Re: searching for info

Written by RJK on 22. July 1999 at 19:54:06:

In Reply to: searching for info written by Alyson Thorn on 23. June 1999 at 03:19:09:

>my 18 month old son had a little blood at the end of his penis and then ballooned up when he tried to urinate...it drained a few minutes later. I took him to my pediatrician who has made us an appointment with an urologist. I was told circumsision was the treatment. I am looking for any and all information I can get. I am hoping there is alternatives. I want to do the best for my child but would like to keep him intact if at all possible. I would appreciate any information. Thank you.

Alison, sorry I didn't get to you sooner, but my e-mail has been down since the second week in June. I hope your problem is past now. In any case, from your description it sounds as if your son has an opening at the tip of the foreskin that is too small to let urine flow freely. (There may be adhesions, too, and this could account for the bleeding.) As accords with your experience, most physicians seem to prefer to treat conditions of this nature by circumcision, but if you can find one who is willing to cooperate you can cure it with less radical treatment. It is possible to make a slit in the foreskin's upper surface so small that it will not be obvious to casual observation. I knew a boy born in Washington State some years ago who had this procedure done at birth, and it was hard to distinguish his penis from any other uncircumcised one. When flaccid the glans was fully covered, but when erect it was exposed. This made it easy to keep the penis clean yet preserved the sensitivity of the glans, and o and of course no foreskin had been removed. This kind of procedure probably would cure your son's problem without the trauma accompanying a full circumcision. If there are adhesions between the glans and inner foreskin, these will need to be broken up to permit retraction of the foreskin. This can be done by inserting a probe beneath the foreskin and GENTLY running it all the way around the glans to break up all adhesions. This should end the problem with minimal trauma. After the slit has healed (which shouldn't take more than a few days), the foreskin will need to be pulled back and washed underneath, every time you bathe the boy, to keep adhesions from re-forming. You can teach him to do this as a routine when he learns to bathe himself. If proceed as suggested here, his problem should be over and forgotten soon, and he will never need to be circumcised unless he chooses later to have it done. Best wishes, Bob.