I truly wish I had adequate information from my son's pediatrician at the time of his birth. We had made the decision NOT to circumcise my son and the only instructions I as given by the pediatrician was to "pull back the foreskin" now and then. Because I'm a female, and because my husband was circumcised we had NO IDEA just how FAR back the foreskin could be pulled. I did pull it back routinely, but obviously never far enough. By the time my son was 5 we had a problem. The foreskin was almost completely adhesed to the glans and it had also toughened so that pulling it back was impossible. A new pediatrician was the one who noticed that the skin would not retract and when he tried to retract it, I was shocked at my first glance at my sons glans... not that I could see that much. At that point I realized I had NEVER pulled it back far enough.
My son had surgery at the age of 9 to remove the foreskin. This was not a good experience. I learned later that a friend of mine had gone through the same thing whih her first son. Her subsequent sons were fine because she learned how far back she must pull the foreskin. Parents need more education other than the typical advise of hygein. After finding this site I am amazed how common this condition is. WHY isn't this info getting to parents during their circumcisn decision making process?
