Penile Adhesions

stacymartz

Ok, sorry if this has been spoken about lately, but I am not on here often and had some questions for those who may have dealt with this.

My DS has and always has had what looks like a buried penis. It is a little "innie" for lack of a better term. The pedi originally said it was ok and he would grow into it, but now I think that he may have a little adhesion issue, which bothers me a lot as I was never told anything other than to put vaseline on it after the circ. - no other istructions were given.

My question to others is:

- what exactly did the adhesion look like? I can still press down on the area and his penis will come out, and I can see the head but it is ALWAYS sucked in.

- what did they do about it? I have heard that it can be painful to "pull" the skin away. Is there blood?

Sorry for the TMI on this. I have an appt on Friday morning. I am just sitting here freaking myself out so any info is so appreciated.

carolinag

with an adhesion you can't pull the skin back b/c it has re-attached itself. it would literally have to be torn back. which does hurt i'm sure. if you can pull the skin back each time you change his diaper and make sure to clean it then you are probably fine. the reason the adhesions happen is that boys don't have the necessary hormones to prevent this from happening until they're about 2 years old.

susanmosley

I can't help you, but wanted to say that I feel your annoyance with not being told anything about the possibility of this.  My DD has labial adhesions and although I guess it is my job as a parent to be aware of what may happen and steps to prevent it, I am slightly bummed that there wasn't any info mentioned when I had a daughter, as her pedi says it is very common.  I had never heard of it and didn't know what I didn't know.  Therefore I didn't know to ensure that the opening stayed open, kwim?  GL

kamcfarlane

we have a bit of that going on. it basically just looks like the skin on the shaft is attaching to the skin on the head and there's no "ridge" between the two. there was a small sore where the skin had broken apart, which is when we called the dr.

she said it's normal to have an adhesion and that they don't break them apart anymore because it's painful and they're likely to grow together again anyways. she says he'll grow out of it by the time he's 5 or so. until then, we have to put vaseline around where the "ridge" should be 2x a day (unless there's a sore, then every diaper change).

 

cardinals05

i just wanna say if it looks like an innie, it's just because of the fat tissue (mons pubis) that little boys have- especially chunky little babies like mine. so the penis IS actually inside of the fat tissue. As the fat tissue goes away as they outgrow the baby stage, the penis comes out and looks normal.

this is different than penile adhesion- which he also has. no ridge between the head and shaft. we were told not to touch it either. kind of pisses me off too.

stacymartz

kamcfarlan - that is a good way to describe it, there is really no "ridge" on some parts.

whitehead15

We had this too.  The pedi pulled the skin back so that it was no longer attached, and then showed us how to clean it and keep it from reattaching.  I was pissed to that no one told me about this.  DH made it his personal mission to make sure DS's penis was ok.

chrisnj0614

Yup. Happened to Colin too. We didn't know until it ripped away (only 1 side) accidentally.  Then we had to put antibiotic cream on it.

Now half of it has an adhesion, the other half not.  I just make sure to clean it every morning with water (pull back the skin that isn't adhered) and put vaseline on it before bed at night.  If it is a little red, I use antibiotic cream and the red goes away ASAP.

I assume if the adhesion was a big deal then the pedi would do something.  She knows about it, but doesn't think it is a big deal and says he will grow out of it.