Phimosis in boys. When is treatment required?

Phimosis is the narrowing of the foreskin on the penis. According to statistics, this disease affects about 10% of the male population of the planet.

It should be noted that to a certain age, phimosis in boys is considered physiological. After all, only 4% of boys immediately after birth have such a movable foreskin that they can completely expose the head of the penis. By the age of six months, about 20% of babies already have the opportunity to slightly open the head. And for most three-year-old boys, the foreskin acquires the necessary mobility. Thus, in infancy, phimosis in boys is a purely physiological phenomenon, aimed at protecting the sexual organ from infection. Most often, such a condition is committed does not require treatment and goes to about 7-12 years.

But even before the age of seven, phimosis in boys can acquire a pathological course. It is necessary to treat a child if he has difficulty urinating or if there are signs of inflammation of the glans penis.

The cause of the development of pathological phimosis in boys may be trauma, because of which scar tissue was formed on the foreskin. And also inflammatory diseases caused by inadequate hygiene, and genetic predisposition.

If pathological phimosis is detected in boys, treatment can not be postponed, since this disease can give serious complications. For example, paraphimosis, when the narrowed foreskin pinches the head of the penis, causing circulatory disorders up to gangrenous changes in the tissues. Balanoposthitis, urethritis and other inflammatory diseases can also develop.

Is it true that the diagnosis of phimosis in boys is the only method of treatment? It is impossible to answer unequivocally here. For example, in the absence of pathological changes, that is, the appearance of scar tissue, it is often possible to avoid surgical intervention.

A conservative technique for treating a child's parents will be taught by a child andrologist or surgeon. When choosing this method of treatment, parents should, at the end of the bathing of the baby, move the flesh of the child very carefully to the level as far as possible at the moment. It is very important to act very carefully and carefully. As rough actions can lead to the appearance of tears and, as a result, the formation of scars, which will further exacerbate the situation.

This gradual stretching of the skin of the foreskin is necessary only in warm water, as the skin after bathing becomes more elastic. The slightly opened head should be carefully washed, and then it is necessary to return the foreskin to its original place.

Sometimes, to increase the elasticity of the skin, the use of steroid ointments is recommended, but this method of treatment is controversial. And you should not use it yourself, without the doctor's prescription.

In the case of cicatricial changes in the tissue or with a highly pronounced inflammatory process, one has to resort to an operation that has the mysterious name of circumcision or, as people say, circumcision. Such an operation in young children is usually done under general anesthesia. If the operation is assigned to a teenager or an adult male, then the intervention is carried out with local anesthesia. The operation lasts no more than half an hour and consists in a circular excision of the tissues of the foreskin. After such an intervention, the main cause of the appearance of phimosis is eliminated, so that a relapse of the disease is impossible. However, it is not worthwhile to resort to circumcision without serious evidence (of course, if the desire to conduct an operation is not caused by religious motives). Because circumcision, like any surgical intervention, can lead to a variety of complications.