A mother asks:

I sadly just noticed my 6 week-old baby boy’s skin from his circumcision has reattached to the head of his penis.  Pretty securely.  I’d say about 90% of the circumference of it is reattached with some random openings around it that have a little bit of white stuff at the opening.  Is this normal?  Will he need another circumcision or other procedure to fix this?  I hope I’m overreacting (I am a bit of a spaz) but I’m just imagining him going through pain.

Reattachment of the leftover foreskin to the head (glans) of the penis is extremely common in infant boys who are circumcised.  You didn’t do anything wrong!  You can gently retract the foreskin and clean out that “white stuff” (which is dead skin, not pus) whenever you change a diaper or during a bath.  That may help, and, it may not.  Nevertheless, it almost always resolves itself naturally — without the need for a second circumcision — by the age of three.  Make sure to ask about this at your baby’s next checkup.

 

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