From reddit, July 2022: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis/comments/tgmd2c/underwhelming_urologist_appointment/
He writes:
This is more a post to vent but it might be of use to someone or to share similar experiences.
I finally went to my urologist/andrologist appointment today. This is my first experience with a urologist as an adult. I got the appointment like two months ago back when I was just starting treating my phimosis with the silicone rings. Right now I'm using the final ring, my retraction is full when flaccid even if I still see some very small remnants of the hourglass shape when the flaccid penis is larger (as many of you have experienced the size of a single flaccid penis is not always the same as it tends to change depending on the temperature). During erections my foreskin only goes a bit more than halfway but it is much much better of how it used to be. (1/3 of the way retraction before I started).
So I went to my appointment already on the final stretch (no pun intended) of the treatment. He started by explaining all the things about phimosis that we already know and some treatment options but he was very doubtful about stretching as a "cure" for phimosis (he said "cure" with the quotation marks implied). Telling me some straight up lies like "skin doesn't stretch really" and then some legit precautions about how stretching might have some risks like tearing and such (which I already knew and I still think they're very minimal compared to the risks of a surgery). I did clarified that I had some really satisfactory results with the rings so he was kinda curious about the rings that I used so he looked them up on his computer. He was aware of Phimostop but not of Phimocure or the Phimocure knock-off I was using (Phimoring). At best he was reluctanctly accepting of the fact that I was having success with the rings (maybe he just straight up thought that it was all in my head and never really had phimosis, but I know I still have it when erect). And at worst he was dismissive of the treatment. He was even a little snarky about the price I paid for the rings, even though it was more likely cheaper than a surgery given that I don't have insurance.
He then proceeded to inspect me. So I took off my pants and underwear and laid on a chair. He put on some gloves and retracted my foreskin on my flaccid penis (it was kinda cold in the room as all doctor's offices, so my penis was at minimum size and there was 0 sign of hourlgass shape or shaft strangulation). He said everything was perfect and I technically didn't have phimosis, because they only diagnose phimosis on people who can't retract flaccid because of hygienic concerns, or people who retract flaccid but their shaft gets choked. So because of this he didn't even recommended circumcision (best thing about the whole visit to be honest). I did tell him that I had some problems during intercourse, especially during penetration and that I had reduced sensitivity and had some accidental retractions that kill my erections because of tightness but he was sort of dismissive and waved the concerns away. He said that he could perform the circumcision if that bothered me too much and he was only going to give me a "half-recommendation" for a surgery but that he thought it really wasn't necessary.
I asked him about bethametasone or some other steroid creams and said he was not aware of any of those creams and that it sounded impossible for a cream to stretch your skin (oh well at least he didn't gave it to me and told me to just apply it waiting for it to work without any stretching). It's a shame, because getting a steroid cream prescription was my main goal as I wanted it to help me that extra mile that I need to finish the treatment as I ran out of larger rings to wear. But I can live without it tbh.
At the end he was sort of aware enough that I was gonna keep stretching it with the rings because I really made it specific that the only reason I could retract so smoothly now was because of that. So he sort of acceptingly said "yeah, of course it's gonna be looser because you're putting a ring to stretch it" very much contradicting his first statement that "skin doesn't really stretch". So he just recommended me to be careful to not cut myself and not use them for too long and to put on some sort of moisturizing cream. I told him that I used virgin coconut oil because it's a moisturizer and antimicrobial and he said it was okay, but also recommended me some over the counter cream with vitamin E.
And that was pretty much it. I guess I'm happy I finally went and confirmed that I'm healthy besides the phimosis and that I don't have a very severe case. I'm glad that he didn't push the circumcision on me but really dissapointed on how shallow his vision was on the matter as I live in a country where circumcision is uncommon outside of some religious minorities so I was expecting more knowledge on the matter. He didn't even mentioned any other possible surgeries outside of circumicision that I know exist. But overall I think it was a waste of 27 dollars (it might not sound like a lot for some but it is a lot for a student living in an expensive city where 27 dollars would've been useful for other important things). I know I could get a second opinion, but I'm very advanced on my treatment and I feel like it would be a waste of money. I will consider it only if I hit a very hard plateau, but I doubt that will happen.
For some context: This is a fancy doctor practicing in a fancy private practice clinic in the downtown of a very metropolitan city and educated in a very good medical school. So I'm kinda shocked that he wasn't aware of steroid creams. Maybe they're not legal in the country or something, I should do some more research.
tl;dr: They only diagnose phimosis on people who can't retract flaccid, and because right now I'm only unable to retract erect I TECHNICALLY don't have phimosis. He was very doubtful and dismissive of stretching as a treatment but couldn't do much about it because I've had more than stellar results with the treatment. And because I don't "really" have phimosis he didn't push for circumcision, but he didn't recommended any steroid creams because he wasn't aware of them. So he just said to be careful if I continued stretching.
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