Advice about the Penis
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Feb 2007
I read the posted advise about ''ballooning penis'' and was so
relieved... i didn't however read anything about
the ''ballooning'' causing a Urinary Tract Infection.
Our son who is 2 1/2 and is potty training (he's really good at
holding his pee, almost to good!) recently got a UTI. our Ped.
(Kiser) said it's because of the ''ballooning'' she said there is
back flow which caused the Infection. She has scheduled an
ultra-sound for his kidneys to make sure the infection did not
go there. He had bleeding with the UTI. They also want us to
see a Ped. Urologist.
Naturally we are so happy to have not circumcized, and are
scared to do anything that will hurt/traumatize him. so i
wonder has anyone had experience with this type of problem?
worried mama
I hate to be the bearer of the ''bad news'' but here goes. Keep
aware of the foreskin that does not retract (2 is early but keep
yr eyes open for when/if it does and talk to yr ped periodically
about it). Talk to a ped urologist. We too did not circumcise
either of our boys. We did not want to hurt our kids. However, my
older son's foreskin never did fully retract. It ballooned when
he peed. He got UTIs.
He's now six. We went to a ped urologist and are now on our
second three week round of a steroid cream with him and that
entails retacting his foreskin twice a day which is clearly
uncomfortable for him. The urologist sd since we had some (a
little) retraction he'll let us try a third time before
recommending we circumcising him. Can you imagine, a six year
old, already aware of some inkling of his sexuality, already
embarrassed in front of his peers about his underpants showing,
having to explain why he missed school to have a painful
procedure on his penis?
Now I wouldn't say I regret not circumcising him but I do
reconsider whether I can always protect him from pain. Much in
the same way my friends who didn't give their kids chicken pox
shots MERELY for the ''protection of pain'' argument regret having
to see their kids incredibly uncomfortable scratching and having
to stay home from work for a week or more with them.
I hope your son is ok and I hope this hasn't seemed harsh but
stay on top of it and please be open to trying anything that may
help him.
been there
My son, who is not circumcized, was also
experiencing ''ballooning''. I asked my Kaiser pediatrician
about it, and she too referred me to the pediatric urologist in
Oakland. What a horrible experience my son and I had with that
guy! Not only did he make us wait 45 minutes past our
appointment time without an apology from him, his manner was
dismissive. He said my son had phimosis, and then prescribed a
steriod cream to stop the ''problem.'' He told me to apply the
cream twice a day, and pull back the foreskin until the penis
was able to be seen. He said that if the cream did not work,
he would then recommend circumcision. Like the naive new mom
that I was, I followed his instruction. After several weeks,
he was very pleased to see that the foreskin retracted as he
said was required (on an 18 month old!) He allowed me to go
home with intact son. Sometime afterwards, my son came down
with a horribly painful UTI, which was dismissed by yet another
wonderfully uninformed doctor in the ER! Fortunately,
thereafter, I did alot of homework, and stopped the steroid
cream. I only hope now that my son's penis is not scared by
the forced retraction that ''pediatric urologist'' required me to
do! My advice to you is to learn as much as possible about
uncircumcized penises, UTIs, etc. BEFORE you talk with the
pediatric urologist, who may try to get you to do things that
may not be in your son's best interests... e.g. circumcize him,
put steroid cream on his foreskin, forceably retract his
foreskin, etc.
Still fuming two years later!
I just want to highly recommend the Pediatric Urologist at
Oakland Kaiser, Dr. Krishnan and his doctor's assistant, whose
name I forget. They made the exam and treatment so much easier
for our son by being light-hearted and quick and kind. It sounds
like that's who you'll be seeing so just know you're in good
hands. Dr. Krishnan also comes highly recommended by two
different Pediatricians I respect at Kaiser.
Rebecca
Our son has a different problem with his kidney/reflux, etc. We
are also with Kaiser and think the pediatric urologist and
pediatric nephrologist are WONDERFUL. Especially the urologist. I
think that after you see the urologist you will not be worried,
and you will fully understand your son's condition, treatment
options, etc. No real advice, just commiseration, but it sounds
like you have a solvable problem - it'll all be OK.
