A phimosis or narrowing of foreskin describes a condition in boys or men, when the foreskin of the penis can’t be pulled back over the gland at all or if it is painful to do so, or if the foreskin is so narrow that even urinating becomes difficult. The foreskin can form a "balloon" when urinating, which makes the urination very slow and cumbersome.
Triggered by an elongation or narrowing of the foreskin, some boys or men may experience a condition where the foreskin can’t be pulled back or is even so narrow, that it forms a “balloon” while urinating that will empty very slowly. Phimosis can cause pain when the patient has an erection and people affected by the condition are highly exposed to an inflammation of their glands. Such inflammation is called balanitis and they are at high risk of other complications. There are two forms of phimosis, pathologic and physiologic.
Physiologic phimosis is a condition that is present since birth. We are talking about a physiologic situation, when the foreskin cannot be pulled back in young children and is not painful either. In most cases, this situation resolves itself when the child is around seven or sixteen years old and does not need treatment. People should not try to tug back the foreskin when the child is still young. Although pathologic phimosis is rare, the reason for it is not always clear. An underlying medical condition like scarring or balanitis as well as some other risk factors can cause it. When the patient is unable to pull back the foreskin, it can be difficult for him to clean the area and this can trigger balanitis because of bacteria that might be trapped beneath the foreskin, which can lead to an inflammation. This can also cause pain, especially during manipulations. It can be difficult for the patient to urinate. The erection and urination can be painful and the patient can have also paraphimosis.
Most patients can be treated by applying certain ointments for the duration of approximately 4 weeks. If the result is not satisfactory, or if the foreskin is too narrow, a circumcision can be considered.
Several years of work in academia, medical practice and finally commercialization make it possible to provide an end-to-end process to help users to “find the appropriate medical help based on their present symptoms”. Below you will find a short explanation, showing you which part of the platform will help you best in finding the appropriate medical support.
Proceed as follows to enter your current symptoms.
Click on the appropriate body part on the picture. Select one/multiple symptoms corresponding to your complaint.
You can also add symptoms by typing your medical complaint in the search box and selecting the best matching suggestion.
Note: Your information will be kept anonymously.
Once you have selected all applicable symptoms, click the “analyze disease pattern”-button.
Accordingly, you will get a list of possible diseases and matching doctor categories who can further help you.
You can inform yourself about the possible diseases by reading the related information. But you can also return to the previous step and add more symptoms or delete already added ones to further narrow down your disease pattern.
Click on the desired doctor category to find a doctor who can help you.
If you are logged in with your profile, you will be displayed the appropriate doctors in your area. Otherwise you can enter an address in the “address” field and you will be displayed a doctor’s list around that specified address.
You will receive further information about the displayed doctors when you press on “details”.
Online bookable doctors in your area will be indicated with the notation “Book appointment” or “Book externally”, additionally they will be displayed on top of the list for your convenience.
Click on “Book appointment” to start the online appointment booking process with the desired doctor.
Please select an available appointment. “Green“ appointments are booked directly. “Red“ appointments need to be confirmed by the doctor.
Enter your general personal and health information.
Enter your present medical symptoms.
Enter your mobile phone number to identify yourself and you can finalize the appointment booking.
Name
Email address
Type your message here