[ ARC forum 2 ]

Not Phimosis

Written by Paul B. at 02 Mar 2002 04:12:47:

As an answer to: Re: Phismosis written by Ignacio at 02 Mar 2002 00:01:10:

> The truth is that, since my wife and I got divorced three years
> ago and she is the one who usualy takes Francisco to the doctor,

Sad to say, that puts your son at substantial risk of medical mis-management!

> I learned the word from my uncle, ...
> I was not going to ask him to show me how it looks like now.

Kind of a pity - it could be very enlightening to see how neat a dorsal slit appears in the long term.

> you talk about "the opening" and don't think that's the problem
> with Francisco.

Then he does not have phimosis.

> His foreskin appears to be attached or "glued" to his glans.

He is what is called in the medical world, "normal".

> You can see two different skins fixed at half the galns.
> So... is that phismosis too?

Nope. If you can see his glans and/ or the skin attached to it, fully, he does not have phimosis. Please realise that the foreskin is stuck to the glans at birth - like a kitten's eyes are stuck closed at birth. In a similar manner, the foreskin separates over the first four or five years, assisted by his preference for pulling on it, and getting erections.

One wonders why he was taken to the doctor at this particular point in his life. If it should happen that he had some sort of irritation or "infection", the correct treatment is exactly the same as a little girl would be given. Surgery is most certainly inappropriate, and in the case that any doctor should advise it, he may be assumed to be incompetent, profiteering, or both.

The treatment for the persistent synechiae (stuck skin) is in the boy's own hands - literally! As Jim and Spyros have explained, he needs to be taught (as he perhaps should have before - something of a concern where the family has broken down) to pull the foreskin back every time to pee (urinate). This will stretch the attachments every time, and over a period of time (even a year or two), they will pull back and free the glans.

It is possible for a competent doctor, using local anaesthetic (EmlaŽ) cream, to pull back the adhesions, but there are good and bad points to this - it sorts out the problem quickly but may be somewhat uncomfortable and should not be necessary.


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