penile adhesion..anyone?

val55

i've noticed ds's skin on his shaft has completely adhered to the head- there is no "ridge" at all. anyone else's son have this- what did your pedi tell you- it ticks me off we were given no instructions on caring for him.

1MusicMaker

We had this happen on a small section of DS's penis at 4 months.  When we showed the pedi, she just separated the skin--DS cried less than he does for his shots.  Even though I applied vaseline at every diaper change, it happened again at  a small section at 9 months.  My pedi said I should try gently pulling back the shaft after bathtime--this did the trick.   It corrected itself within a week just by doing this.

FWIW, we were never told anything about this by the pedi or anyone at the hospital either, which really makes me angry.  Now (even though he's 15 months) I still pull back the skin after baths and apply vaseline at every diaper change, and we haven't had any problems again.

If it is adhered all the way around, your DS may have to be re-circumsised.  I hope not:o(  GL to you!!

brauchtm

Yup - had to have surgery for ds two months ago.   It was heart wrenching and terrifying - I have SO much respect for parents with ill children b/c this was considered such a minor surgery and I still freaked out.  FWIW, the doc said that it is normal for the "head" not to fully separate for up to 18 months - so you are okay as long as you are continually cleaning it and pushing the skin back.  I do think the pedi's/books need to talk about this more - especially for those with chubbier babies - b/c it's much more of an issue for those of us with chunky monkies...

aug14gal

we are going through this right now!  earlier this week I noticed that he had a really red spot on his penis, took him to the doc and she said that part had adhered and torn, that was why it was red.  she said either she could tear the rest of it then or we could do it little by little at bath time and with each diaper change.  I have been keeping Vaseline on it and giving a little tug and it seems to be coming apart.  he does let out a little cry now and then when I do it.  The first time I ever knew it could happen was when I read a post here about it...very irritating that I wasn't warned or told how to care for it beyond the initial circumcision care.  good luck!

 

userdeleted

This happened to us too - no one gave us any care instructions either. You can go into the office and have your pedi see if they can get it unadhered manually, or you can try on your own (which we had to do once). Gently work the skin down, and it should separate. It will probably look pretty red for a day or so, just make sure to keep pulling it back after that so it doesn't readhere. We now pull back the extra skin several times per day. GL!

TheFannins729

Shane's did this about a week ago.  I pulled it back myself and it was pretty red for a few days.  We were at the pedi yesterday and she said everything looked fine.  I think it looks worse than it really is, but better than having to have it redone IMO.  No one (not even the pedi) said we would have to keep doing the pulling back for so long.  I had no idea.  Bedtime routine is now 1. pull back during diaper change 2. check for hairs around the toes.

userdeleted

Okay it really bugs me that apparently NONE of us was told we needed to be pulling it back! I thought I should just leave it alone and didn't want to mess with it, until it had readhered and had to be fixed at the pedi's office the first time.

What the heck pedis! Get with the program!

TheFannins729

i didn't know until his 2 month appt and even now i don't know how long i have to keep doing it.  I certainly didn't think it would be to six months.

userdeleted

TheFannins729:

i didn't know until his 2 month appt and even now i don't know how long i have to keep doing it.  I certainly didn't think it would be to six months.

This is why DS's readhered a second time - we got lazy about it because we didn't realize how long we had to keep doing it. I think I read recently that there is a certain hormone/chemical that their bodies should start producing that will prevent it from happening - but it might not kick in until 18-24 months. 

Or I could be totally imagining that. 

TheFannins729

TheFannins729:

i didn't know until his 2 month appt and even now i don't know how long i have to keep doing it.  I certainly didn't think it would be to six months.

This is why DS's readhered a second time - we got lazy about it because we didn't realize how long we had to keep doing it. I think I read recently that there is a certain hormone/chemical that their bodies should start producing that will prevent it from happening - but it might not kick in until 18-24 months. 

Or I could be totally imagining that. 

 TWO YEARS!!!!  If I have to keep doing something like that for two years, it needs to be discussed more at the hospital level before I go home.  All they told us was to keep putting vaseline on it until it healed so that it wouldn't stick to the diaper.  that was it!