Er,,, Foreskin Question

[tjtheminx]

My DS is 2 1/2.
DH changed him this morning and said that DS's foreskin is tight and we need to be doing something about it. (??)
TBH I thought you just had to keep the area clean - but I've never pulled it back or anything. Am I supposed to.

Looks normal enough to me..but I'm not expert.

Any tips. Tis all a foreign country to me.

ds2 had to be circumcised when he was 2 because of a tight foreskin. His problems started when he was very very young. I noticed it with him when he was a baby and when he wee'd he would balloon massively and was in quite some pain.

Don't pull it back. Just keep it clean. Have a look and take him to the gp if need be who'll be able to tell if it is tight and if he needs to be referred.

Have your DH look at this.

There are lots more sites of this ilk (mainly American), including one called nocirc.org, if you want more info.

I was (unnecessarily, I now realise) worried about DS2, as he always seemed tight and would balloon when he weed.
But now he's 9 and all in full working order (I think), and none the worse for letting nature take its course, which it will in 99% of cases.

I was told off for paediatrician for not having pulled back ds1's foreskin regularly, and it doesn't open. He said he may have to fix it surgically. He said you should be pulling it back once a wk. DS1 is 7yo.

Here's another one.

DS had to be done a few months ago and it was horrific.

In his case there was no choice but to have him curcumcised due to recurrent infections from the skin not being able to be pulled back but this is not apparent till they are older as in a lot of cases the foreskin will losen of it's own accord.

Go and see the doctor by all means but be prepared for him to tell you to come back in a few years as they very often refuse to do them until they are out of nappies due to keeping the area clean and dry - this is if it needs to be done at all.

Make sure you get a referral to a peads urologist too if you are referred as they will have a better idea as to what will happen as your son grows and if he needs to be circumscised or not.

But it really is a huge deal - it is immensly painful and quite horrific for the child involved.

Forcibly pulling the foreskin back can cause paraphymosis which is a medical emergency in which the blood supply to the glans is in danger of being cut off.

The connective tissue under the foreskin is designed to gradually wear away so that it can then be fully retracted without force, which may not happen until the age of 14.

Here's an informative [[http://www.cirp.org/library/hygiene/simpson1/ site]

and another here

basically it says leave it alone, but get your son to retract when in the bath etc and he should do it only if it doesn't hurt

sorry the link didin't work

Just to say DS was circumcised at 20 months for another reason (best option with hypospadias op - only born with partial foreskin). Obvioulsy he couldnt tell me what he felt but for him I am pretty sure it wasnt a horrific experience. Seeing as he had an operation, recovery period and hospital stay he was very bright and chirpy and completely his bouncy usual self on normal dose calpol and nurofen. He was literally bouncing on the sofa within 48 hours and running round the hospital ward one hour after coming round!

Hoping your son doesnt need this obviously but just wanted to say it isnt always an awful experience - quite possibly easier when they are younger.

God, I had no idea about any of this, I just thought the advice was to never pull the foreskin back at all when they are little. I am sure we were clearly told not to when DS was born and nobody has ever revised this since ... as in, "now that he's six months old you should be pulling it back weekly" or something ...

So, DS is 2.5 and I have never pulled his back -- should I really have been doing it once a week? Since when?

I have 3 boys and have never 'done' anything to their foreskins.

I asked DH if there was any special way I needed to be cleaning them when DS1 was 2 and he said 'No - leave it alone!' with quite a horrified look on his face!

They all sit in the bath for at least 20 mins playing once I am done washing them etc so their willies all get a good soaking.

DHs dad pulled his back when he was little and it didn't go back and had to be rushed to hospital to have his willy freed with an emergency snip - think that is where DHs horror comes from.

DS2 is 3 and his comes right back but he is always playing with the bloody thing and 'popping it out' DS1s doesn't come right back and he is 4.

Only advice I have ever heard from 'medical' bods is not to pull it back.

ds (6) has -had?- this problem. The paed prescribed some topical ointment which dh applied to ds' foreskin every morning & evening. It must have worked as there've been no further complaints but tbh I don't touch ds' willy myself - not that he'd let me!

I think you should leave alone to sort itself out, unless its causing him any pain when urinating or is discharging.

ds1 (6) cant pull his foreskin back as its joined down one side. I thought this might be a problem as dp had surgery on his for the same problem when he was about 10. I asked the dr and they said it usually sorts itself out by puberty anyway so leave it.
ds2 is 4 and ive never told him to pull it back because of what the dr said about ds1.

Dorothyplenticlew

Worry not.

Only one poster on this thread has been advised (wrongly) to pull it back; all others confirm the advice in the links.
Carry on leaving it alone. What you thought is entirely correct.

i work with consultant urologists and surgeons and they ALL say DO NOT pull the foreskin back until they are at least the age of 3 years as it is still attached. Once they get to that age pull it back but only as far as it will go without forcing it. My ds1 had a very tight foreskin but its absoluty fine now.

Boys naturally loosen it anyway once their hand is permanently down their trousers!!

DH has just been horified at the suggestion of pulling it back!

He said they will sort that them selves when they reach puberty!