Phimosis

[OhTheWoes]

NC for this

Recently been to the GP over DS’ phimosis issue. Doctor seemed overall pretty confident that a steroid cream can solve the issue and that it wasn’t an extreme case although I’m just worrying that it’s not going to help and that’ll it’ll have to be taken further. Does anyone have any advice? Sorry if tmi

How old is your DS? My son was given a cream to use for a few months and then opted for surgery.

He’s 14, was the surgery full circumcision?

No he decided to go for the other one (which I've forgotten the name of) where they just make incisions in the foreskin to widen it. He was 14 at the time as well. It was over a year ago now and he's happy with the result.

That’s good to hear, DS is terrified of the idea of any sort of surgery so hoping that the cream will help in some way. Although he’s panicking a lot and I don’t know what I can do to minimise the worry

My husband had a circumcision at 29 due to this.

I think our son has it too, he's 9 now and blissfully unaware.

Following x

Sorry to hear that! Did it work out for your husband?

has your DS mentioned anything?

Ah that's understandable. Fingers crossed it makes a difference. My son has had surgeries for other things so he wasn't too phased by the idea of being put to sleep. He has a very low pain threshold though and found it quite painful for the first 24 hours but it healed quickly.

Thank you. Hopefully, oh that makes sense, DS has never needed to have surgery (yet) and so he sees things like casualty and pictures that lol. I will say he seems to have the opposite to your son and has a very high pain threshold so that might be a positive? 😅🤷‍♀️

Also to add my partner has it (not my DC's dad) but hasn't had the surgery. Not severe and it doesn't cause many issues but sometimes he finds sex painful and has to stop which he finds frustrating for obvious reasons and often says he should have the surgery.

Ha ha yeah sounds like it! My son screams like he's dying on a regular basis lol 😂

Thats why my husband went for it, painful sex. Yes, it worked out well.

I’m glad it worked out for him

My DS recently turned 14 and it is starting to resolve itself with no intervention. The advice we had was to do nothing until 15. He had a recent doctor consult who says the foreskin is starting to detach. Obviously I can't monitor it as such, but DS seems OK with it for now.

That's reassuring, I hope it's the same for our son

As per PP, I was also going to say that 14 seems quite young to be taking action, unless it's severe (which you say it's not). Having said that, DH tried the steroid cream and it relieved it while he was using it but once he stopped, it actually seemed to get worse, he has since had the surgery and all good now, after the 4 weeks of abstinence 😮Surgery was fine and is done under general anaesthetic so he didn't have to be awake with them chopping about downstairs!

thanks for the information both

@Saisong That’s great! Was he ever in discomfort over it or was it a simple process of not noticing and just waiting?

@grabitwithbothhands See I thought 14 was a bit late so it’s good to hear that it is a normal age. Obviously when he was a toddler it was normal to be tight but by around 10 I thought it detached. Huh that’s weird that it got worse after stopping slightly concerning lol. I know surgery is probably the best and most straight forward way however I think we’ll keep it as a last resort because DS is utterly terrified at the prospect of being put to sleep or having anything cut etc

I think it's like a lot of medical stuff - ask 5 experts, get 10 opinions.
One one hand, there is no rush to get surgery unless it is actually getting infected but on the other hand, the younger it is done, it is probably quicker to recover from if that makes sense.
My husband never had any infections with it, just sometimes painful during sex; it got more noticeable after he had the snip and stopped using condoms, I guess the condom gave a bit of a buffer, hence why he didn't do anything about it until in his 40s.
This is putting me off my morning cuppa and biscuit, but tell your DS to make sure he cleans thoroughly under the foreskin in the shower, that will reduce the chance of infections.

@OhTheWoes it did feel tight for him sometimes, and he had the occasional bout of balinitis (though not since at least 10). It still ballooned to pee sometimes too - though I don't think it does any more (difficult topic of conversation with a teenager).

A few years ago we read through some medical pages online with him (NHS etc) so that he knew what was 'normal', and the recommended approach (i.e. waiting until at least 15). He was never able to retract and therefore specifically clean under the foreskin etc. I assume that is changing, but again I don't like to ask too closely. Hopefully between him and the doctor they have it covered!

Thanks both!

@grabitwithbothhands did anything help with the pain in regards to sex? Haha yes probably best not to discuss with biscuits or breakfast. He cannot retract the foreskin at all so would be unable to clean under it sadly

@Saisong I don’t think DS has ever had balantis (going off what he’s told me) but like yours he can’t clean under it

From what I can recall him saying, the steroid cream helped as it loosened the skin, but that was only temporary and putting steroids on his privates was not something he wanted to do long term, at least painful sex is an issue your DS shouldn't have for a while.
I guess if he can't retract it at the moment, it's maybe best to wait and see if it naturally separates before rushing into anything. Hope it all works out OK.

If the cream does not work surgery might be the only option. He should practise stretching too