[ ARC forum 2 ]
Written by Paul B. at 16 Aug 2001 12:33:04: Re: 4 year old with very normal penis
As an answer to: 4 year old with ballooning penis written by Raewyn at 14 Aug 2001 12:21:17:
> My son has just turned 4. 18 months ago we saw a specialist
Why see a specialist? Do you not have General Practitioners in your country? Sounds like a very second rate medical system! ;-)
> who told us he would need to be circumcised because his foreskin was not retracting and the hole was small so that
> when he urinates his penis balloons.> After doing a bit of surfing it seems to me he may not have phimosis.
Full marks to the Internet - you have been lucky and hit the 20% of it which is reasonably truthful.
His foreskin did not balloon when he was born, did it? Why did it start ballooning later? Because the natural process is for the synechiae attaching the foreskin to the glans (penis head) at birth, to part over a few years whilst he achieves continence and no doubt, with his encouragement by frequently stretching the foreskin away from his body. They equate to the similar synechiae by which a kitten's or puppy's eyes are closed at birth and open over a few weeks.
So the ballooning occurs - because it can as they say - it's telling you that the foreskin has separated, ready to be (slowly) pulled back. As the poster below explains, you now need to teach him to do this, to give him permission and guidance to do so at bath time and whenever he pees (which is a good time, as he tends to have an erection then to pull it over).
This somewhat tight foreskin is just one end of a normal variance which would include foreskin that pulls back easily or spontaneously on erection.