At what age should the child's foreskin be retractable? Smegma pearls.

[Vale]

Hi,

My son just turned 3 and his foreskin is still completely closed.

The right side of his penis has what almost looks like a sort of large blister under the skin near the base of his head. I have been told by the doctor that is called smegma pearls. He is not bothered by it at all and he is peeing just fine.

His doctor was concerned about the fact that his foreskin is still completely closed and she advised me to buy a cortisone cream to put on his penis to help the foreskin to open and if after a week this doesn't work, we should consider seeing a surgeon.

P.S. I forgot to say I am Italian and my husband is English and we live in Italy and I was hoping this is more of a cultural thing than a real problem and the doctor is wrong.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks,
Vale

I have no idea about my ds's either.
However...

My sister was always cleaning my nephews, and 2 of them "needed" to be circumcised at age 4 and 6 or something because of all the infections.

Poor things - don't know why she didn't just leave them alone!!

BTW, Smegma Pearls sounds like a great name for a band....

But, going back to the OP - his foreskin can't be competely closed if he's peeing OK, surely?

3 is still very young for it to be retracting, it may be like that until 10, it's all normal!

good article here I've linked to the page 'At What Age Will The Foreskin Freely Retract?' but you can read all 5 pages if want to find out more.

this page is informative as is this page which is the one nontoxic was trying to link to and finally ways to resolve without surgery

I took DS2 to the hospital with a very similar problem a few days ago. The consultant said he would normally expect the foreskin to be retractable around 2 - 3 years of age but I know it can right itself later than that.

DS2 will have to have a small cut in the end of his foreskin to loosen it and make it retractable - if that does not work then circumcision. The final decision will be made in the operating theatre on the day.

DS2 suffers from repeated bacterial infection under his foreskin because he cannot retract it to clean properly and also because urine gets tapped under there when he urinates - a condition known as Balinitis.

The OP does need to get this sorted out though. Repeated infection may occur otherwise and cause problems later in life not just for DS but also any sexual partner he has.

It is great to get so much support and advice . I was a bit worried and now I feel much better.

I am so glad I haven?t follow my sister advice to gently retracted it for cleaning it.

As Flocci and CherryChoc said, the foreskin doesn't need to be retracted or cleaned under and doing so can in fact cause infections and this is confirmed by the website article sent by Furball, I copy and paste below:

Smegma is probably the most misunderstood, most unjustifiably maligned substance in nature. Smegma is clean rather than dirty. It is beneficial and necessary. It moisturizes the glans and keeps it smooth, soft, and supple. Its antibacterial and antiviral properties keep the penis clean and healthy.

I think that as Nontoxic suggested, I WILL LEAVE IT ALONE!

Also because as IwontBite and Heated said (and also confirmed by different sources on internet ), it is very common for the foreskin to be "closed" or non-retractable at that age and can be non-retractable until puberty.

I will explain to my son that when he will grow up the foreskin will open, so he knows what to expect during his puberty and because he most probably will no longer allow me to discuss his private parts, (like Slambang?s son did), and I will have no way of knowing if it?s ok or not!

Thank you again to all Mumsneters who posted on this thread, you really helped me.