Bris healed wrong | Imamother

amother

Wed, Jul 30 2008, 2:18 pm

Disclaimer: NOT the mohel's fault.

I always thought it looked kinda funny but what do I know? I don't have much variety to compare it to. So after almost 18 months, dh asked his mashpia (or whatever it's called) who is a mohel to take a look and sure enough, it healed the wrong way.

See, normally, newborns are skinny and scrawny so there is nothing preventing the bris to heal properly. However, my son was a hefty chubby kid by the time of his bris, and the mohel had to pull the whole thing out in order to do his thing. once he was done, it sunk back into his skin and unbeknownst to me, healed wierd.

So this new mohel fixed it right there (basically the skin was stuck to the head, so he just pulled it down) and of course, my son did NOT like that Sad

We were told to put neosporin on it and keep pulling it down at bathtime and diaper changing time to keep it from healing wrong again. My son was thrilled. NOT.

So finally it's healed, but honestly, it kinda looks the same as it did before... I mean, it looks like it's still stuck under the head... I don;'t know what to do... I can't put him through a bris a third time!

Clarissa

Wed, Jul 30 2008, 2:20 pm

Take him to your pediatrician. They know how these things are supposed to heal, and how to handle it if it's not healing correctly. They also have ways of dealing with problems that are less painful.

amother

Wed, Jul 30 2008, 3:23 pm

yo'ma wrote:

I find it very interesting that your pediatrician didn't notice it beforehand. That's part of the check-up.

She did notice it, and said that we might have to do something about it eventually.

The mohel explained that the problem is that when he's older and starts getting aroused he's going to be in A LOT of pain and it's best to deal with it sooner rather than later. He told us we could either go to the hospital and have a surgery where they put him under, or he could fix it right there.

Thruth is the baby didn't cry too much. He hated the healing part, but the actual procedure took half a second and didn't bleed or anything. So I am glad we did it... But I don't want to put him through that again!

Clarissa

Wed, Jul 30 2008, 3:42 pm

Did the doctor say that repairing it would be difficult? I'd rather have the pediatrician fix it next time, rather than another mohel. It might be pretty simple, no worse than having something small removed at the dermatologist.

ny_ima

Wed, Jul 30 2008, 4:10 pm

whatever u do, do it asap
I know someone with botched bris (was mohel's fault) and had surgery to fix it and all is fine B"H
ask your mashpia/mohel to take a second look.
last thing u need is for him to have pain later in life OMG it would be devastating to poor kid.
refuah sheleima!

Nicole

Wed, Jul 30 2008, 4:11 pm

My son (who is now 7 months old) had the same situation. Part of the foreskin reattached itself to the head. The mohel checked him at 3-4 months, saw the prob, and had us bathe him immediately before he came and just pulled it back with some gauze. Wasn't the biggest deal though ds was kinda unhappy for a few seconds.
You need to ask a rav. According to our mohel, there are those who believe that once the bris is done, it's done, and even if the skin grows ALL THE WAY BACK to how it was originally, it's fine. The only issue is maaras ayin. (which CAN be an issue)
Either way, I don't see why a non Jewish/frum pediatrician would bring something like this to your attention. This is a halacha thing- not a medical thing. What exactly is the pediatrician looking for? it doesn't always have to look so "off" in order for it to be a maaras ayin problem.

amother

Thu, Jul 31 2008, 8:09 am

Well the issue is really for when he's older. If it heals that way with the skin attatched to the head he could be in a lot of pain whenever he gets... excited. Since the skin would have to stretch and pull on a very sensitive area.

amother

Thu, Jul 31 2008, 8:26 am

My ds is 3 & has a similar problem. But it has nothing to do with the bris.The skin adheads to itself. Every so often the pediatrician has to seperate it. He screams, but there is nothing else to do.We use vasaline or nesporin after baths. Dr said he will hopefuly outgrow it otherwise we will go see a urologist.

catonmylap

Sat, Aug 02 2008, 11:44 pm

My ds was fat as a newborn too(and his bris was at 3 weeks). The mohel said his bris was complicated. I was extremely happy that we picked one of the best mohels. Everything looks very normal now.

I think the lesson to everyone else is to use a good mohel, especially if your kid might be more complicated.

momto7

Sun, Aug 03 2008, 12:34 am

I agree. We picked a mohel and he showed up at my house a night before the bris and I didn' t like the way he picked up the baby. Something about it made me uncomfortable. Very abrubt and not gentle. I refused to use him as a mohel even though people recommend him. We called a diff one.

GAMZu

Sun, Aug 03 2008, 10:57 am

My son had that. It was a horror. A few weeks after the bris the mohel came to check and there were adhesions.
So he proceeded to rip the skin off the bris with his hands, without warning, without consulting, without asking me.
There was blood all over the place, and my baby was suffocating from not being able to breathe from screaming.
I was so horribly angry- he should have discussed this- there are other ways to fix it- in a sterile environment, NOT on my dining room table! AND- there is no reason not to provide pain relief for this procedure. Mad

And mainly- he should have told me what he was going to do before doing it!!

Please, get whatever you need to get done by a pediatrician! Or at least have the mohel speak to the pediatrician if there are any halacha issues to work out.

HealthCoach

Sun, Aug 03 2008, 11:30 am

By my youngest son I had to keep pushing the skin back every time I changed his diaper. My pediatrician told me to do that. I had forgotten about it until my sister made a bris and I realized that it ended up healing correctly after all.

amother

Sun, Aug 03 2008, 11:43 am

dose adhesions happen becus the mohel leavs to much skin? I remeber my yonger bro was a yr old when thay had a mohel fix the bris I dident know what needed fixing prob was an adhesion I was 17 and still remeber the screeming it was horrible. hope evrything works out by u op.,

amother

Sun, Aug 03 2008, 3:11 pm

New amother here - B"H I had a great mohel for DS, and he did a great job. At his 9 month visit though, the ped. told me he has an adhesion, because he is chubby. The bris healed fine and this happened later. He told me he could pull it apart, but DS would be happier if I do it little by little each day after his bath. I've been trying, but it makes me soooo nervous, because I'm not really sure how it's supposed to look (first DS) and I'm so scared to pull too hard and hurt him. I freaked out a little, and I think I'll make an appointment to bring him back to the dr, and either have him do it all at once or ask for very clear instructions how I should do it.