 year old son has had a sore and slightly swollen willy since Sunday.

Took him to the GP this morning and she said his foreskin is tight and doesnt retract.

She has given us cream and he has to try to pull it back gently himself.

We have to go back in a month and if no better she will refer us to surgeon.

His willy does balloon when he wees too.

She spoke about a partial circumcision? I think?

Does anyone know if the cream will work and where to put the cream? I think it thins the skin? Does it go on his foreskin or on his willy when he tries to pull the skin back. I forgot what she said.....

Does anyone know how long a circumcision takes and if it is a general or local anaesthetic?

Thank you xx

Poor DS, he must be uncomfortable. I don't know about the cream but definitely worth a go. May be worth speaking to a GP more in-depth about circumcision with DS present and then let him decide if the cream doesn't help?

Oh also, Google the cream and the instructions should be online too.

Thank you.

xx

My ds was exactly the same. Recurrent infections, redness, swelling etc due to tight foreskin. Some GP’s said he’d need circumcision, some said wait until older. All said for him to ease foreskin back whilst in bath/shower.

We then saw a GP whose brother was a surgeon in that department who said absolutely do NOTHING about it until after puberty as the problem often corrects itself. Ds is now 13 and his foreskin appears to be settling to ‘normal’.

My older ds had the same problem when younger, he’s now early 20’s and is fine also.

I think nowadays circumcision is done with more caution than times gone by ... I guess now with the knowledge that the problem very often disappears with growth.

We used to put the cream on the end of the penis, get ds to pull the foreskin back very gently and only as much as he can without discomfort then apply cream there also.

Does the cream sting when it's applied? My son may have a similar issue and I've been thinking of taking him to the doctor.

What is the cream, OP?

Hi, my ds had a circ last year for a foreskin that was incredibly tight and would never have retracted at all. He had ballooning and a very thin stream of urine. A circ is done under general anaesthetic with local usually around the op site. It was sore for around a week but he didn’t need pain relief after day 3. Now he says it is much more comfortable. I wouldn’t have left it to puberty in this case as it was potentially going to restrict movement and growth and he was going to get recurrent infection. I was hesitant to go for it as no-one in our family has been circ’d but it was definitely for the best in this instance. We discussed partial but he is prone to scar tissue overgrowth so it would probsly have required a full circ down the line. Not an easy decision.

mouth ... I wonder if it’s down to postcode? ....

Ds couldn’t retract his foreskin at all, he had recurrent infections, swelling redness etc. Like I said, he’s now 13 and appears to be ok. I wonder if we’d lived in a different area whether he would have been circumcised?

It’s awful when different GP’s and different specialists for that matter, give you opposite advice to each other.

My DS had to be circumcised when he was 3 years old. He was extremely tight, recurrent infections, pain, ballooning, and his urine being retained. He was considered too young to be considered for a circumcision however every doctor who saw him immediately said he was a bad case and will most definitely be in pain. Initially I was asked to help him pull it back but to be honest this made me feel uncomfortable.
His op was maybe an hour. We were out once he had eaten and done a wee. His recovery was 2 weeks - no pre school. And I wont lie the guilt I felt for the first week was unreal. I felt awful. He was in so much pain at first which I couldn't even deny as he refused to wear clothes for the whole time and it looked really really bad. A nurse had to come out a few times but always reassured me that how it look was perfect and exactly how it should look (honestly it look horrendous) After 5 or so days he was fine, uncomfortable but nothing like he was in the beginning. And now I have to admit I am so glad I decided to have it done with him being so young as he has had no pain, infections or issues ever since.

I have been told to do nothing for my 9 year old ds. He is not sore and does not get infections but does get the ballooning. Should I be asking our GP for cream? I do feel a bit worried about it so it is good to know it can end up being ok.

Thank you for all the replies.

The cream is Hydrocortisone 0.5%.

I did watch him wee yesterday and there was no ballooning.

The GP did say that a lot of times the cream and stretching recifies the problem, although I dont know if she said that to be kind as I have severe anxiety.

xx

My brother had the same problem 30 years ago. I believe he was slightly older, 11 maybe?. The cream worked for him. I don't remember the specifics though.

Oh no. I've had this with my son. I took him to the go at 7, she suggested trying to pull it back gently himself. Didn't work. I took him back about 9 and she sent him to the urologist at the children's hospital. He gave him some special cream, which seemed to do the trick - only it didn't. The fact was my, now teenage 15 year old was still not able to retract his foreskin.

I had a chat with him saying it's really better to get this fixed now, before you become sexually active. He agreed to go back to the go, who sent us back to the urologist and he was brilliant. Totally put my son at ease.

He said he needed surgery, he did not want to circumcise him as it really affects sensation and he didn't want that for my son. He gave him a dorsal slit. Just loosening the foreskin.

The operation was a day case. He had no problem healing and it seems to have solved the problem. He's almost 22 now.

I was given the advice not to retract the foreskin when he was a baby and I never did. I think it should be discussed early on if any parent believes their son has a tight foreskin.

Good luck op.

Hi

Ive just been to collect the cream and the pharmacist asked if my son had had the cream before and I told him the story.

He said he'd never heard of this before! He wants to call the GP to discuss using the cream for such a long time.

