XP: Circumcision FAIL - anyone else?

jbrooke

We had DS circumcised at birth.....and somehow, he has managed to continue growing foreskin....he looks uncircumcised and you have to push back the foreskin to find his little penis.....anyone else experience this? We alerted pedi to this and he said that we will re-evaluate at 1 year and possible do a repeat. Have any of your sons had to go through a redo? How did it go?

dlm07

This happened to two moms of boys we know.  Both had their son's circs re-done and both said that their sons tolerated the procedure much better than they would have thought. 

Hope this is the case for you as well!

MeanMommyLady

Is it possible that this is just "inconspicuous penis"?  It is caused by the fat pad on the baby's pelvis being pronounced (and is more common in BFed babies), the fat pushes the skin around the penis up around the head of the penis.  You just push the skin back to avoid adhesions and eventually (it took over 18 months for DS) the fat pad on the pelvis starts to lessen and the skin stays back and the penis stays exposed.  It's actually pretty common and is totally nothing to worry about, I certainly wouldn't let anyone recirc my son without exploring this as a possibility.

Klmorgan83

MeanMommyLady:

Is it possible that this is just "inconspicuous penis"?  It is caused by the fat pad on the baby's pelvis being pronounced (and is more common in BFed babies), the fat pushes the skin around the penis up around the head of the penis.  You just push the skin back to avoid adhesions and eventually (it took over 18 months for DS) the fat pad on the pelvis starts to lessen and the skin stays back and the penis stays exposed.  It's actually pretty common and is totally nothing to worry about, I certainly wouldn't let anyone recirc my son without exploring this as a possibility.

This is exactly what my DS has and exactly how DS's urologist explained it to us.  DS didn't have his circumcision until 6 months, so I wasn't sure what it was "supposed" to look like after the circumcision.  At his 1 year post op check up (DS was 18 months) he told us it was just his fat pad and it'd go away eventually.  I'd definitely check into this being the cause first.

Echowysp

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

ElizC

This happened to one of my brothers.  He now jokes about being half circumcised.  My mom didn't have the heart to have it redo when he was older.  She said was hard enough to do when he was a newborn.  He was a home birth so my mom had to watch them do it at the dr's office when he was a few weeks old.

jbrooke

Huh...I need to research this fat pad thing.....to me, it clearly looks like just extra foreskin, but mayeb it is a pad? his pelvis area looks totally normal and the extra skin is only on his penis....I'm going to go google this and see if that mightbe what wea re dealing with (he IS breastfeed and he has chunky little arms/legs).....thanks everyone!!

KariChadDora

My DH is a urologist and gets a lot of consults for this "issue" and the majority of the time it is as the PP's explained, a result of a pronounced fat pad around the head of the penis pushing the skin forward.  He recommends waiting till after the age of 2 to evaluate it then because most little boys will grow out of it as they lose their baby fat.  As long as you are able to easily pull the foreskin back and there aren't any adhesions (scar tissue connecting the foreskin to the head of the penis) forming, you're good to just wait it out.  Also, some babies are still left with a little extra foreskin and that's OK too, every circumcision won't be exactly the same.  My husband says that... well to put it bluntly, that once the little boys get older and start having erections regularly that the foreskin will tend to stay back and out of the way better since the penis is getting "stretched" out.  Oh joy, the thought of our little guys having erections when they are older... 

jbrooke

KariChadDora:

My DH is a urologist and gets a lot of consults for this "issue" and the majority of the time it is as the PP's explained, a result of a pronounced fat pad around the head of the penis pushing the skin forward.  He recommends waiting till after the age of 2 to evaluate it then because most little boys will grow out of it as they lose their baby fat.  As long as you are able to easily pull the foreskin back and there aren't any adhesions (scar tissue connecting the foreskin to the head of the penis) forming, you're good to just wait it out.  Also, some babies are still left with a little extra foreskin and that's OK too, every circumcision won't be exactly the same.  My husband says that... well to put it bluntly, that once the little boys get older and start having erections regularly that the foreskin will tend to stay back and out of the way better since the penis is getting "stretched" out.  Oh joy, the thought of our little guys having erections when they are older... 

Thank you for responding! This makes me feel much better! And yes, I can easily pull the foreskin back with no problem....BUT....i regularly have to peel back the skin from the rim of his head as it starts growing together...this is painful for him and I'm afraid I'm going to one day find that it wont come apart well or something....maybe I need to see a urologist just to play it safe? I don't know! And yes, the thought of our little ones with erections is quite strange, lol!!!

Ambeerose

A good friend of mine's son just had a re-circumcision...their dr noticed it at about 5 months old and he just had the procedure done at about 8 months old. There dr said it was kind of like (these are his exact words) "a turtle neck"...they had the procedure done pretty quickly I thought and their lo has recovered very well and quickly. He also widened his pee hole (don't know the official term for it and I'm too lazy to google right now! but everything turned out fine for his procedure.

