Tight foreskin (phimosis)

Consultant Paediatric Urologist Surgeon

How common is it? 
Surprisingly, all boys are born with a tight foreskin, however the foreskin starts opening up with age.

Complications
Some boys with a tight foreskin may develop balanitis (infection) at a later age. Rarely this may result in scarring with resultant difficulty in passing urine.

Non-operative treatment 
As long as the clinician can rule out BXO by clinical examination, it should be possible to treat some tight foreskins with steroid creams, the success rate is approximately 40-50%.

Circumcision
A circumcision surgery may be performed for religious or medical reasons. It may be done under local anesthesia, or under a light GA.