BTDT
My son is now 11 years old, and continues with the ''ballooning penis'' when he
pees, but has never had a UTI. I have not taken him in to the pediatric urologist,
but have spoken with them, and they always tell me it is a problem and recommend
the steroid cream. Well, it doesn't seem to be a problem for my son. I feel that the
intact penis is not part of the culture of urology in this country yet. I remember
reading that in Europe, the boys are not troubled by the ''ballooning penis'' so I
decided not to worry about it at this point. Also I think the age of when the foreskin
''should'' retract is also not known for sure.
I didn't see the original post, but I would say one UTI can be random, and you might
do the wholistic things we all do for UTIs, more water, cranberry juice. But if your
son has many UTIs you may want to pursue more the medical model with the
urologist.
Sept 2006
My son is 10 years old and has a penis that does not extend to
its full length unless he is urinating or during an erection.
Instead, most of the time, it is as if it retracts so that only
about 1/2 inch is visible. We took him to an urologist when he
was 5, and he assured us this sometimes happens and that it will
correct itself by puberty. But, somehow I find myself worrying
about it again. I'm wondering if anyone has had a son with a
similar situation, and if so when did his penis change? Thanks
for your advice.
Thanks for your help
Is your youngster overweight or obese? Frequently, in such
cases, the shaft of the penis is hidden by the excessive fatty
tissue and appears ''too small''. If it extends to a ''normal''
length during erection, then there is probably little to worry
about. I assume that the testicles are properly descended into
the scrotum.
I had a similar problem when I was a child and my father was
concerned about such. Nothing was done and all turned out
quite normally when I ''grew up''. I have sired four children
and have had a satisfactory sex life for all of my 68 years.
If ''normal'' signs of puberty do not develop at a normal time,
then I would check with an urologist once again
Robert
April 2006
i need some reasurrance about our 8 month old son's little penis--it
always seems to be ''hidden'' by his skin. i rarely see it come
straight out unless he's ready to pee and even then its still
surrounded by what is i guess the foreskin or the skin around it (not
sure what to call it). if we push down on that skin we can see it but
it still looks so small. he was circumcised and we think that they
just didn't take a lot of the foreskin off, but our doctor says his
penis is perfectly normal and it won't actually come out of the skin
area (not sure what to call it) until he is in 2nd or 3rd grade. this
is reasurring and i should just stop worrying about it but then i see
the little boys in george's playgroup being changed and their penis'
all stick out! some are huge! i'm becoming one of those mothers who
is comparing their child and i hate it. i DON'T want this to be an
issue with my son, and i can't believe i'm letting this bother me.
but i find myself hiding his penis when changing his diaper in front
of others. this is HORRIBLE, i know. i just want to know if anyone
else out there has a son with a hidden little penis. its actually
quite cute and looks like a little button, but i just want to know
that he isn't going to be made fun of in first grade when he's got to
go to the bathroom. since i don't have a penis and am not too
familiar with how they are supposed to grow (can't find any info on
this online) i would appreciate any advice or information. --penis
envy!
My son had, and still to some degree has, a similar problem. We
refered
to his penis as an ''inny'' much as one would refer to a belly button
as
an inny. It would only come out when he went pee or during the
occassion ''pokey'' as we'd call his mini- erections. The skin (he was
also circumsized) folded around it although didn't come to a tip like
an
uncircumsized penis. I think some of it had to do with that the whole
area was just kinda pudgy.
With that said, he is now 4 1/2 and for the most part it tends to pop
out more than in. In his case, the skin adhered to the tip of his
penis
so that it doesn't pull back all the way so it still has a little bit
of
a turtle look and doesn't look like other boys' penises, circumsized or
not. I also think that enough skin wasn't taken off yet have been
reassured he'd grow into it. He hasn't quite yet, but it is better.
We'll see. I do worry about it less though, and it looks more and more
''normal,'' whatever that means, everyday.
Also, please don't feel bad about worrying about it or think that
you're
horrible to care. Its not that you're worried people will think poorly
about you cause your son's penis is little, you're worried about him
and
don't want him to be teased. That is a normal thing for a mom to feel
and its great that you care so much about him. Just make sure as he
gets older that he doesn't pick up on any of your vibes about it.
