Phimosis - Circumcision

[Boymumma3]

Hi all, I have a little boys who's 3 years old who's had a few infections on his penis. I noticed when he was urinating that his penis was blowing up like a ballon and then releasing his urine. Last time we went to the GP I showed him a video of what it looked like and he was referred to urology. We had 1 appointment I explained how it ballooned up when urinating, he had a look and said he has quite sever phimosis and that he should be able to pull his foreskin back slightly to even just see the tip but you cant at all. He said he needs full circumcision and it is booked in for this month.
Is this a bit drastic? Does he need the surgery so soon? I am very anxious about this and would rather him not but obviously if really needs then thats fine, but I have read that sometimes this can be normal in toddler age.

Anyone help or advice please?

Same story here except DS was 15 and it ended up in a dramatic and traumatic rush to A&E at 11pm one night when he couldn't wee AT ALL and was crying to me with fear. It was so so awful for him, they gave him gas and air while they tried to snip the end of his foreskin so that they could insert a catheter as they couldn't even get the narrowest catheter back up. I'll never forget it, it was like watching your child being tortured. And still they couldn't make a gap to let any wee out.

They ended up having to call the emergency surgeon out in the middle of the night to do a procedure under general anaesthetic so that his bladder could be emptied. He stayed at home with a catheter for a week then was admitted for a scheduled circumcision.

They said that in my son's case it was caused by a condition called BXO which can get worse as goes on and even circumcision may not prevent a bit of a re-narrowing of the urethra.

If they're advising him to have a circumicion young, OP, I would seriously think about getting it done. I wish we had never had to put DS through the trauma of that nighttime rush to A&E as a teenager. He will always remember it.

Despite the circumcision he had further re-narrowing a couple of years later just before A-levels and had to go in again for a procedure to have his urethra expanded (thankfully he anticipated this in time for it not to be quite such a traumatic experience but it was still a day case).

Ultimately he now has his own catheter type things that he has to regularly insert into the end of his penis to keep the urethral tube open as it can close over over time if you don't. He is on a programme to self-refer if he has any further issues through his adult life.

I feel sorry for him because what 19 year lad wants to be worrying about that? I also feel guilty because perhaps I should have done more when he was young? But not having a penis myself how am I supposed to know what's normal? All the baby books tell you to let the foreskin separate on its own and not to pull it when cleaning. I too noticed the ballooning, but the same thing had happened with his older brother for a while and then it just resolved. Over the years no medical person ever said they needed to examine him, they just issued a few prescriptions for antibiotics for UTIs. It was only when I really pushed for a GP appointment because yet again it was disrupting his life that the GP said on the phone that she would need to examine him at that one. Unfortunately 2 days before that GP appointment his urine flow stopped completely and that was the traumatic A&E visit.

Please, mums of boys, if you have any suspicions at all that something isn't right with your son's penis, don't assume that all will be ok. Go and see a GP, even if it's just for reassurance.

"Not familiar with whats normal for little boys at all as its all girls in my family"

Up to the age of 3 to 5 the foreskin will be attached but should start to be retractable but may still have areas of adhesion.

They should not forcibly retract but should attempt to at least partly do so. Partly this is for hygiene reasons. Partly because if they do not the penis will develop in size but the foreskins won't and retraction will get more difficult, especially important once they hit puberty.

Glad it's been done, OP. He will recover quickly I'm sure.

Incidentally, for anyone else reading this who is worried about their son, one of the issues with my son that I noticed when he was younger was that from time to time he had what he called a "stiffy" 😆which he seemed to bother him. I remember one time we were out in a restaurant and he was clearly worried as it wouldn't go down for a while and he was in some discomfort. He must have been about 9. I think that in hindsight perhaps the phimosis may have caused those kind of issues.

Yeah I’m aware, I just thought saying about the cream would be enough

@CurlyhairedAssassin sorry to hear that, did he get surgery?

Thankyou everyone.

Hes in nappies so finding it a little hard, also noticed when he had weed the nappy look like bloody but watered down if thats make sense, is this normal?

Also was told not to bath him for 48 hours and after that do showers and not to let him sit and soak?

