What is the cause of baby phimosis? Foreskin is normal before 3 years old

Does a boy's foreskin need to be pushed back? How can you clean his scrotum? Regarding the diseases and care of a boy's sexual organs, not to mention mothers of different genders, even fathers may not know enough, but it is difficult to talk about it with others. Learn about this knowledge and symptoms early. Only with a correct understanding can you reduce unnecessary worries, and if there are symptoms, you can find them early!

The structure of a penis

The male sex organ consists of the penis and scrotum. The penis is covered by the foreskin. Pushing the foreskin down will expose the glans penis. During infancy, the glans penis is covered by the foreskin, forming a "phimosis" state, which is normal. There is a testicle on each side of the scrotum (which will produce male hormones and sperm in the future).

Two major types of phimosis

The glans of babies is mostly covered by the foreskin (physiological phimosis). If the glans can be seen, it may be necessary to consider whether it is a congenital abnormality such as hypospadias, which can be discovered during the physical examination at birth. General phimosis can be divided into two major types, and about 100% of newborns have true phimosis.

True phimosis >> Everyone has this condition when they are just born! The foreskin covering the glans penis is very narrow, and it is difficult to turn the foreskin back to see the glans penis. If the foreskin can be easily pushed back later, it is false phimosis.

Pseudophimosis: It does not take much force to push down the foreskin covering the glans to expose the glans. As long as the glans can be slightly seen, it is pseudophimosis.

Basic knowledge about baby phimosis

Does the foreskin need to be pushed back? If the foreskin is not pulled back during infancy, will it cause trouble to the child in the future? Or should we wait for it to be pushed back naturally?

Q: Is it normal for a baby boy to be born with his glans covered by the foreskin?

A: It is normal for the foreskin to completely cover the glans before the age of 3.

Generally speaking, among newborn boys, the foreskin of most of them is stuck on the glans and cannot be retracted. The proportion of babies whose foreskin can be retracted to the coronal sulcus is very low. It is a normal physiological phenomenon that the foreskin completely covers the glans before the age of 3, which is also called "physiological phimosis."

What is phimosis?

Phimosis simply means that the foreskin cannot be turned back! But this is normal in newborns. Chen Wande, attending physician of the Pediatric Thoracic Department of Taiwan Adventist Hospital, said that only 30% of the foreskin can be retracted to the coronal sulcus before the age of 3, about 70% at the age of 7, and about 90% after the age of 16. However, this situation is sometimes prone to urinary tract infection, inflammation of the glans and foreskin, and older children sometimes have symptoms of pain after erection.

Mom, no need to be confused or hesitate any more:

For mothers, the penis is an unknown world, so of course they think pushing it open is a scary thing. In fact, most children do not need to push the foreskin open deliberately, and it is okay if they don’t push it open.

Q: Does the baby need to be circumcised?

A: As long as it is clean, it is not recommended to circumcise too early.

At present, Taiwan's medical practice does not recommend circumcision for babies. As long as the baby is properly cleaned, the risk of foreskin infection can be reduced. Another alternative is to apply steroid ointment locally, which can make the foreskin skin looser and less tight. In this way, it is easier for parents to help their children clean and reduce the chance of internal infection. Although the ointment currently used is steroid, it is only used locally, so parents do not need to worry too much about side effects caused by using such ointment.