Perhaps you could see a urologist for some reassurance. If they think
its fine, and his pediatrician thinks its fine, most likely, in the
end,
it will be.
mom with penis woes too
we too have the same issue with our baby boy. since our first child was
a girl, my husband and i had no idea what was supposed to be normal.
it
started being hidden at about 8 weeks and he is now almost a year old
and we still rarely see it! like you, our pediatrician assured us that
this is perfectly normal. also, a family member is a urologist who
referred to the area above our baby's penis as a ''fat pad'' and also
assured us everything is fine. we too tried doing research on this
issue
and didn't see it addressed in any of the baby books or online.
everyone
is telling us not to worry about it. i hope it gives you some
reassurance that your baby is not alone!
where is it?
Ah, yes, the things you have to worry about once you become a mother of
boys! I have 2 sons, ages 6 mos and 2 yrs, and both of them had so
much
skin left after the circumcision that I thought something must be
wrong.
The baby's penis is still entirely hidden unless you push the skin
back;
the 2yo's shows on its own but you still have to push skin back to see
what I would think of as a penis shape. The doctor says it's fine.
Bottom line, I think both of them had what the doc would call a
''conservative'' circumcision (eg, could/should have taken off more
skin
than they did), but I think they'll both turn out fine in the end. If
you're really concerned, get a second opinion from a urologist, but
know
that any ''revisions'' at this stage would involve general anesthesia.
I decided it was better to wait and see.
way more than I ever wanted to know
I don't really have any answers for you, but based on my own
observations, there does seem to be a huge range in size between boys.
My son's penis does seem to be on the small size and I was wondering if
he was normal the other day when I saw a boy the same age with a penis
that looked several times bigger!
Chances are your son is somewhere on the normal range as well, or it
not, that he will be in time. My husband said as a child that he didn't
spend any time ''comparing'', so hopefully it won't be an issue later
on.
Mom of a boy
Please consult another pediatrician for your own peace of mind and for
your son's sake. There are several correctable things it could be.
anon
I am the mom of fraternal boy twins (age 2.5) who are circumcised. One
has a penis that looks to me like I expected a penis should (I only
really got a look at a penis when I saw adult ones when I became
sexually active so it's all I have to base it on). You can see the
shaft
and the head. The other little guy has a penis that sounds like what
you
describe -- there is just a little button and I can't make out the head
or the shaft (as I expected I would be able to in a circumcised penis).
The doctor told me that he may have a slight amount of redundant
foreskin but that really, once this child had erections and his penis
grew, the head would separate and pop out from the wrinkled sac where
it
likes to reside these days.
The doctor was able to pull the penis out a bit to show me the shape of
the head and that it was indeed detached. Ask your pediatrician to take
a look if you are concerned.
anon
I too have a son who had a ''hidden'' penis, exactly as you describe. I had the same
suspicion about the circumcision, but our pediatrician has always said it was because
of fat in his groin area. He's now two, and I can tell you that it is much better now,
at least we can see it now! However, I like you, find myself making comparisons to
other boys, and wondering if his penis is smaller than most, and whether that will
change later. I also have not read or seen any information on the topic.
anon
Hello,
When I first read your post I had to chuckle, remembering how I wrote a
very similar post on this subject almost three years ago. Ous son also
had a ''hidden'' penis, starting a few weeks after his circumcision,
and we were worried that it was not normal. Most of my friends with boys
had chosen not to circumcise, and their boys'
penises seemed huge in comparison to my son's; all that you could see of
it were little flaps of the skin surrounding it. My family used to make
many teasing comments about the size as well, which needless to say did
not help the situation.
What I did was to occassionaly manipulate the skin by pushing down
gently, just to make sure it did not adhere to the head. His penis
eventually reappeared around 1
1/2 years, as he slimmed down, and there wasn't as much fat around his
groin for the penis to hide in. Now he is 3, and toilet traning. He
plays with himself all the time, and often has an erection. I'm happy to
say he seems normal in size, and I don't notice any extra forskin. I
would say don't worry, this will pass as he grows and slims down. Try
not to worry too much.
amy
I didn't see the original post, but ''hidden penises'' are very common,
especially in chubby baby boys. This is because there are ligaments
that pull the penis back ( that's why little boys don't *hang* the way
adult men do, because the relaxation of the ligaments happens in
puberty). In chubby boys, the fat covers much of the shaft. To see
your boy's ''true'' length, place your index and middle fingers on
either side of the penis and gently push in toward the abdomen-this
exposes the shaft.
a Pediatrician
Sept 2005
My 3-1/2 year old son is uncircumcised, and his penis balloons
when he pees. He has not complained about it, although I have
noticed the tip of his penis seems red from time to time (a
little neosporin usually takes care of it). We have never been
able to fully retract his foreskin.
