Boy "parts" question

sorry if this is TMI but I just don't know about boy parts and now I'm questioning how to take care of it....he was circumsised at birth. Now it seems like the foreskin is red and swollen. He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort, but it just looks "not right"...it's been like this for a about a week.

I googled it and read that you should never push back the foreskin to clean the area, but I've always done that especially when poop gets in there or caked up diaper cream.

I'm leaving on vacation (twins are staying home with MIL) for 3 days on Monday and now I'm wondering if I should take him in to the emergency walk in clinic tomorrow morning.

Please let me know what you guys think about the redness...and if I shouldn't be pushing back the foreskin to clean (granted, I don't push it back tight, but enough to get in the fold of it to clean).

Boy parts...ugh....

 

We had to pull it back because if we didn't, it would 1) reattach itself, and 2) get funky funk in there. So according to our pedi, we needed to pull it back, clean it, and apply aquaphor or vaseline on it each time. It would (and still does) get a little red and irritated at times. A few applications of aquaphor seem to do the trick.

 

I'm not sure about your info but I'm cooking boy #4 so I've been on this road before. You do have to push the skin back gently, while cleaning in order to avoid reattachment and liberally apply aquaphor or petroleum jelly in order to prevent too thick of a scab from forming. And is this a new baby because looking at your ticker, your son is 10 mos old? If that's the case, he needs to be at the doc. Clarification please.

 

I'm confused....if he was circumcised, he wouldn't have a foreskin? But either way, given that it hasn't cleared up in a week and you are going out of town, I think this merits a call to the doc. You don't want MIL having to deal with an ER trip at 3:00AM if that could be avoided.

 

i've been on the boy parts learning curve myself. is he red anywhere else, like around his bottom? i've noticed with my guys that sometimes they get irritated when their digestion is off and the skin around their bottom and even a bit on their testicles or remaining foreskin (also circumcised) might get a little red. i treat it like diaper rash and it all clears up at the same time.

if it seems like there's discomfort and swelling along with the redness, you should probably see your pedi. boys can get yeast infections or bacterial infections. or it might be that he was squirming as he becomes more mobile and could have pinched himself. either way, if it doesn't seem like an extension of diaper rash irritation from a yucky BM, i would have a doctor look at it.

 

Exactly! I'm so lost.

 

I think she is describing the redundant skin that is left after the circumcision. Some boys have more than others and it depends on A) how tight the skin was pulled during the procedure and B) how much of a fat pad the boy has down there as the penis likes to sink down inside. What you are reading about not pulling back the foreskin is only in uncircumcised boys. In circumcised boys you do need to gently pull the skin back and clean all the gunk that gets trapped or else it will reattach. You should be able to see all of the "head" of the penis, including the little red/purple ridge where the head turns into the shaft. If that skin is red and swollen, one of two things could be going on. It could be a yeast infection, or it could be that it had been stuck on there a little bit (what we call adhesions) and as it separated it got a little red and irritated. If it is only the skin and not the rest of the penis, it is unlikely to be yeast. I would probably recommend cleaning it as well as you can (like in the bathtub) and then applying copious amounts of vaseline or A & D ointment.

 

Great post!! This is the experience we've had with our "long circumcision" (the MD left extra foreskin).