# Any experiences w/ Balanitis?



## eliza0104 (Mar 23, 2007)

This is my first post here. I've read countless pages of threads and must say I feel alot better than I did yesterday walking out of the doctor's office.
I have a 2.5 yr old DS. He is not circ'd. I noticed the tip of his penis red the other day. I didn't make a big deal about it. He then started crying out and saying "my Pee Pee hurts" So I took him in to the doctor. She immediately looked at his penis and said "he has Balanitis" His penis is slightly swollen, the tip is red, and the head (his foreskin will retract slightly) is bright red and does look sore. My oldest son is circ'd







so I'm new to the whole uncirc'd penis! The doctor didn't do a culture (which I know know she should have) She mentioned that if he gets another Balanitis he will need to be circ'd. This literally makes me sick to my stomach. She said a balanitis isn't common and he has a 1 in 3 chance of getting another one. I read the sticky from Frank about the red foreskin and now I wonder if his foreskin is just starting to seperate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read that this can cause discomfort and wonder if this is what he's feeling. Zachary isn't potty trained. The doctor suggested I PT him, but he's no where close. Maybe in 6 months, but not now. I'm a SAHM, so I am certain no one, including, him as retracted his foreskin. He doesn't have a diaper rash. This whole thing just makes me sick b/c my father wasn't circ'd and after countless infections had to be circ'd as an adult. I cannot imagine that happening to Zachary. I do want to mention that we are in the military, so when we go the doctor we typically don't see the same ones. But the ones I have run into have been pretty pro uncirc'ing. Which is nice! Any ideas or BTDT with an apparant infection of the foreskin? TIA!!


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## jamesong5 (Dec 5, 2006)

I have no personal experience with this but I googled it and found quite a few links: http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH...339/10515.html looks like a good one. I think the Dr is jumping the gun for no reason. So many are too circ friendly and don't know how to take care of something that is natural.

Good Luck


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## MommytoB (Jan 18, 2006)

Eliza,

If your son is a player with his foreskin depending if he might did something that he wasn't totally ready for.

I would say some warm tub soaks with sitz in the bathtub would help with the soreness see if that helps avoid bubble baths . Do not use neosporion on the foreskin that can cause more problems.

Maybe have some air out time indoors.

My son's foreskin is always red sometimes it does look puffy that is after he comes from grandma's house and she puts on his diaper to quickly that he ends up smushed in there! because he's not pointed down wise


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## Tinijocaro (Jan 4, 2003)

My two intact boys are 7 and 11 years old. Once in a while, one of them has complained that their penis hurts, just as my two girls have complained that their genitals hurts. For any of my kids, a soak in the tub usually does the trick.

The head of the penis (glans) is supposed to be red, it's rather bright and bordering on being purplish looking. A bit alarming at first, but that is the normal color.

So your son may get an irritation from time to time, this is not a life threatening infection, just an irritation. If it is an actual infection, a soak in the tub and maybe some antibiotics are in order, not an amputation.

Your doctor is way off-base, obviously doesn't know what the normal male genitals are supposed to look like. Relax, and follow your gut- do you feel the problem is of the magnitude that an amputation is in order? Probably not.


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## MCatLvrMom2A&X (Nov 18, 2004)

The normal color of the glans when intact is a bright red/purple. It really does look inflamed if you dont know that it is supposed to look that way and is usually quiet a shock for parents the first time they see their son retract.

For the tip of the foreskin to be red isnt that big a deal unless like your son it hurts. But it could just be seperation trauma. If the pain only lasts 24-48 hours chances are you are dealing with seperation. If there is no discharge or swelling then infection is unlikely.

Balantis is a word that covers many types of infections. It is only a cause for circ if it gets so bad he cant pee. But for it to get that bad he would need to be forecibly retracted many times.

By the way do not allow the Dr. to push back his foreskin any more. By doing so it can actually cause micro tears and allow any bacteria present to get in there and cause issues. Please read the sticky The Definition of Retraction & Why it is BAD at the top of the main forum.


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## ComeOnLetsGo (Nov 19, 2001)

All 3 of my boys are intact. There was one ped. (whom we abandoned long ago!) who would proclaim balanitis at just about every check up on one boy or another. I ignored her every time and each time the "problem" went away on its own. Finally, she became fairly insistent about the need to circ due to "balanitis" for my middle son. I refused again but asked her for a referral to a ped. urologist. The urologist took one look, rolled his eyes and told me that our ped. was clearly uneducated about the intact penis and he sent her lots of written information to study. We never went back to her. My boys are now 16, 13 and 9 and none of them have had any problems at all. True balanitis is rare, but apparently the jump-the-gun diagnosis is not. In our experience, foreskin gets red sometimes. That does not mean that you need to cut it off! A few good soaks in a warm tub might help. Good luck!


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## pdx.mothernurture (May 27, 2004)

Balantitis isn't even necessarily an infection, it just means inflammation of the glans. It could be an irritation from some residual bubblebath or irritation from playing with it. It could be that he's a little yeasty, or it could be a little sore from a minor infection, just like any other part of the body.

We'd be appalled if a doctor causually said amputation would be required for any other body part in response to more than one bout of simple irritation. An itchy, runny nose or a little bit of diaper rash on a baby bottom come to mind...

Oh, and the glans of an intact child is often very brightly colored, much more so than the circumcised kids we're used to seeing. It's not unusual for it to look red or purple or bluish, just depending on the child. It's only when the foreskin is stripped away and the mucousal skin is left to dry and thicken that the skin because more like 'regular' skin, and looses it's rich & glossy appearance.

Jen


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## glongley (Jun 30, 2004)

Even if he doesn't have a diaper "rash", he might be having some chemical or mechanical irritation from the diaper. Change his diapers frequently and go with as much diaperless time as you can. You could add some baking soda to his warm tub soaks to help neutralize the ammonia. Make sure he's well hydrated to avoid over-concentrated urine; busy boys sometimes don't drink enough.

If you're using cloth diapers and washing them yourself, make sure to strip them, or try diaper service for a while. Or you might try paper for a while to see if that makes a different. Llikewise, if he's in paper diapers, try cloth for a while and see if that makes a difference.

Have your read Paul Fleiss's article on fending of ill-advised recommendations that an intact boy "needs" to be circumcised?
http://www.mothering.com/articles/ne...uncircson.html

Best wishes, Gillian

Good luck! Gillian


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## Telle Bear (Jul 28, 2006)

WoW!! I just had this scary thought reading this...imagine if when our kids got pink eye we just cut it out.......


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## Susuhound (Jul 5, 2006)

My husband recently got balanitis from thrush - we prob re-infected each other kinda (sorry tmi). Anyway he took a tablet and it went away. Nothing got amputated.


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