Circumsision problem - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

hollejeff · 12-16-2004, 11:31 AM

My grandson was circumsized at birth, he is now 57 days old..the problem is some of the skin has attached itself to one side of the (roll) of the penis..just barely on the curve of the head....How common is this? and how do they unattach it?

siren1024 · 12-16-2004, 01:30 PM

This is VERY common thanks to the misconception that you aren't supposed to pull back on the left over foreskin of a circumcised baby.

It happened to my son b/c noone told me that you had to pull back and rinse for many months after healing to prevent adhesions.

Unfortunately, the only way they fix it is by sudden forcible retraction. The ped did it right there in the office. It hurt him somewhat, but there was no bleeding or anything. Then he told me to pull back on it every day and clean out any white cottage cheesy substance (called smegma. This is just bodily secretions and skin cells shedding as the foreskin begins to separate from the glans) because this is what causes it to adhere. Then to pull back and coat with vaseline frequently. My son is 17 months and has alot of leftover foreskin (many pediactricians leave a bit extra for them to grow into later in life) and I still pull it back and rinse it with water pretty frequently.

Good luck!

suziq23 · 12-16-2004, 06:32 PM

I also had to pull the skin back on my son's penis...The only reason I knew to do this was because my friend had a son 3 months before me and when she went for a check up the dr did it and charged her $95...the dr told her to pull it back everytime she changed his diaper...My son is 4 months old and I still have to pull the skin back....So I would say it must be pretty common for it to grow back...

susan

off kilter · 12-17-2004, 06:18 AM

My oldest son had a very clean circumsision so I was surprised my second son was circumsised but was left with quite a bit of foreskin. nowhere what he would have had if he wasn't done but it looked different the the penises I was use to seeing. ( on his dad,brother or my brothers growing up) I did have to clean under it a little and he's 25 now so it's been decades since I saw it last don't know if the extra skin is still there or if he grew into it, He never said anything so I guess all is well in tinsel town.

Magpiezoe · 12-17-2004, 08:23 AM

I think your hospital should have told you how to properly take care of a newly circ.'d baby. It looks like there is confusion due to the over concern about non-circ.'d babies. It's the non-circ.'d you can't pull the skin back. Circ.'d is all together different.