Circumcision and Preventing Penile Adhesion

ginaw86

Earlier today at Connor's two-week checkup, the nurse practitioner that we saw informed us that we had to gently pull back on the leftover foreskin of his penis to prevent it from fusing back together to the head of his penis.  I'm glad she said something because, earlier in the day during a diaper change, I mentioned to my husband that Connor's penis looked a little unusual beneath the head, like there was extra tissue.  My husband replied, "Nah, it looks fine to me.  Trust me, I should know.  I have one."

What really ruffles my feathers is the fact that I was never informed of this during my six day stay at the hospital.  I was only told to put A&D ointment on the penis to help it heal and to prevent it from sticking to the diaper.

So now, my son's penis looks very red and irritated due to the fact that the NP had to separate the foreskin and glans.  At least she told me how to take care of it at home.  Has anyone had a similar experience?  How did you take care to prevent penile adhesion?  Has anyone ever dealt with penile adhesion? 

csells021383

I have never dealt with that, nor did the doctor tell us to push back the skin. Our LO has healed up just fine- So this is pretty much no help!

juliane2004

We were told immediately after the circumcision that we had to pull the skin back at every diaper change for about 7-10 days.

Sarahhhlynn

i was told not to touch the skin because this can cause it to tear .. causing more trouble you can imagine. my doc said the way he was circumsized its unlikely the skin will fuse to him again.

BallSox

I wasn't told anything about pulling on it, just to keep it greased up with the ointment.  However, I noticed some of the extra tissue but not having a penis myself, I wasn't super concerned about it.  The doctor has seen it twice now and doesn't seem the slightest bit concerned about it.  She said, actually, "It looks great--nicely healed"

KMS416

I think my son's was done with a different method becuase we never had to do this (although we had a slew of other problems with it).

I would put a ton of Aquaphor (or Vaseline) on the actual diaper where his penis made contact so it would not stick. This was the only way I got his penis not to stick to his diaper since creams/ointments did not want to stick to the skin of his penis. That would probably work for you!

Under.the.Rose

Sarahhhlynn:

i was told not to touch the skin because this can cause it to tear .. causing more trouble you can imagine. my doc said the way he was circumsized its unlikely the skin will fuse to him again.

This is what I was told when I asked about cleaning around the circumcision site. No touchy!

BellaCapulet

We were told that we needed to do this and that we would potentially have to do this for several months after he healed.  When I talked to his pedi about it he said do not start doing it until he is healed as it can tear the incision site. 

 

chefs_baby

I was not told with either of my boys (16 month and 2 month). I still have to do it with my 16 mo because he seems to have extra foreskin and gets gunk under it. He had a couple of penile adhesions that I was able to correct by myself with lots of vasoline.  I make sure I gently pull back at every diaper change to clean/prevent penile adhesions.

littlei3776

KMS416:

I think my son's was done with a different method becuase we never had to do this (although we had a slew of other problems with it).

I would put a ton of Aquaphor (or Vaseline) on the actual diaper where his penis made contact so it would not stick. This was the only way I got his penis not to stick to his diaper since creams/ointments did not want to stick to the skin of his penis. That would probably work for you!

 Same here-except we've had no issues 

katlor9

hmm.. i said his penis looked weird (right below the head too) and my boyfriend said it looks fine. now i'm going to look at it again later when i change his diaper and see if it still looks weird. he has an appointment next week.

ginaw86

Katie, 

Please let me know how that goes if you decide to bring it up to your pediatrician!  The NP I talked to told me that if I didn't pull back on it gently, that the foreskin might grow back over and cause Connor to need another circ.

ginaw86

https://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2971288/infant_penile_adhesion_what_is_it_why_pg2.html?cat=25

 

There's a link with more information on the subject, if anyone is interested. 

islelily

We are dealing with this same issue.  The pedi informed us about it at his 2-week appointment and quickly showed us how to push back the foreskin.  I don't think DH and I really understood what we had to do.  We saw a different pedi (in the same practice) and she showed us again after we had asked.  

We need to push back DS's foreskin with each diaper change and clean around the head.  We hadn't been pushing it back far enough.  Someone else on the bump explained it as the head looks similarly to Darth Vader's helmet. Push back the skin far enough that the whole "helmet" is exposed, then clean the area with a wipe or wet wash cloth.

We asked if this problem was common and the pedi gave us her opinion on it. She thinks that circumcisions are being done a different way in recent years where less of the foreskin is being taken off during the procedure (for whatever reason, she didn't know -- so maybe there wouldn't be such a big difference between circumcised boys and uncircumcised?) which results in more foreskin and more adhesions.

The pedi said to just keep pushing the foreskin back with each diaper change and keep an eye on it.  Some of her older circumcised patients (like 5,7, 8yr olds) look circumcised and some don't (even if they were).  So it is something your son (and mine) might outgrow. 

 Edited: This was only the pedi's opinion and her experience. 

Ty'sGal

We weren't told anything but load on thee vaseline to avoid sticking to the diaper.  At about 3.5 weeks I noticed something a bit different and took DS to the pedi.  Before we went I showed it to DH and he didn't think there was anything wrong.  Our family doctor had also look at how everything was healing around 2.5 weeks and didn't notice anything out of the norm.  Turns out we had some adhesion.  We had to gently pull the leftover foreskin around the adhesion back at every diaper change and bath.  It justs fully released yesterday.  The adhesion wasn't a big deal all said and done.

xoashleigh4ox

BallSox:

I wasn't told anything about pulling on it, just to keep it greased up with the ointment.  However, I noticed some of the extra tissue but not having a penis myself, I wasn't super concerned about it.  The doctor has seen it twice now and doesn't seem the slightest bit concerned about it.  She said, actually, "It looks great--nicely healed"

 

my son is the same and i asked the doctor last week and she said it was normal and healed great.. and i never pulled the skin back