My question is: does anyone know of a homeopathic way to soften
the foreskin to retract it? I got the prescription for the
steroid cream but feel a little squeamish using it. Also, do I
need to worry about the fact we can't retract it? Previous posts
on the website seem to suggest we don't need to.
Thank you for any help on this slightly embarrassing topic. I was
adamant on him not being circumcised, but I never anticipated any
problems with it.
A little worried
My son's penis wasn't retracting either & there are loads of studies/advice (including
his pediatrician's) saying that it was fine - but I still felt like I needed to do
something about it (I'll admit, I worried both about the possibility of it worsening &/
or how things might/might not (?!) 'work' as he grows up...hey, he will be older
some day ; )) Anyway, I did get the prescription for the steroid cream, we used it
once in the morning & evening for just a couple of weeks & everything worked out
just fine. (the prescription said to use for six weeks, but we stopped after a couple
of days of the penis fully retracting) I just kept reminding him that when he pees &
takes a bath, he needs to fully retract his foreskin - he's into it (a new toy, so to
speak...boys & their toys...) and now he does it on his own - all is good a year later!
Hope this helps.
Jennifer
I have a friend from French Guyana who told me that when he was of
age (7/8 years old) his mom would rub a mild oil around the skin and gently pull it
back. It sounded very ceremonial, similar to a rite of passage. 3.5 years old might
be to young to worry about it. My 7 seven year old hasn't been able to retract the
skin on his penis yet and I believe that's normal.
anon
First, congratulations on leaving your son intact! As an RN and
mother of an intact son, all these things sound perfectly
normal. The penis ballooning is normal, it is a sign of early
foreskin retraction. It is also normal for the foreskin not to
be fully retractable until after puberty! My son was fully
retractable at the age 4 but he is the only one who handles his
penis. No bubble bath or soap under the foreskin, that can cause
redness and irritation (just like little girls).
Sept 2001
My 6 year old son was not circumcised at birth and has had no problems
until the last month or so when he has experienced "ballooning" of the
penis when he pees. So consulting with the pediatrician and the
pediatric urologist, they say there's no way to tell if the foreskin
will stretch enough or if he will eventually need a circumcision. I
feel like if he needs the operation, I would rather he have it when he
is younger and no where near puberty, yet I would prefer not to
circumcise him at all. I wonder if anyone has any experience with
outgrowing this ballooning, or circumcision as a child, or a reputable
web site to pursue this a bit more (i.e. lots more experience with this
in Europe).
When a doctor advises that your son be circumcised, it is usually
because he or she is unfamiliar with the intact penis, misinformed
about the true indications for surgical amputation of the foreskin, or
unaware of the functions of the foreskin. GET A SECOND OPINION, from a
pediatrician or ped. urologists who is truly knowledgeable about
foreskins and who understands the important functions of the foreskin.
Don't act out of fear, be absolutely positive that it is one of those
rare cases where it is truly a medical necessity.
Here is an excerpt from a paper written by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD.,
Asst. Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at USC Medical Center in LA.
He wrote: "Ballooning of the foreskin during urination is a normal and
temporary condition in some boys. It results in no discomfort and is
usually a source of great delight for little boys. Ballooning comes as
a surprise only to those adults who have no experience with this phase
of penile development. Ballooning disappears as the foreskin and glans
separate and the opening of the foreskin increases in diameter. It
requires no treatment."
My husband just read this post over my shoulder. He is an intact
male. He said that when he was a little boy he had loads of fun
watching his penis balloon up when he urinated! So there you
go. Perfectly normal.
Here are some websites to help your research:
Mothering Magazine:
http://mothering.com/SpecialArticles/Issue103/protectuncircson103.htm
National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers
(NOCIRC) 415-488-9883. www.nocirc.org/
Doctors Opposing Circumcision (DOC) 360-385-1882
http://faculty.washington.edu/gcd/DOC/
Nurses for the Rights of the Child 505-989-7377. www.cirp.org/nrc/
Circumcision Resource Center. 617-523-0088. www.circumcision.org/
The Circumcision Information and Resource Pages. www.cirp.org/
Good luck.