How long did anyone else use the cream for?

x

We used the cream for a week each time ds had symptoms. We went to the gp each time and got a new prescription each time. Did the gp actually say to use the cream for 1 month .... or use the cream tilmsrttled then go back in 1 month?

Am I being silly but I've always been led to believe that hydrocortisone shouldn't be used long term? The doctor only prescribed it me once (for other uses) and when I asked for it to be repeated it was rejected due to the risk of side effects.

The cream option was never offered to my son. But as I have previously mentioned he was considered a bad case and we were told by every doctor it would almost certainly never retract on its own. I had over a year on my DS so upset crying at the pain, begging me to make his 'wee wee' stop hurting him, and being kept up most the nights. I took him back and forth to the doctors many times. I was fed up on the constant antibiotics and the fact that they were all convinced he would be in alot of pain which he only supported by his constant tears. When surgery was offered, it was by no means an easy decision but I felt it was really our only choice as he would get over it quite quick and it wouldn't affect him so much with him being so young. One of the surgeons own sons had had it done a few weeks prior to my son. He was 11, so it was reassuring how common it is and how easy of a procedure it is considered. The risks of the surgery obviously make you take a moment to think but in my sons case it was necessary. I couldn't have put him through years of being in pain. Going through school around his peers being reduced to tears.

Good luck with your DS. Surgery is a last option so the fact he has been given an alternative means it really may not be needed

AH thank you.

The pharmacist called the GP and the GP said this was normal to use the cream for a month.

Apparently the phamacist was from a different area and they have different guidelines?

I do recall the GP saying if it didnt work, they could do a partial circumcision?

Hopefully hes just a late bloomer xx

My nearly 9yr old son had a hospital consultation today with the same problems you’ve described. He’s now on a waiting list for a full circumcision.
It’s been years of recurring infections and having to use hydrocortisone cream to control it. He has to sit down to urinate because of split stream and ballooning. He has white thicker skin because of scarring from the recurring infections.
He knows it will be sore but knows it will be worth it in the long run. I’m just pleased something concrete will be done to help him as he’s miserable at times with the pain and discomfort.
My husband suffers from a tight foreskin too but he’s developed means to control and clean it. He wishes he’d had the procedure as a child.

@Groovester

Ah, your poor son.

I hope all goes well for him.

Our situation was discovered when I took my son to the GP as his willy was sore on the side - no redness. I wondered if it was because he likes to slide on the walk in shower's floor . I wondered if he'd hurt himself!

The GP had a look and feel and mentioned that his skin isn't retracting.

Please let me know how the op goes xx

I will report back. Think it’ll be a wait until January though.

Thank you.

Hope your son gets relief using the cream soon.

My DS had this around the age of 9. Red, pissing sideways, occasional ballooning.
We were also prescribed the cream which did absolutely fuck all apart from cause him enormous discomfort when trying to stretch the foreskin and making it more inflamed.

I'm really questioning the poster who had a medical proefessional weigh in to say it improves in teenage years- that is the absolute reverse of anything I, and two of my friends with sons in the same boat had. If anything it will get worse, and the surgery is far more painful the older they get.I've had my son 9, friends son 13, and friends son 7 all experience this. The child who was most in pain pre and post surgery was the 13 year old. It's possible that posters son was unique rather than the norm.

Get it done ASAP, and make sure when you do , you request the anaethestist does a penis block ( similar to an epidural) . This will alleviate the worst of the pain immediately post surgery. It's uncomfortable for a few days, and my son was wandering around with vaseline smeared sanitary pads in his undies for a day or so - but it was the best thing we did as opposed to offending his dignity and making him very self conscious by attaking his penis multiple times a day with cream, and forcing him to stretch his foreskin.

attacking

This is how I feel about it. I think it would get worse with age added to the fact that kids become more self conscious about their bodies.
I’m pleased we have finally got the consultation and that the decision to operate has been made.

commander .... I guess I’m the poster you’re “questioning “ .... makes it sound like I’m making it up!

Like I said ... that comment came from a Urology surgeon. In my own experience, ds1 now has no problems at all despite having problems all through young childhood. Ds2 also appears to be heading that way also.

This doesn’t mean everyone's experience will be the same, that’s what these boards are for ... different opinions, but in this case different experiences.

My ds has the same issue, he’s been given 1% hydrocortisone cream that we use on and off when he’s sore, but it doesn’t particularly bother him much.
We’ve been told that it will hopefully resolve itself when he goes through puberty.

Secret, yes you were.
Apologies if I came across as rude, but what your urologist friend of a friend said was the complete reverse of the urologist we saw. Ours also mentioned the level of pain would be worse having it done in teen years if the problem didn't resolve itself when our son was younger. HE also said that in most cases the hydrocortisone cream did bugger all.

I'm sure it does depend on a case by case basis, but the embarassment our son experienced and the crying when we tried to stretch his foreskin regularly was not something we wished to continue.
There was no way we were going to continue humiliating him like that on a regular basis through to his teenage years.

And watching my friends teenage son go through it, after following similar "wait" advice - the comment about pain being worse as the child was older was definitely valid.
I imagine that in both the cases I am mentioning the foreskins were much more tight, and causing more problems than in your circumstance. So yes different experiences. Your sons have been lucky.