PlainandTall

I sometimes get the feeling that people have no idea that the "foreskin" is not a "flap" that is attached to the penis... rather it is simply a zone (a specialized and unique zone... but a continuous part of a whole none the less) of the penis skin system that happens to fall at the tip of a flaccid penis.  The entire skin system of the penis is one piece- designed to slide over the erectile tissue and unfold to accommodate erections as well as the movement of intercourse. 

Don't assume that his foreskin "grew" ... rather imagine that the body of his penis shaft has retreated.  By cutting off even more skin- you reduce the room inside the remaining length of skin for that penis shaft to gradually emerge from the baby fat.

Typically circumcision removes about 50% of the penis skin system.

If a man happens to have a penis that increases in size dramatically with erections- he might have a tight circumcision... if his penis just gets hard without growing much in length - that may be a "loose" circumcision... if a baby is chubby... or has a short penile shaft- or a buried penis... his skin may bunch up over his glans and give the look that he had "foreskin"... that's not necessarily true- and until he goes through puberty- you have NO IDEA how big his penis will be or how much of that skin he'll need to cover his adult size erections.  His skin could be pushed up by baby fat today- and 15 years from now- that skin could be stretched tight.

I had a boyfriend who had such a tight circumcision that his penis had to borrow (hair bearing) skin from his pubic mound and testicles when he had an erection.  I'm sure his mother never saw his penis after he grew pubic hair... I'm sure she never saw him with an adult erection... looking at the body of a baby will not give you any idea about the future situation with an adult.  I would not cut any more skin of your child's penis... doing so would be an investment in the idea that his penis is not going to grow as he matures.

You do need to be diligent that you prevent adhesions from forming as these can result in skin bridges that require surgical releasing.  Because the circumcision may have put scar tissue in contact with the glans- the skin bridges I'm talking about are NOT the same thing as the adhesions that were present at birth... scar tissue tends to not understand its boundaries and can bridge to any tissue it comes in constant contact with.

 PS- The additional surgery the PP just mentioned is called a meatotomy- and that's to fix the condition called meatal stenosis which happens in about 9% of circumcised boys.

I'mAcrossThePond

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

  I don't recall the OP asking your opinion on circumcision. This was completely unneeded and inappropriate in this thread.

jbrooke

I'mAcrossThePond:

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

  I don't recall the OP asking your opinion on circumcision. This was completely unneeded and inappropriate in this thread.

Agreed....and thanks.....it was so inappropriate that it took me a few reads to realize exactly what she meant

Stellasmom

jbrooke:

I'mAcrossThePond:

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

  I don't recall the OP asking your opinion on circumcision. This was completely unneeded and inappropriate in this thread.

Agreed....and thanks.....it was so inappropriate that it took me a few reads to realize exactly what she meant

Yep. I'm not really sure why she gives a flip what you chose to do with your son's penis. lol

jbrooke

PlainandTall:

I sometimes get the feeling that people have no idea that the "foreskin" is not a "flap" that is attached to the penis... rather it is simply a zone (a specialized and unique zone... but a continuous part of a whole none the less) of the penis skin system that happens to fall at the tip of a flaccid penis.  The entire skin system of the penis is one piece- designed to slide over the erectile tissue and unfold to accommodate erections as well as the movement of intercourse. 

Don't assume that his foreskin "grew" ... rather imagine that the body of his penis shaft has retreated.  By cutting off even more skin- you reduce the room inside the remaining length of skin for that penis shaft to gradually emerge from the baby fat.

Typically circumcision removes about 50% of the penis skin system.

If a man happens to have a penis that increases in size dramatically with erections- he might have a tight circumcision... if his penis just gets hard without growing much in length - that may be a "loose" circumcision... if a baby is chubby... or has a short penile shaft- or a buried penis... his skin may bunch up over his glans and give the look that he had "foreskin"... that's not necessarily true- and until he goes through puberty- you have NO IDEA how big his penis will be or how much of that skin he'll need to cover his adult size erections.  His skin could be pushed up by baby fat today- and 15 years from now- that skin could be stretched tight.

I had a boyfriend who had such a tight circumcision that his penis had to borrow (hair bearing) skin from his pubic mound and testicles when he had an erection.  I'm sure his mother never saw his penis after he grew pubic hair... I'm sure she never saw him with an adult erection... looking at the body of a baby will not give you any idea about the future situation with an adult.  I would not cut any more skin of your child's penis... doing so would be an investment in the idea that his penis is not going to grow as he matures.

You do need to be diligent that you prevent adhesions from forming as these can result in skin bridges that require surgical releasing.  Because the circumcision may have put scar tissue in contact with the glans- the skin bridges I'm talking about are NOT the same thing as the adhesions that were present at birth... scar tissue tends to not understand its boundaries and can bridge to any tissue it comes in constant contact with.