I'm rather unsure how to keep it clean if he cant have it wet and hes in nappies so I want to make sure I do everything to avoid infection. Tbh they didnt give much aftercare advice except from the bathing and stitches will dissolve.

Hes absolutely fine in himself just obviously stinging when he is weeing.

They also told us how after it was good to have got it done at this age as it was very severe that he would have suffered so much growing up. Think the seeing them been put to sleep is the worst part!

Hopefully recovery is over with quickly. Hate to see him in pain, but im glad its over and done with now.

The fact GP has not suggested creams and stretching etc shows how severe it must be. I think the op is the way to go.

edit: I’m confused, has he had the surgery or not? There shouldn’t be any blood. If he has blood in his pee or nappies please go to the doctor ASAP regardless of the phimosis.

We was referred to urology after asking gp about his penis ballooning when urinated and showed him a video I managed to capture. He would also say he needed a wee alot but nothing would come out. And also a few infections and pain when urinating.

Ps we had tried steroid cream before and made no difference, but alot say even if it does help it goes back to normal after stopping using it.

X

He had his Operation today we came home this afternoon. So the blood is this evening after the op.

(We have tried cream before didnt do anything)

@sprinklesandshines yes he had it today. X

You said three days ago he was booked in later this month. So 3 days after you booked in on NHS he had the op?

I smell something fishy

No sorry prob should have updated but he should have had it before but it had been cancelled twice, therefore he had already had his pre op.
He was rebooked for later this month then they called to fit him in today.
He has actually been on the list a few months, prob should have explained in main post better. Sorry x

Reading with interest. DS, 11, has been using steroid cream for a month and can now pull back the foreskin. I too had no idea this wouldn’t just resolve, and wish DH had shown a bit more interest (especially given he had to have similar surgery as an adult as he had a penile adhesion).

DS has been back for a review and urologist is comfortable with the process. There’s a small adhesion that he’s doing a quick procedure to release under a local anaesthetic next week.

Wondering if we should just go ahead with a circumcision though, sounds like this could continue to be problematic.

I’m not sure if it’s different for children but my ex partner used the cream and stretching, it worked short term but when stopped the skin returned to the original tightness. It’s not a permanent solution with adults anyway

Please be careful with steroid cream, it’s not suitable for long term use. Steroid cream withdrawal can cause lots of problems.

"It’s not a permanent solution with adults anyway."

Incorrect. In most cases it is and can be if proper stretching exercises are followed. There are forums for men with this issue. Think about it. When someone puts on a lot of weight their skin expands accordingly.

You can do the same with the foreskin and the cream makes this much easier. As a teenager / adult this permanent stretching is achievable within a few months, but it must be more difficult for very young boys.

Some men circumcised young try and restore a kind of foreskin via this stretching although they note that the sensitive nerve endings it possesses are irretrievable
.

How's your son doing now OP? We're waiting for a surgery date which we've been told will be soon due to severe scarring caused by recurrent infections. We've tried the cream but it hasn't worked so we've been advised circumcision would be best. My son is 5, I'm dreading the appointment date & am worrying about his recovery & how he'll be after surgery.

That day was the worst day for him, every day after this post he just got better and better.

Straight after surgery he was up and playing about starlight away, its not actually as bad as you think I was petrified but everything went well. I am actually so glad we went ahead with it and got itbover and done with.

Hope all goes well. If anymore questions dont hesitate to ask x

Wee in the bath or on a jug of warm water ,stops the stinging. Lidocaine cream is good and keep up with pain killers.

My DS is 11 and I don’t know if this count as phimosis, but he has an extra long foreskin. Is it best to see a GP about it?

Not unless it's causing him problems.

Well done for getting this sorted op.
A friend of mine didn't sort it until his early 20s and wished he'd done it sooner and I recently met a man (romantically) who hadnt sorted it still in his mid FORTIES and was clearly a huge issue he wasn't able or willing to deal with... Awful.

He hasn’t said anything about pain and he hasn’t had any issues with infections yet but I guess that could change

Unlikely to if he hasn't had any yet, phismosis is caused by too tight a foreskin not too long. As long as your ds knows how to wash correctly he'll probably be fine.

He can’t retract it at all though that’s my worry. But I don’t know if that’s normal

Well that isn't normal. So get it checked.