Penile Adhesion

[ttrumbo]

My son is now 5 weeks old. At his 3 week checkup I asked the doctor about what looked like his skin on one side of his penis being fused (one side looks like a mushroom cap and the other does not). She said that it looked normal. I asked what I should be doing to care for his penis and she said that it looked fine and all we needed to do was clean it in the bath. Now 2 weeks later it still looks the same and I called and talked to the nurse and she told me to try to pull the skin back myself in the bathtub. After doing research online I am super upset that no one told me to pull the skin down to prevent this from happening.

Has anyone else gone through this? What did you end up doing?

[pampamz]

I did not have to experience this w/DS, thankfully. I'm sure lots of the experienced mamas can help you though.

But can I just say, all this penis talk lately has me blushing!
Hee hee -- just trying to add some :P as there have been some heated debates lately in this forum!
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- ETA - I hope you don't think I am minimizing your concerns -- I would feel v. upset too if it is an adhesion...poor little monkey

[TaChapm]

I'm probably not going to be very popular for posting this but here is my experience.

With Jackson we were told to pull the skin back at every diaper change and in the bath etc. His circumcision looks great.

With Tyler we were told that things had changed and we did not need to pull the skin back. He had his first adhesions within the first 6 weeks which we decided to do nothing about since sometimes they will correct on thier own. At 11 months we are now going to have them removed by a urologist through surgery.

My advice based on my personal experience is to have your doctor fix them in the office asap before they get worse. Our pediatrician fixed one on Jackson in the office when he was a few weeks old. We didn't even realize what she had done until it was over. He didn't seem to mind.

Even though we started to pull the skin back with Tyler after our pediatrician told us to the adhesions would not let us pull it back far enough and even more formed. Now he is going to have surgery to fix them because things are a mess.

Sorry you are going through this! I feel your pain.


Tara
Mommy to Jackson 11-10-02
Tyler William 6-9-05
OMG!!! It's a GIRL!! Due September 5, 2006!

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[hudsonam]

Our son had this, and we were told originally, while it was still healing, to pull it back and load it up with vaseline. As he got a little older, it still looked connected a little, and our pediatrician said it will correct itself. He's 17 mo. old now and it's fine, but I think it varies from child to child. Maybe go get a second opinion? Good luck!

[22tango]

My former ped didn't say anything about this and I wasn't originally told to pull anything back while bathing, etc... Then we moved and around 9 months our new ped pointed out that DS's circ had adhesions completely around. She showed me how to very carefully give a little tug. Some spots freed up immediately, but about 1/2 the circumference was still adhered. Over the next several months I worked at it during diaper changes & esp after warm baths to lightly tug and then cover the area with lots of vaseline.

It was actually really awful for me emotionally...thinking I might possibly be hurting him. I wasn't sure since he never cried or fussed, but he did start trying to cross his legs to stop me from fiddling down there. I hated doing it and worried that they'd never go away! Sometimes the adhesions would return and it would take a few more weeks of gentle work each diaper change to get them free and lubricated again.

Long story short -- now he's 14.5 months old, and he's been free of any sign of adhesions since about 13 months.

So, although it's worrying and extra work (guilt and anger that I let DH choose to circumsize), if you work at it gently and consistently, you can get them free and healed. It may take several months until the new skin which is revealed heals up sufficiently (with vaseline protecting it) so that it isn't "sticky" anymore.

Lots of HUGS!!! Good Luck.

[KBecks]

We had some sticking of the skin. In the beginning we used vaseline on the circumcision wound, and later we pulled the skin back after baths to check and see if it was adhering or free.

We did get some stickiness / adhesions (I don't remember what age, it was months ago -- maybe 9 mos?) I called the pedi's office and was told to give him a good long soak in the tub, and then work at separating it. I was very worried and didn't get it separated after my first try, so I called the pedi's office back and asked if I brought him in, would they basically do the same thing, or did they have something different they would do? But they said they'd just do the same thing, so DH and I soaked him again and were a little more determined to work the skin apart. It worked fine, I think there may have been just a little bleeding or rawness from separating the skin, and at the next checkup, the doctor thought he looked good.

Anyway, in the beginning we checked his penis probably once a week or so, then when he was older, I thought we didn't have to check as much and that's when we got stuck, so to speak.

At 5 weeks you'll be seeing the ped again soon, right? You might want to try moving the skin around after a bath, but definitely ask your pedi to have a good look at your next appt., or even make a special one to have your concerns addressed.

Good luck!

[hardysmom]

As the mother of a 4.5 yr old who may have to have excess skin removed this summer...

When DS was a baby and the adhesions were starting to be noticed we were also told not to pull the skin back by our Ped who has a particular interest in pediatric urology. Appearantly, this is a change from older advice in which parents were told to pull it back during bath, etc... Problem is that on infants, it is not only painful but also ineffective as the adhesions often return.

In most cases (unfortunately not ours) the adhesions will loosen up on their own. Just make sure the doctor keeps a close eye on them. If they are getting worse, ask for a referral or ask if the pediatrician would pull them back using some topical pain-killer. I guess that most boys' adhesions will be totally gone by puberty and excess skin will be "grown into." It certainly isn't something you have to deal with TODAY.

If I had to do it all over, I would have asked for a referral to a pediatric urologist at 12 mo just to check it out. As it worked out, my son had a BAD alergic reaction and infection from a bug bite which landed us in the ER and then at a urologist. While checking the spot of the bite (at the base of his penis, ouch) the doctor noted that it was a very good thing that my son had been circumsized or the swelling would have been a much greater issue. He also noted as the swelling went down, that DS still had adhesions (though not too bad) and excess skin which creates a "ruffle" where the "ring" should be...

We are supposed to come back in a couple weeks. The doctor thinks we need to at least have the adhesions "brought down" in a small office procedure and he thinks we should discuss recircumsision to remove the excess skin. UGH. I am pretty on the fence, though my husband is sure that having a "ruffle" on his penis about the most horrifing thing a teenage boy could possibly experience.... having it removed is pretty horrifing to me.

So anyway, having BTDT, I would really stay on top of it. It is a common (and generally minor) problem and therefore peds can be a little dismissive. If it continues to be an issue into toddlerhood, ask to see a urologist. It is one of those things that, if intervention is warranted, you want to deal with when they are toddlers and not when they are more aware of what is up... I don't EVEN know how to explain the problem to my DS

Stephanie