Marianne
Dr. Paul Fleiss in Los Angeles is an internationally recognized expert
on the important functions of the foreskin and the care and protection
of the intact penis. He has a recent article in Mothering magazine
that gives excellent and detailed advice on this general topic. He is
also available for phone consults at 323-664-1977. He states in his
article that circumcision is rarely necessary when there are problems
with the foreskin and discusses why. This article is available on the
Mothering website:
www.mothering.com
It won't give me a direct link, but I found the article by searching
under Recent Articles, volume 103. The title is Protect Your
Uncircumcised Son. I also have the article and would be happy to
share it with you.
Another resource: National Organization of Circumcision Information
Resource Centers 415-488-9883 or www.nocirc.org - they can refer you
to a local physician with training in care of the intact penis and
their website has lots of other information that you might find
helpful.
jen
I can send you an article by Dr. Paul Fleiss called "Protect Your
Uncircumcised Son - Expert Medical Advice for Parents" which covers
several conditions of the foreskin, and how they may be treated. Here
is an excerpt directly pertaining to ballooning:
"Ballooning of the foreskin during urination is a normal and temporary
condition in some boys. It results in no discomfort and is usually a
source of great delight for little boys. Ballooning comes as a
surprise only to those adults who have no experience with this phase
of penile development. It certainly does not cause kidney damage; it
has nothing to do with the kidneys. Ballooning disappears as the
foreskin and glans separate and the opening of the foreskin increases
in diameter. It requires no treatment."
shannon
I recently read on the web that Irish youngsters lucky enough to have
a ballooning foreskin would stand in a line to pee, competeing to see
who could shoot their urine furthest by squeezig the balloon. The
point being that the ballooning is quite normal. The same article
encouraged patience among American parents and children who often
don't realize that the foreskin shouldn't be expected to fully retract
until about the age of 18.
kibbe
My son had the same problem as you describe. Once (when my son was not even 1 year old) we
had to go to an emergency room in upstate NY because my son had an infection on his penis
when the Dr. in charge told us he needed to be circumcised immediately because the foreskin
would never stretch enough. When I refused, he said that we needed to "work the penis" by
moving it back and forth aggressively a few times a day until it could be stretched all the way.
He also said that might end up with a "partial" circumcision (whatever that means)anyway and
that we'd better do it now when he is still young. I never did that either. At some point when my
son was 4 I did wonder if it would ever stretch enough but all of a sudden, only a few months
ago, my son showed it to me on his own. My advise is to leave it alone, your son will start
playing with it and I am sure that it will work itself out. Nature has a funny way of correcting
itself. I was born in Europe and I actually never met anyone who needed a circumcision for
what you describe.
JE
Our son is not yet a year old, but he also had balloning when he peed, and since he had a mild
infection under the foreskin at about six months, our pediatrican recommended seeing a
pediatric urologist. We first saw Dr. Lee in Berkeley, who gave us few non-surgical alternatives.
But we sought a second opinion with Dr. Ngeyun at UCSF. Like Lee, he diagnosed phimosis,
which is a tight opening to the foreskin. But his approach was very different. We used a
prescription steroid cream for three weeks that softened the tissue and allowed the foreskin to
retract completely. No more balloning! And no cutting.
The cream has been in use in Europe for about ten years, and has an excellent success rate.
It's also been successful in this country, though not in pratice as long. Dr. Ngeyun was very
kind and took the time to explain both the problem and the solution to us. He gave us a packet
of information to read, and was available for consutation via email when I needed reassurance
that I was using the cream correctly and that the results were normal.
My son is considerably younger than yours, and his problem may have been different. And
here's the usual disclaimer: I am not a doctor and have no way of knowing what is really going
on with your son. But I highly recommend a visit to Dr. Nguyen. The whole staff at UCSF just
felt more up-to-date than the one in Berkeley.
I wanted to add something to my response last week about this issue. If you
choose to go to a new health care provider and/or take a different course of
action than the circumcision recommended by your doctors, please consider
returning to your doctors and sharing with them the medical information you
have obtained and the decision you have made. Hopefully they can learn from
your research. Jen
Feb 2004
During a routine 6 month exam yesterday, my son's pediatrition
retracted his foreskin all the way. She did
it quickly and without warning, or I wouldn't have allowed it!
