Re: Skin adhesion (or bridges) on my baby boy....

Written by R J Knight at 25 Feb 2000 23:04:45:

As an answer to: Skin adhesion (or bridges) on my baby boy.... written by Marnie at 24 Feb 2000 22:27:56:

Marnie, I would hope the doctor who says "leave it alone, it will detach by itself, etc.". . is right, but that unfortunately isn't always the case. Sometimes the darned adhesions persist past adolescence in the form of skin bridges that are a real nuisance. Young men have found them painful and inconvenient, and have had to go to a doctor to get them cut loose, which is no big deal but at that age takes several days to heal. So I would seriously question the wiisdom of leaving them totally alone. On the other hand, the doctor who says "You gotta rip 'em apart, etc.". . . sounds unnecessarily rough, even violent, and that's no way to treat an organ as sensitive and vital as the penis. When my sister took her newborn son to the doctor for his first checkup after they'd left the hospital, the pediatrician found some adhesions (the kid had been circ'd somewhat "long"), and he broke them up to the strong, loud objection of the baby, then told my sister to make sure they didn't recur by always pulling what was left of the foreskin all the way back, past the corona, every time she bathed him. That was the end of any problem and he grew up normal in the penis department. It seems to me that neither of the two doctors you consulted gave you the best possible advice. What you need, it appears, is a doctor you can trust who is willing to break the adhesions apart GENTLY, preferably under an anaesthetic cream, keeping pain and trauma to a minimium, then sending you on your way with enough antibiotic ointment to put on the raw areas until they heal (which, in a kid that age, should not be more than a few days, certainly less than a week). Once the adhesions are broken up and the penis is healed, that should be the end of that and you and the baby can go on living a normal life, and forget this problem for good. My own inclination would certainly be to get rid of the adhesions now, at an age when the procedure will be quickly forgotten, rather than postpone any remedial action in the hope it won't be necessary. It's a pity a pediatrician didn't advise you properly within a few days after the baby's birth--the problem could have been stopped before it ever arose. But you can still make a quick remedy of things if you secure the help of a pediatrician you can trust, who knows what she/he is doing. I sincerely hope you can get this unpleasant matter out of the way and move on to enjoying your baby and helping him grow. Best wishes, Bob.
>Hi...I need help...
>My baby boy was cir'd at a day old. Now he's 10 months old and it appears that the skin has grown back where the "ridge" should be.
>I consulted with two different doctors and got two different answers. One says "leave it alone, the skin will detach by itself"..another says "you gotta rip the skin apart otherwise it will get worse."
>What should I do? I dread the thought of putting my son through this "ripping" procedure since I understand they do not use anesthesia. Is there anyone out there who has been through this. I really need help cuz I've been crying over this for days....
>Thanks...
>--Marnie


Answers:

ARC forum main index
forum1 index
page1 /page2

The Origins of a Taboo