Phimosis: DS, 7, needs to have circumcision.

[Surroundedbysnot]

Anyone been through this with a little 'un?

Poor kid!
No experience, but I'm wondering if one of my younger DSs may have to go through this as DH's father had to be circumcised in his 30s, and then DH as a teenager - but I don;t really know whether it's a condition that can be inherited or whether that was coincidence. So probably better at 7 than 15, but not nice whenever - good luck.

My friends little boy had to be circumcised due to difficulty peeing, is that what the condition is called? He wasn't great after the op, and had a bit of difficulty getting comfy afterwards. But the op was a success, and worth the couple of weeks discomfort afterwards.

does he actually have troubles with it sbs?

as it's not that unusual for it not to retract my this age, sometimes it may not retract until teens.

There are also creams and exercises to use on the foreskin to help stretch it enough to retract.

This info might be of help/interest

ds2 was fully circumcised in December (on my birthday!) We'd been waiting for the op since he was 5mths, and they booked him in as soon as he was 2 (they usually won't do it here until they're 5, except in extreme cases).

Obviously my ds is a lot younger than yours, so knew nothing about it, but he was amazing. If your ds does have it done be prepared for a shock when the nurse shows you it, it's not pretty! My ds had his op on the Mon, the swelling was gone by Weds, and bruising all gone by Thurs.

I will admit the 1st couple of days I felt really guilty for getting it done (even though it wasn't bothering him a huge amount), it was just the sight of it all bruised and swollen, but it's made him so much better. He never used to be able to empty his bladder. It used to be a small drip when he had a wee, he often cried too when he wee'd and used to balloon massively. Now, he wees as normal (and is fascinated by it!) and has no pain etc.

Having just read furballs link would just like to add something. ds2's op was planned as an investigation with circumcision if necessary. The plan was that they had a look under anaesthetic to see if circumcision was necessary at all, and if they could have done would either have left it, if it was likely to retract on its own, or just performed a partial circumcision. Although I obvioulsy don't know if this is standard paractice nationwide, or just in some areas, maybe worth finding out if you are concerned about full circumcision?

My 8 year old had this last year.

He was brilliant. It did hurt him for a couple of days following (just let him wear long T-shirts and no pants etc).

Let me know if you need any more info...

H'mm - food for thought, Furball. We have been doing stretching informally to no avail, but should maybe try a more structured regime. Our GP thinks that something will need to be done - she has gone through this with her own DS, tried stretching etc, but he needed a circumscision in the end and because he was a teen by then, it hurt a lot. So she is advising us not to let too much time pass. The next step is to see a consultant and hopefully he would not just grab a scalpel, but think about all the options.

DS has an extremely long foreskin - he can pull it out till it is as long as his todger, and twang it like an elastic band. The hole at the end is tiny, however.

I'm hoping that full circumcision won't be necessary.

Thanks for all the messages, ladies.