As soon as she did thatI said-''hey, I thought you were not
supposed to do that!''. She responded that it is fine, does not
hurt the membrane and I should pull it back to clean it. Now,
according to every baby book, all of my friends, this website
and my gut instinct this is all totally wrong. So my questions
are these-first, how do I proceed with the pediatrition? Do I
dump her or compile some evidence and send her a letter and
then dump her or try to talk it out with her? I am so upset
and angry about what she did, but I do like her in all other
regards so its hard to sort out my feelings on this one.
Second, now that she has retracted the foreskin-do I need to do
anything special when caring for it? Did she damage the
membrane or if I leave it alone will it be OK? Is it more
prone to infection now? The end of it looks red and irritated
today, by the way. I am furious, feel terrible and guilty and
am just a mess over this. I appreciate any advice about where
to go from here.
Rebecca
My five-year-old is also uncircumcised, and I was also a bit
freaked out the first time my pediatrician yanked that puppy
back to check things out down there. I just was sure it was
hurting him! But she said, ''Just wait til he gets to be a
toddler and can play with it all the time. You'll be amazed at
the tugging, pulling, stretching he'll do himself with absolute
calm. Meanwhile, you need to occasionally do this when he's in
the bath, and just swish the water around it. And you'll need to
teach him to do it.'' Man, I was not ready to hear that!
It took awhile to be sure that I was not hurting my son (and to
top it off, he has a fairly tight foreskin that's not so easy to
pull back!), but I managed, and I worked really hard to calm
down, so that I wasn't communicating squeamishness or
nervousness when I helped him in the bathtub. Now he does it all
himself with complete aplomb, and refers to pulling his foreskin
back in the tub as ''squeezing out the purple toothpaste''!
earned my penis care badge
I hear your concern; perhpaps my family's experience with this
will be of help. My 2 boys, ages 9 and 7 are uncircumsized. At
first we did not do anything special in terms of care, until the
youngest got an infection under his forskin at age 3. At that
time the physicians encouraged us to have the boys retract their
foreskins while they were in the bath tub to prevent future
infections. They did so, without problem, and have had no
further infections.
Donna
''Uncircumcized penis care'' is a myth, unless there is a problem.
There is absolutely nothing a parent has to do under normal
circumstances. Eventually, the skin will stretch on it's own (or
by it's owner). We have an 8 year old and the skin hasn't been
pulled back - no problem! The above is from various doctors'
advice. I remember how my mother took me to a doctor back in the
50's and I'll never forget the excuciating pain I went through.
This has proved to have been totally unnecessary. Let it happen
naturally.
anon
Maybe someone already said this and I missed it, but foreskin does not
need to be retracted by force by anyone. This will happen naturally
sometime before puberty because all little boys play with their penis',
until then there is no cleaning necessary. I have just recently noticed
that my 3 year old's foreskin is now retractable. As another parent
already pointed out, little boys will play with their penis in the bathtub
and this is care enough.
Susan
As a pediatrician, I feel compelled to add a comment to the
discussion about how to manage the foreskin of an uncircumcised
penis. The American Academy of Pediatrics actually publishes a
brochure about this somewhat contentious issue, entitled ''Care
of the Uncircumcised Penis'' which should be available thru most
pediatricians or perhaps at their website www.aap.org.
The bottom line is that it is entirely normal for foreskins to
adhere to the penis for several months (and often years--
again, entirely normal) after birth. They should NEVER be
forcibly retracted, although gradual retraction as the child
gets older and the foreskin gradually detaches itself is fine.
Once detached, the boy can be taught to push it back to wash
underneath.
Forcibly retracting still-attached foreskins in young infants
was in vogue earlier this century,and still occurs among some
less informed doctors, but is unnecessary, potentially harmful,
and undoubtedly painful for the child.
PBrinkley
September 2002
Can anyone recommend a good reference or offer an informed opinion
on hygiene for a one year old uncircumsized boy? A respectable-
seeming article in Mothering magazine (written, I think by a physician)
basically says that a healthy penis will take care of itself which is my
own instinct). The last few times we have seen our pediatrician though,
she retracts his foreskin and advises washing this way about once a
week, ''so he gets used it, and eventually does it himself''. I don't feel
really persuaded that this is necessary, but don't want to be negligent.
