12 year old son told me he has a lump/spot on penis

[Shooting4stars]

My son came to me earlier and told me he had a large spot on the under side of his penis between the ball bags. He said it hurts when touched and has been there for about 3 days.

I am very happy he came and told me as I could see he felt a bit awkward. He’s going through puberty and obviously it’s a time that some children feel very self conscious When I mentioned going to the doctors he became distressed, began to well up and flatly refused to go. I don’t want to force him to go, as I am worried so he won’t come to me if he has a problem of this nature again. On the other hand I don’t want to leave something that may need medical attention.

Does anyone have any advice on how I could handle this situation?
The only thing I can think of is asking my son if he could take a photo of it.

Thank you.

Will he show you or his dad, just so you can see if it is a concerning lump or maybe just a spot/whitehead/ingrown hair. Even if you can cut a small hole in a napkin as a makeshift modesty sheet? Ds would have let me do that at 12.

Thank you the napkin idea sounds like a good one. I will ask him if he would mind if one of us do that. Obviously his dad would know more that me what is normal.

Have you managed to see the lump?

Could be a fordyce spot generally white and like a face spot can sometimes pop with some fluid come out. My 15 year old had them all on his scrotum since starting puberty.

I feel myself and my hubby are quite lucky with our boys should they have any problems they come straight to us. I understand your 12 year old may feel embarrassed about should you down there which is normal but your also his parent who has seen it all before and that doctors see private areas on a weekly if more more often basics.

Any questions I'm happy to try help iv have 12/15/20 year old boys. 15/20 year old have had a lot of groin area issues xx

Thank you very much for your reply BABYST.
Just in case anyone else has this problem in future I would like to say how it turned out.

My son was very distressed about having to show the doctor. I explained that for a doctor it’s like looking at a leg or an arm etc and health comes before embarrassment etc. In the end I managed to relax him by saying that he could take photos and show the doctor but he would probably like to examine him. He was still adamant that he wouldn’t but agreed to take photos.

Anyway the doctor was brilliant couldn’t have asked for a better bedside manner. He explained that he would look at the photos but would probably need to examine him.

He examined him and didn’t know what it was but thought it was some type of cyst and because there are a lot of sabaceous glands there it may be something to do with that. He has just started to get acne, so it’s probably hormonal. He prescribed Fusidic Acid 2% cream and antibiotics and told us to bring him back if it got larger or more painful or if it hadn’t cleared up with the treatment.

Anyway my son was so relieved and said how happy he was that the doctor was so nice and made him feel comfortable.

From the first day of treatment the whatever it is, improved considerably and he is going to be finishing the course and I will be returning to get antibiotics for his acne.

Hope this helps anyone who experiences this.

Glad to hear it OP! My DP found a lump on his testicle as a teen and it concerned the doctor so it was biopsied but turned out to be a benign cyst. It's still there (he says - I don't go feeling for it ) but it's a lot more common than you think.

Thank you Never! Glad your DP was ok.

Yes the doctor did look concerned but thankfully he prescribed a great combination and I have my happy boy back!

Your welcome as I could help xx

Hope he's happy now and hopefully he'll never be embarrassed of Doctors in the future after his experience xx