Phimosis / Tight Foreskin / Circumcision
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worried mummy:
Not sure my DS1's condition is a fluke? Cos today when he peed when I brought him to school... He said today not painful anymore..My son had similar symptoms when he had an infection 2 months back. He felt a little pain after he urinated and but he never complained to me till the doctor asked him. So I presume the pain is quite bearable.
There is a slight redness at the tip of his penis. A urine test was done but no bacteria infection was detected in his urine. The doctor said small amounts of urine accumulated at the tip of his penis after he urinated because he cannot pull back his foreskin, resulting in the inflammation and urge to urinate frequently. That's why he suggested circumcision - for hygiene purposes. He didn't have fever and was just given some oral medicine to reduce the inflammation.
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ZacK:
Good for him lah... and you too.
Not sure my DS1's condition is a fluke? Cos today when he peed when I brought him to school... He said today not painful anymore..worried mummy:
My son had similar symptoms when he had an infection 2 months back. He felt a little pain after he urinated and but he never complained to me till the doctor asked him. So I presume the pain is quite bearable.
There is a slight redness at the tip of his penis. A urine test was done but no bacteria infection was detected in his urine. The doctor said small amounts of urine accumulated at the tip of his penis after he urinated because he cannot pull back his foreskin, resulting in the inflammation and urge to urinate frequently. That's why he suggested circumcision - for hygiene purposes. He didn't have fever and was just given some oral medicine to reduce the inflammation.
Glad its ok already.. -
worried mummy:
Now, I am confused again. There seems to be 2 differing views on the effects of circumcision. I have consulted 2 doctors, one GP says it is very unlikely for a kid with tight foreskin to open up eventually without being circumcised. He claimed that there will be scarring if we don't do it and it will cause more problem in future. Another doctor said that circumcision is an elective surgery unless the kid has frequent infections, else just leave the kid alone. So now the point is my kid has only one infection and there wasn't any bacteria infection in his urine. He has since recovered. So is it still medically necessary to go through a irrevisible surgery such as circumcision? Btw, my boy is 6 years old this year and we are unable to pull back his foreskin to clean his gland during bathing, leading to the infection, according to the paediatric urologist.
No, as I posted above, your son doesn't need a circumcision. He is perfectly normal. The foreskin doesn't require cleaning. Maybe you introduced the infection by trying to pull it back. He will be fine , trust me I know a lot about this. Some boys aren't retractable until the teenage years. Just follow these guidelines:
http://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/care/
if you try to pull it back before it is ready- it causes scar tissue in the foreskin- which is inelastic. This could cause true phimosis. So you don't want that. So just leave it alone. It requires no care. The GP that said it is unlikely to open up is completely wrong and obviously uninformed about the natural development of the foreskin.
http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/
A lot of doctors are uninformed in the USA. They don't see anything wrong with circumcision. So they think it is no big deal. Presumably he gets paid too when he performs the circumcision. -
worried mummy:
Redness happens with most boys. Nothing to worry about. According to this:My son had similar symptoms when he had an infection 2 months back. He felt a little pain after he urinated and but he never complained to me till the doctor asked him. So I presume the pain is quite bearable.
There is a slight redness at the tip of his penis. A urine test was done but no bacteria infection was detected in his urine. The doctor said small amounts of urine accumulated at the tip of his penis after he urinated because he cannot pull back his foreskin, resulting in the inflammation and urge to urinate frequently. That's why he suggested circumcision - for hygiene purposes. He didn't have fever and was just given some oral medicine to reduce the inflammation.
http://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/care/ -
Christine_T:
I understand the negative stand on routine circumcision at birth. But how about when there's been recurrent infections, do most reputed medical bodies (aside from CIRP and its affiliated organizations) also strongly discourage circumcision?
Redness happens with most boys. Nothing to worry about. According to this:
http://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/care/
btw, some info on CIRP from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOCIRC for parents to digest on. -
Hi Worried Mummy and Zack,
My son started having infections when he was about 5 years old. The first 2 times were rather mild as there was only some redness and pain. Pds prescribed Bactroban and proper cleaning. When the third infection struck, it was really bad. The tip was so swollen that his urine could hardly come out and he was in great pain too. He took oral antibiotics but it didn’t help much. Each trip to the toilet was a nightmare. It was this very incident that made us take the plunge. The idea of repeated infection occurrences on his private part didn’t sit well with me. Every time it occurred, I would wonder if it would lead to more serious complications in future.
No parents would enjoy making their kids go through unnecessary surgery. I would avoid it if I could. But much as I hated putting my ds through this horrible ordeal, I’m glad we are freed from "infections" nightmares.
I don’t suggest you sending your kids for immediate surgery. Rather, observe the frequency and intensity of infections. Aside from that, make sure your sons shake urine out from their private parts each time they pee. And if redness occurs, try washing it with Permasol (once or twice) a day. Above all, dress them in boxers rather than the usual underpants.
Avoid circumcision by all means. But if there are still recurrent episodes of infection despite all effort to prevent it, then you might want to consider the alternative seriously. -
Genital mutilation? Sounds extreme… Phimosis( yes there is such a thing) is congenital or post inflammatory. Respectable doctors do not ‘mutilate’ babies at birth and would advise observation till about 6 or 7 years old before diagnosing True Phimosis. Decision to op would be based on medical reasons like repeated infections.
Poor sex post circum?? Well I have heard of adults going for circum cos of some problems without it. Anyway, there are no definite scientific evidence re this.
Read all reports with careful analysis of data. -
buds:
Yeap sigh of relief
Good for him lah... and you too.
Glad its ok already..
... Cos if our kids suffer... parents tend to suffer with them too 
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chamonix:
I do agree with your position... I'm not inclined to fix something that is not \"broken\"... The alternative route shd only be considered in light of the freq and severity of the infection/s and not as a first choice
I don't suggest you sending your kids for immediate surgery. Rather, observe the frequency and intensity of infections. Aside from that, make sure your sons shake urine out from their private parts each time they pee. And if redness occurs, try washing it with Permasol (once or twice) a day. Above all, dress them in boxers rather than the usual underpants.
Avoid circumcision by all means. But if there are still recurrent episodes of infection despite all effort to prevent it, then you might want to consider the alternative seriously.
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ZacK:
Fully understand you there, brader...
Yeap sigh of reliefbuds:
Good for him lah... and you too.
Glad its ok already.. ... Cos if our kids suffer... parents tend to suffer with them too
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