My son is almost seven and I have never pulled back the foreskin
to wash his penis. Our doctor always told me to leave it alone
as not to cause trauma by pulling it back and forth. He does
play with it in the bathtub which is the natural way of taking
care of it. My brother is also uncircumsized and I doubt if my
mother ever did anything to clean it either. He is now 30 and
turned out just fine.
mom of boy
I was really surprised by your doctor's advice. My pediatrician
(Myles Abbott- one of the best-respected peds in the East Bay)
routinely chanted to me during appointments ''The care of an
uncircumcised penis is no care at all.'' he was adamant that
nothing needed to be done, which was advice I was happy to
follow.
Fran
Your pediatrician is overly concerned. My son is four now
and has had no problems with his uncircumsized self. No
special care has been needed.
anonymous
I'm uncircumsized myself and I stil remember, back in the 50's
when my doctor forced the skin back because ''you were supposed
to do that''. The pain was excruciating. It turns out now that
this is totally unnecessary. My uncircumsized 7 yr old has no
problems and the doctor adviced us not to do anything with it.
Let nature take it's course. The body will take care of the
cleaning, stretching etc.
anonymous
Tell your physician to get her hands off your son's penis! She
could cause tearing and adhesions by prematurely separating the
foreskin from the glans, which could cause scaring and other
problems down the road. Let your son be owner of his body.
Intact penises are no more in need of such manipulation and
cleaning than girls are in need of douching.
anon
Sept 2003
My baby started life with a normal looking penis, but not long after he was
circumcised it started to retreat so that the skin covered
the head again. He is now six months old, and the penis has completely disappeared
so all that's left are little flaps of skin. If I push
down on the skin, the head pokes out for a moment, and I do this a couple times a
week to make sure the skin doesn't re-attach. He
is a very chunky little boy, and I'm sure once he loses some baby fat things will
return to normal, but I'm curious if anyone has
experienced this, and if so, at what age did the penis reappear? My husband has been
taking this very personally, especially with
all the comments we get from other family members.
anon
Yes, my son's did that too. I think when he started walking, we started to
see the penis again! Don't worry - it's just a baby thing.
July 2002
Hello,
My son is scheduled this month to have surgery to correct a
condition called hypospadius. He has a moderate level of the
condition. I am hoping to hear from other parents whose sons
have undergone this procedure. Any advice, thoughts, etc. would
be GREATLY appreciated! We are planning to do the surgery at
Kaiser.
Thank you very much,
Heather
My son has hypospadia and hypocordia (minor genital birth defect).
We opted to not pursue surgery when he was an infant, as the
hypospadia is mild and the extent of the hypocordia could not be
determined until he got an erection. Also, we were not given any
compelling reasons why surgery in infancy was better than waiting
until he was old enough to decide for himself (and waitng for
suregery techniques to improve even more). Well he's now 7 and I
think we need to start developing a relationship with a urologist
before he hits adolescence. I was thinking we would work with
Sumner Marshall but I hear that he is about to retire. I am
worried that most urologists will be one trick ponies who advocate
''cutting'' without much discussion of anything else. I am
wondering what other families have done and who they have
worked with. Thanks!
Hi,
My son was born with hypospadia and we are going ahead with the procedure to
correct it once he is one year old. We have met with Dr. Chi Lee who is in
the same practice as the Dr. you mentioned (I believe he has actually
already retired). We decided to go ahead with the surgery because at least
in our son's case, it is off enough that as he gets older he would most
likely end up urinating on his shoes and later in adulthood the Dr. said
that he could have trouble with sperm placement if he wanted to have
children. I think it might be worth you meeting with Dr. Lee (he came highly
recommended to us and other parents in the ''network'' have responded to me
about him as well).
mom
My son does not have the problem that you are facing, but a few months ago
we had to see a urologist for another minor problem. The first doctor we saw
was in Marshal's practice, and he very quickly recommended cutting, which
seemed extreme to me. He offered few other alternatives, and none that were
non-invasive. We sought a second opinion with Hiep Nguen at UCSF pediatric
urology department. I can't recommend him highly enough. He was kind and
caring, took time to explain to us the situation, gave us a stack of papers
to read about the problem and current medical options (many from Europe,
where circumcision is not the norm), and solved our son's problem with a
simple topical cream. He was also available via email during the treatment
period for any questions we had (we had to apply the cream for three weeks).
I felt there was a world of differences between practices--UCSF seemed to be
much more current on new proceedures and treatments. Good luck to you and
your son!
Anonymous
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