# Balanitis and antibiotic ointment?



## srmina (Sep 10, 2004)

My son (almost 2yo) has balanitis. He had some bad diarrhea last week which I am guessing is the cause. His doctor has put him on a week of oral antibiotics.

She also wants us to retract his foreskin once a day and put a topical antibiotic on it. His foreskin is partially retractable...I've never retracted it so I don't know how far it will go. He retracts it a little himself, though mostly he just likes to pull on it.







Should I just retract it as far as it goes and dab on the antibiotic? Or just dab the antibiotic on the foreskin itself?

Thanks for the advice! And I hope this was the right place to put this.


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## calngavinsmom (Feb 19, 2003)

Ugh, sorry to hear about this, I hope he is not too uncomfortable. If it were me, I would just put the ointment on the outside of the foreskin, I think it would just "soak in" like any other cream and get to where it needs to go. IMO, no need to risk further injury by trying to retract when it's not really ready.

Good luck to you guys!
Tara


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## pdx.mothernurture (May 27, 2004)

"itis" means inflammation, and inflammation can have many causes. It could indeed be the diarrhea. If that's the case, an antibiotic (unless his bowel problems are a result of a bacterial infection) is likely unnecessary and can cause a microbial imbalance that can make him more suseptible to things like candida (yeast).

Has anyone retracted his foreskin? IMO, it's really too early to be doing that. Trying to pull it back while he's so young may very well cause further irritation & microtears in the tip, which is painful and creates an entry point for bacteria and can lead to infection/scarring. Is the cream a prescription? It's not something like Neosporin, is it?

I'm not sure I'd give my son systemic (internal) antibiotics unless he was extremely ill and we didn't have time to get a culture before starting an intervention. Otherwise, I think I'd want a culture/blood work done before I'd consent to antibiotics. I think they're used way, way to casually these days.

Maybe give him some probiotics (like, acidophilus supplements); that should help get his bowels healthy again, too.

Jen


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## buckeyedoc (Nov 9, 2006)

My son got a horribly ulcerated foreskin during a acid poo blow-out diaper rash incident when he was 1 year old. The pediatrician prescribed Bactroban ointment, and I just put it on the tip of the outside of the foreskin without retracting it. This DS has a very long foreskin, so it can actually be manipulated a tiny bit when putting on the ointment without pulling on the part attached to the glans. The Bactroban worked like a charm.

You might want to feed him some yogurt each day, too, to keep the oral antibiotics from getting his normal bacteria out-of-whack.


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## MCatLvrMom2A&X (Nov 18, 2004)

Before I did any abx treatment I would insist on a culture to see exactly what the problem is. Abx can come with there own problems like a pp mentioned, yeast, When ds gets irritated from a diareah I use tons of diaper cream and leave him alone it will usually resolve on its own fairly fast once the diareah is under control. Unless there is swelling and discharge I would just let him heal on his own if it were me.

I would NOT be pulling back on his foreskin and make sure the Dr. dosnt as well. The culture can be done of the tip of the foreskin with no retraction.


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