Tight foreskin

[MamMomMommyMa]

Sorry im clueless but my 5 year old sons foreskin comes over the top of penis and is tight and pointy. The hole at the top doesn't look to be big enough. It doesn't retract over penis. It's often red but my son said it doesn't hurt. It balloons when he urinates.

Ive brought him to gp and he said normal nothing to worry about but I am worried it's going to be a problem. My husband had to have a circumcision as an adult due to tight foreskin and not being able to retract so im worried it might happen to my son.

Can anyone tell me if it's normal?

I think it is normal. Everything changes as puberty sets in. Lots of boys can’t retract their foreskin until puberty.

But if he has soreness and inflammation he could have balinitis.

Ballooning can be a sign it's a bit tight. The usual advice is to encourage them to fiddle with it in the bath/shower. If that doesn't loosen things, then the next step if needed is to add in steroid cream. The majority loosen up without needing surgery.

Thanks both. Gp did prescribe Betnovate cream and we have been using it twice a day. The redness has gone the last few days, been using cream for about 2 weeks now.

I will try get him to move it around in the shower/ bath

But don’t encourage him to try and retract it.

Ok so if not trying to retract it what should he be doing? Does he just move it around, stretching it as such?

Basically yes.

My son had to be circumcised at 3 because his foreskin was way too tight. The surgeon said they don't like doing it young but when she checked him there was no doubt the procedure had to he done.

He used to get lots of infections, was in lots of pain, had ballooning and retained urine. It was awful for him. And as much as I felt guilty as the recovery for him was horrendous (honestly I felt like the worst mom watching what he went through) but its the best thing I could have done for him as since he hasn't had a single problem.

Over the space of a year before his operation I was encouraged to gently pull it back myself whilst he was in the bath. I couldn't. He would cry, but I felt totally wrong and uncomfortable doing it. He got constant infections and alot of the time his winky hurt him.

Does your son have and other problems? It could resolve itself and the GP told me it likely would but as my DS showed signs of pain alot of the time I wasn't prepared to wait years for it to sort itself out

Thanks for the detailed reply. He has no pain which is why I think they aren't concerned but I'm worried because my husband had to get it done as an adult

No pain is a good thing. My poor boy used to cry all the time and the infections were awful. I'd keep an eye on it but if you are really worried then there's no harm in talking to your doctor about your options.
I'm not saying surgery is the only option but I am glad I did it when he was 3 rather than when he was older. Its a routine procedure and recovery is usually very easy. My son had a hard time because he already had a pretty nasty infection that I wasn't aware of as it was trapped, and his stitches kept popping which started healing all over again. Once 2 weeks had passed he was back to normal.

Good luck to you and your son. I hope things resolve

Not helpful for your question but I'd stop the betnovate. Its a strong steroid for a little one and isn't designed to go in such areas. You also shouldn't use a steroid for more than 1 week usually without a break, 2 max. Son and I both have excema and betnivate is the strength I use, I woukdnt put it on my kid.

The betnovate is to thin the skin and make detachment easier. It’s deliberately strong.