 PS- The additional surgery the PP just mentioned is called a meatotomy- and that's to fix the condition called meatal stenosis which happens in about 9% of circumcised boys.

It makes sense what you are saying regarding his growth and not snippping too much skin and interferring with his room to grow. Our pediatrician is actually the one who explained it to us as "his foreskin grew and his penis did not"......maybe that was the incorrect explanation. Anyway, we definitely are wanting to avoid any additional cutting and want to avoid surgery, but I do not want him to have a hidden penis either (as an adult). So I think our best bet is to give it plenty of time and just monitor it. I am *hoping* it starts to peek out a bit more as he gets older and we don't have to wait til after puberty for him to show improvement, but I guess time will tell. I think my fear after googling some was does he have this "micropenis/inconspicuous penis" business that keeps popping up on google. I don't think that is the case though and hopefully it will all work out on its own. Thank you for your detailed response....and I will certainly be watching for the adhesions as this is definitely happening.

MeanMommyLady

Just an FYI, but inconspicuous penis and micropenis are two completely different things.  One is a non issue (inconspicuous penis) and will be grown out of, the other, micropenis, needs to be handled by a doctor and can often need to be surgically addressed.

lvisser

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

Wow. This is bullshiit. 

 

columbiamommy

This same thing happened to my nephew.  They did it again sometime between when he was 1 and 2 (I can't remember - he's 12 now) and everything was fine. 

jbrooke

MeanMommyLady:

Just an FYI, but inconspicuous penis and micropenis are two completely different things.  One is a non issue (inconspicuous penis) and will be grown out of, the other, micropenis, needs to be handled by a doctor and can often need to be surgically addressed.

Thanks for the clarification - I shouldn't have lumped the 2 together...I was tired last night and typing fast...I do realize that the 2 are very different....I just saw some scary pictures of the other and wasn't thinking

Echowysp

lvisser:

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

Wow. This is bullshiit. 

 

Wow, I was joking.  See the silly face?

Echowysp

I'mAcrossThePond:

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

  I don't recall the OP asking your opinion on circumcision. This was completely unneeded and inappropriate in this thread.

Um, couldn't tell I was teasing?  

Echowysp

Stellasmom:

jbrooke:

I'mAcrossThePond:

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

  I don't recall the OP asking your opinion on circumcision. This was completely unneeded and inappropriate in this thread.

Agreed....and thanks.....it was so inappropriate that it took me a few reads to realize exactly what she meant

Yep. I'm not really sure why she gives a flip what you chose to do with your son's penis. lol

Jesus, people.  I was JOKING.  Unclench the buttocks, please.

I'mAcrossThePond

Echowysp:

Stellasmom:

jbrooke:

I'mAcrossThePond:

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

  I don't recall the OP asking your opinion on circumcision. This was completely unneeded and inappropriate in this thread.

Agreed....and thanks.....it was so inappropriate that it took me a few reads to realize exactly what she meant

Yep. I'm not really sure why she gives a flip what you chose to do with your son's penis. lol

Jesus, people.  I was JOKING.  Unclench the buttocks, please.

Just adding a smiley face does not show that you were joking. It looked to me like you were adding a final "hurmp" on the end. You need to be more direct in your "jokes" on the interwebz...and joking about a controversial topic in the first place is never a good idea...especially when emotions and SURGERY are involved. Big fail.

Echowysp

I'mAcrossThePond:

Echowysp:

Stellasmom:

jbrooke:

I'mAcrossThePond:

Echowysp:

It's nature's way of making right what was wronged at birth.

 

  I don't recall the OP asking your opinion on circumcision. This was completely unneeded and inappropriate in this thread.

Agreed....and thanks.....it was so inappropriate that it took me a few reads to realize exactly what she meant

Yep. I'm not really sure why she gives a flip what you chose to do with your son's penis. lol

Jesus, people.  I was JOKING.  Unclench the buttocks, please.

Just adding a smiley face does not show that you were joking. It looked to me like you were adding a final "hurmp" on the end. You need to be more direct in your "jokes" on the interwebz...and joking about a controversial topic in the first place is never a good idea...especially when emotions and SURGERY are involved. Big fail.

Again, unclench.

*KC*luvs*RJ*

If you're concerned, please see a Urologist just in case.  We were told it was just a fat pad due to DS being breastfed, but that was wrong and now he's had numerous infections on his penis due to bacteria getting stuck under the reattaching skin.  (This is rare to happen, so don't freak out!)  He now has C. diff because he was on so many antibiotics to stop the infection and it's been a nightmare since March.

Just have a Urologist look at it to make sure it doesn't need to be fixed.  Only s/he can say what the true deal is!