Son screaming in pain when weeing

[Rosebud1302]

Hi all,

My son is 4 this week and for the second time in the last couple of months, he is screaming blue murder when weeing as it hurts. Last time we got some cream from the GP and some antibiotics for a mild UTI. This cleared up really quickly, all good.

Saturday he was in absolute agony again but worse than last time. The screams were unbearable :( we phoned 111 and ended up at out of hours GP who immediately said he cant even see the hole for him to wee out of so he is not surprised he's in so much pain :( said I needed an urgent GP appointment Monday morning. Did that, got more cream but a different one and more antibiotics but was told not to give them unless UTI symptoms occur (bearing in mind last time he didn't present with classic UTI symptoms but still did have one). Nothing detected for UTI on dip test this time round. She also put through an urgent referral for him to see a specialist in Oxford.

Well, turns out this appointment is for March 2023...!!!! I am not blaming the NHS. I know how crazy things are at the minute. But March?! He can't wait that long and he has been in pain much longer than he was last time. He is so so terrified about weeing. It is causing so much stress at home (for us too) and accidents where he is holding it for up to 18 hours at a time. No amount of reasoning or bribery helps especially at bedtime.

Does anyone have experience of this? I am guessing the issue is his foreskin is too tight which is causing infections at the tip and causing there to be no visible hole. Which is obviously very painful for him. After research though it seems like it is incredibly rare for them to do surgery on kids nowadays. So I guess my question is, what do we do then? Surely it can't keep flaring up like this and we cannot go on until March with flare ups. It's awful for all of us (him in particular of course). He starts school in September so now I'm so worried about this as he is having multiple accidents a day at preschool.

Sorry for the long ramble. Would love to hear if anyone has experienced similar with their child? Should also say we have removed all bubble bath and shampoo from bath time as I hear that makes it worse.

Thank you!!

You need to make a complaint and push for an earlier appointment

Or find the money for a private consultant appointment. They’ll likely refer you back into the NHS if something needs done

@WouldBeGood thank you for your reply. We looked into private last night. Do you know, if we did a private consultation could we then go back to nhs for surgery if it did need to happen? Unfortunately we just don't have thousands spare for private surgery :(

I've realised you literally answered my question already, sorry. Lack of sleep 🤣

Yes, dd got referred back in for investigations; and actually I got referred back in for surgery myself last year.

Well worth the initial outlay on both occasions.

That's so good to know and I hope you are both on the mend. Thank you.

The steroid cream does work in most cases - it helps the foreskin grow and stretch as long as you do the right gentle stretches/massage (has the GP shown you what to do? Usually you can start a couple of weeks after starting the steroid cream). By March it's possible you won't need the appointment.

Aww your poor little boy, the only suggestions I would make is to call the secretary of the consultant that your son has been referred too and say how concerned you are and that you can take any cancellation, even at short notice.

In the meantime, have you tried him weeing in the bath, warm water may make it more comfortable for him? Worth a try, it sounds very distressing for you all.

The third suggestion would be, can you afford to go private? I know it is expensive but it would also be likely that he could be seen very quickly, all private consultants hold NHS posts too, so if your son is seen privately he could later be trans to NHS list. Usually a first consultation is around £250, not many private consultants see under 16’s, but they’re some that will.

Good luck OP, nothing worse than seeing your child in pain.

@KvotheTheBloodless no they have not told us anything apart from given us cream and sent the referral through :(

My DGS had surgery for this, good luck.

@Roselilly36 thank you xx it is horrible yes. Yes tried in the bath. He is just so terrified it's going to hurt. He really builds himself up and no distracting him works. Eventually he is in such a state he ends up in more pain because there is so much in there, or wetting himself :(

@tedgran can I ask how old your grandchild was? How long did he have to wait for surgery? And did anything help in the meantime? Sorry to bombard you!

My nephew had something similar. His foreskin was to tight so kept causing infections. His gp prescribed antibiotics cream, other creams and basically told him to play with it to stretch it. My nephew was aghast when my boys showed him how far you could pull a foreskin back, nephews had little to no movement. After 6 months of creams and fiddling in the bath My sister took him back and he was referred for a minor operation. The surgeon who performed the 15 min operation said the easiest way to explain it is that he has tongue tie just below the foreskin. Nephew has had no problems since although he was tender for about a week and had to go pantless for a few days.
I would chase and ask for a more urgent referral considering the pain your son is in, nephew was having problems but nowhere near the scale of your sons.
Timescales from first reporting the problem to operation was about 9 months.

My DS had balinitis a few times at that age. It has since resolved itself.

Getting a swift doctors appointment and a prescription for timodene cream really helped. Our GP was kind enough to prescribe 2 tubes so we had a spare in case we had a second bout.

Being careful with his clothing really helped too. We noticed it was more common when he wore snug clothes that trapped him. So we bought him new pants that were larger and roomier and ensured that trousers weren't tight around the crotch.

Night nappies/pull ups were in the largest size too.

If his pain is continuing, take him back to the GP. Be blunt about your DS's level of discomfort, and be clear that he cannot cope like that till March.

Also ask about gentle stretching, you should've been given direction on this. As a PP mentioned, doing it in the bath is often recommended.

Thank you all. We have decided to pay for a private consultation which is on Tuesday. I just hope this will at least offer some answers/prognosis as we can't continue like this. Another awful day :(

Good luck for Tues OP, I hope the matter is resolved ASAP.

Oh pleased to hear it @Rosebud1302 Hope you get some answers, your poor boy

Name change sorry, was on earlier

You mention in your op that dipstick for uti was negative, but they are known to be inaccurate, this is even on the NHS website but alot of Dr's will not believe someone has a uti without a positive result. They should be treating him if he has symptoms of uti or he could end up with an embedded infection.

Thanks all.
@Grosscostsagreed I completely agree. Last time he didn't present with the typical UTI symptoms but it turns out he did have one and we got antibiotics. This time they gave us antibiotics but said not to use them unless he shows other symptoms. Well after a few days of him having real ups and downs in terms of general wellness, we have started giving him the antibiotics. They seemed to work last time so fingers they alleviate some of the issue.