Phimosis in children. When is it necessary to operate

Many mothers with children men have ever considered this question. The first question is whether your child has phimosis . The next one, if you need to operate. Often the question becomes anguish when the child evolves very slowly. But what is phimosis? Is it always synonymous with surgery? We answe

Many mothers with children men have ever considered this question. The first question is whether your child has phimosis. The next one, if you need to operate. Often the question becomes anguish when the child evolves very slowly. But what is phimosis? Is it always synonymous with surgery? We answer all your questions here: what is phimosis in children and when is it necessary to operate on it?

What is phimosis in children

It is the narrowness and adherence of the foreskin, a skin that covers the glans. Do not be alarmed. 95% of children are born this way and it tends to separate gradually. It is important to separate, because if not, the hygiene would not be correct and could lead to more complications, such as stagnation of the urine or any possible infection.

It is only phimosis if the foreskin is strongly adhered and does not descend completely. If it descends slightly and there is no skin pressure, there is no phimosis.

When to operate the phimosis child

The pediatrician will be the one to determine if the child is evolving correctly. If a problem is detected, it will be referred to the urologist. And the latter will be in charge of assessing whether surgery is appropriate, which is usually between 3 and 7 years of age. At 3 years, 90% of children born with phimosis no longer have any problems spontaneously. Surgery is always the last option

, when the problem persists, there is difficulty in urination or risk of paraphimosis(the foreskin, once retracted, does not return to its initial position). That is why many pediatricians prefer to wait as long as possible. If you have been told that your phimosis child needs to be operated on, do not be alarmed. It is a very simple intervention

. It is a circumcisionperformed by a urologist, and does not require hospital admission. It is usually done with local anesthesia and lasts a few minutes. It does not hurt, but it will be a nuisance in the following days, especially when peeing. Remember that phimosis is not always necessary Most of the time, there is no need to operate on phimosis

. The most normal thing is that the pediatrician sends you a

ointment with corticoidsthat helps to separate the foreskin. They usually send it to three years old between one and two months. Then a slight retraction will suffice. This is done either by the pediatrician or the urologist. This works in more than 80% of cases.