Paraphimosis is a serious condition in which the foreskin of the penis is retracted to the extent that it becomes trapped underneath the glans (head of the penis). This acts as a tourniquet around the glans which results in pain and discomfort plus the foreskin cannot be pulled back into its original position.
This causes severe swelling around the penis and pain during an erection. This swelling can obstruct the blood supply to the penis which if left untreated, will cause this tissue to deteriorate and eventually die.
It is an uncommon disease and occurs less frequently than phimosis.
These include:
Plus babies and young boys may find that they experience problems with urination.
There are several causes of paraphimosis which include:
Many of these occur if the foreskin is retracted for a long period of time, e.g. penile examination.
Paraphimosis is serious and requires immediate attention. The danger here is that constriction of the foreskin will block the blood supply to that area and lead to tissue death (gangrene).
There are two ways of treating this: surgically or non-surgically.
There are two forms of surgery which include:
Then there are non-surgical options which include:
If this condition is left untreated it can lead to complications such as:
Paraphimosis can recur but circumcision is effective at preventing this from happening.