The exact description of phimosis is this: narrowness of the opening of the foreskin that prevents the glans from being fully or partially revealed. One of the pediatrician’s routines when visiting a child is to check that when the foreskin is retracted, the glans is exposed. If not, it is clear that the foreskin is not wide enough and then there is phimosis. This disorder makes it difficult to clean the penis and also causes pain during sexual intercourse.
The first cause of phimosis is congenital and can be easily detected in children. But adult men also suffer from this disease. There are basically two causes for the appearance of phimosis in adulthood. In some cases, men who have always had a narrow foreskin see how this characteristic is accentuated when they begin sexual relations. The other cause is the frequent appearance of infections in the genital area. The most common infection is balanoposthitis (infection of the glans and foreskin). The swelling it generates causes scarring of the foreskin.
Phimosis can be congenital and appear at birth or appear in adults. Phimosis is classified into three types:
– Punctate. These are the cases in which the narrowing of the foreskin occurs only in the area of ??the orifice. Urination is difficult.
– Scarring or acquired. The outer skin of the foreskin opening is hard. It can be caused by infections (fungi or bacteria…), chronic inflammation or trauma to the foreskin. Urination may be difficult.
– Cancel. The foreskin does not fully retract and forms a ring around the glans without revealing the balanic groove.
The most common symptoms of phimosis are:
– Painful sexual intercourse because the foreskin completely retracts behind the glans during the erection.
– Problems urinating.
– Infections such as balanitis.
– Adhesions in the area that joins the foreskin to the glans.
– Appearance of paraphimosis, which occurs when the glans is swollen and an attempt is made to pass it through the ring of the foreskin, but it cannot return to the normal situation.
– Paraphimosis that occurs when the glans is inflamed and its passage is forced through the ring of the foreskin so that it cannot return to its normal position even when there is no erection. It is considered a medical emergency.
If phimosis has not been treated and correct hygiene measures are not followed, phimosis, although there have been very few cases, can lead to penile cancer.
The pediatrician usually checks whether the child has phimosis through a physical and visual examination. If he observes that the foreskin does not retract behind the glans completely or partially, the patient has phimosis.
The usual treatment is to perform a surgical intervention in which the foreskin ring is fixed to the back of the glans. This technique is circumcision. There is also the less common possibility of doing a preputioplasty, which consists of leaving the foreskin as it is and enlarging the preputial ring.
In the case of children under three years of age, treatment with corticosteroids can be tried.
It is more than advisable to wash the penis with soap and water for children under three years of age. The vast majority of phimosis disappear between three and four years. When the child is three years old, treatments with ointments can be performed and accompanied by maneuvers that are not abrupt to try to lower the skin. Grooming should include careful cleaning of the foreskin to eliminate smegma, the thick, whitish secretion of the genital organs.
What is paraphimosis?
The disease of the two penises
What is balanitis?
What is Peyronie’s disease?
