What to do if a 7-year-old child has phimosis

It is common for children to have phimosis, and when they reach a certain age, they should be able to undergo surgical treatment. It’s just that everyone’s physical condition is different, so the treatment of phimosis is also different. For children, surgery should be performed at an appropriate age because they will recover faster. So what should we do if a 7-year-old child has phimosis?

Whether a child with phimosis should undergo circumcision depends on the situation, and it is difficult to weigh the pros and cons. Most children under the age of 12 require general anesthesia for surgery, which has certain risks and disadvantages. In addition, the wound healing time is long and there is obvious pain when changing the dressing, which makes many parents unwilling to choose surgery. In fact, if circumcision is performed on children without proper care, such as cutting too much, the foreskin may be too short in adults, which will affect sexual function. So take these adverse consequences into consideration.

For children with phimosis, if it causes repeated urinary tract and foreskin infections, timely treatment is required. However, most children with phimosis will heal on their own when they grow up. Therefore, some doctors believe that there is no need to take the risk of circumcision too early, thus causing children to suffer pain and psychological fear. Especially in some cases without obvious surgical indications, it is recommended to avoid surgery as much as possible. As long as you pay attention to hygiene, turn the penis up for cleaning, it will not cause infection, and it will not affect the development of the penis, you can temporarily avoid surgery. It is generally believed that for infants under 1 year old with phimosis, parents should pay attention to keeping the infant's perineum clean and hygienic, and do a good job of outpatient follow-up. For phimosis in children aged 1 to 6 years old, foreskin opening enlargement surgery can be performed according to the situation. For children aged 7 to 13 years old with phimosis, blunt separation of the glans penis and topical medication can be performed. For patients over 13 years old, circumcision is recommended.

The above is the method for treating phimosis in children. Not all children with phimosis need surgery. It still depends on the condition of the child. If a five-year-old child has obvious phimosis, or the foreskin opening is obviously narrow and cannot be turned up by hand, or if it often causes phimosis, it is recommended to dilate the foreskin opening and turn it up manually as soon as possible to prevent affecting the child's health. For some severe phimosis that does not respond well to dilation, surgical removal may be recommended.