Four-year-old child's foreskin is too long

For children, it is easy for many problems to occur. For example, many boys have the problem of foreskin being too long. If it happens before the age of three, this phenomenon is very normal and parents do not need to worry too much. However, if the child still has problems with the foreskin process at the age of four, certain methods need to be taken for treatment. Next, I will introduce to you the relevant knowledge about children’s foreskin being too long!

1. It is normal for the foreskin to be too long before the age of 3

What kind of situation is considered as foreskin being too long? According to experts, foreskin that is too long means that the glans penis is completely covered by the foreskin, but it can be turned up to reveal the urethral opening and glans penis. In the erect state, it cannot be turned up by itself to reveal the glans penis.

Data shows that among newborn boys, the foreskin of most of them has to cover the glans and cannot be retracted, and the foreskin of babies that can be retracted to the coronal sulcus only accounts for about 5% of the total; by the age of 3, this proportion can reach about 90%. Therefore, it is a normal physiological phenomenon that the foreskin completely covers the glans before the age of 3, also known as physiological phimosis, and does not have any pathological significance. If the foreskin cannot be retracted to the coronal sulcus after the age of 3, it is called phimosis and circumcision may be required.

2. Only 20% of men have to undergo circumcision

Many parents believe that circumcision is a "must" for boys' growth, but a pediatric expert from the Chinese University of Hong Kong pointed out that in fact only 20% of boys "need to be circumcised" because their foreskin is too long and too narrow, which makes it easy for bacteria to harbour inflammation. On the contrary, indiscriminate circumcision may make the foreskin too short at any time, which will pull the penis and prevent it from growing outward normally. Instead, it will shrink inward and shorten, and even the entire penis may shrink inward to the point where it "cannot see the light of day", seriously affecting future development and psychological growth.

Eighty percent of patients with ingrown penis have congenital disease, but as many as 20% of cases are caused by mistaken circumcision, which results in the foreskin being too short. Yang Chongguang explained that many parents would take their sons for circumcision to solve the problem of narrow foreskin and inflammation. However, if the boy's foreskin is short or even slightly retracted, further circumcision will only lead to the problem of short foreskin, and as a result, most of the penis will be pushed into the fat tissue around the pubic bone, worsening the problem of retracted penis. The problem will be more serious if the boy is obese and has thicker fat tissue.

3. What are the benefits of circumcision?

In medicine, it can reduce the incidence of penile cancer, urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, and cervical cancer in female spouses; in life, you can pursue beautiful appearance, and after circumcision, you can avoid the trouble of repeatedly cleaning the penis.