The most common foreskin problem in children is prepuce, which means that the foreskin wraps the glans inside and cannot be turned up and the glans can be exposed, and almost all children are born with prepuce. As they grow older, usually by the age of three, the natural erection of the penis pulls, the adhesion between the foreskin and the glans will gradually loosen, and gradually the foreskin can be turned up, and the glans can be exposed.
The glands of the foreskin secrete some sebum, which mixes with the shed cell fragments to form a foreskin scale. In children with foreskin, because they cannot turn up the foreskin to clean it, the scale can accumulate and look like a small bag, and many parents think their children have a tumor and come to the hospital.
Theoretically, the inability to turn up the foreskin may easily lead to the accumulation of foreskin scale and urine sticking, increasing the risk of foreskin glansitis; many children have surgery because of the foreskin. It is also true that the risk of urinary tract infections is 3-10 times lower in children up to 2 years of age who are circumcised compared to those who are not, and the risk of glans vulgaris is significantly lower when the child grows up after being circumcised.
However, not all circumcision causes problems, most children do not show any symptoms even after long term circumcision, and the vast majority of circumcision will resolve itself as they get older. If there is still circumcision at the age of 10, or if it is caused by narrowing of the scar at the end of the foreskin, you can go for surgery. If there are no symptoms, the circumcision and foreskin scaling are not enough reasons to cut the foreskin, and whether to do so depends largely on the parents’ wishes.
Circumcision can increase the risk of urinary tract and foreskin glans infections. If a circumcised child has frequent urinary tract infections, or if the foreskin is red and swollen, the doctor will usually recommend cutting it, after all, it is a minor surgery. There is no strict age limit for circumcision, domestic doctors mostly recommend doing it after the age of five or six. If an experienced doctor goes to do it, the operation is very safe, there may be bleeding, infection, adhesions, unsightly appearance and other problems, but they are rare and will not affect the future sexual function.
If the foreskin is not cut, the doctor may recommend that the circumcised child go for an expansion flap, either to dilate the foreskin so that it can be turned up or to remove the foreskin scale, but the foreskin does not really need to be treated if it does not cause discomfort to the child because it is a physiological phenomenon. Before the foreskin can be turned up, you can usually wash it routinely with soap and water, and let nature take its course to a certain age, after the foreskin can be turned up, teach your child to take a bath to turn up the foreskin and wash it, and turn it back after washing it to avoid edema that causes the foreskin to get stuck on the glans.
For the foreskin scale, many parents are scared to see a white piece of stuff in the foreskin, but if it does not cause infection or anything, the foreskin scale is normal and does not need to be handled specially, unless it comes out on its own, and do not purposely go to squeeze out the foreskin scale.
It’s not uncommon for children to suddenly find their penis red and swollen one day, and the child is itchy and sore. If the circumcision is often accompanied by foreskin infection, you can consider circumcision. If it is allergy or other dermatitis, the doctor may let you eat some anti-allergy medicine, and pay attention not to let the child scratch to further stimulate aggravate the dermatitis.