Odd finding (Concerning genitalia)

[LDAthleteNurse]

I'm a bit confused about this. I am precepting in the ER & Lately I have noticed that when inserting Foley caths or enemas/suppositories, alot of people have what I would describe as "skin tags" around the opening of the orifice or lady parts. This occurrence has not discriminated between male and female and I have noticed it most prevalently amongst middle age to older adults. Normally, this is an embarrassing topic to discuss and is worthy of an incognito Google search, but I have not been able to find much information. Perhaps my wording is a bit off.

Has anyone ever noticed this and Can tell me what I am seeing?

Please, no judgement or snarky comments. This is just something I do not know. None of us are above learning something new.

[LDAthleteNurse, BSN, RN]

We once had to cath a baby that had been a patient for many weeks, but decided to spike a temp so they wanted a urine culture. When we went to cath him.... we noticed his member had no hole. Nada. Not even the hypospadias kind of hole. There was literally NO HOLE in his member. We knew he had something somewhere because he wet diapers like normal.

We found his pee hole in the middle of his testicles.

Weirdest thing ever.

Wow. That IS weird. That's gotta have some impact on his ability to conceive later on in life...

[Julius Seizure]

Around the orifice could be hemorrhoids. Though, skin tags can be a part of the aging process.

Yes, I believe I've read (via incognito search like OP said) that chronic hemorrhoids can lead to skin-tag-like thingys. (technical term)

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

Wow. That IS weird. That's gotta have some impact on his ability to conceive later on in life...

We later discovered after reading his chart more in-depth, that he had "ambiguous genitalia". Would have been nice to know that going in, huh?

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

One time it looked like tree bark around the orifice. I was administering a milk and molasses enema and I couldn't visualize the opening so I just kinda "went for it". It worked, this time.

I had a patient with hemorrhoids so bad once it reminded me of that part of Stephen King's book The Tommyknockers where it was talking about the townspeople developing tentacles in their genital region. The "orifice," if you could call it that, looked like an aloe vera plant. Or maybe one of those long-leafed chrysanthemums. Or a Blooming Onion from Outback.

I really don't get why people don't get the truly weird stuff fixed. There has got to be a physician somewhere that would say the treatment is medically necessary, if for cleanliness alone. If I couldn't find that person's actual orifice in the forest of hemorrhoids with another person pulling the cheeks apart, and I had trouble getting the feces out from between the "leaves," I know there's no way the actual patient can wipe properly.

[TriciaJ, RN]

Wow. That IS weird. That's gotta have some impact on his ability to conceive later on in life...

His ability to conceive is already compromised by his being male. But his ability to impregnate wouldn't be so hot, either.

(Sorry to be pedantic. Don't even get me started on the standardized care plan I saw once called "Care of an amputated limb.")

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

I had a patient with hemorrhoids so bad once it reminded me of that part of Stephen King's book The Tommyknockers where it was talking about the townspeople developing tentacles in their genital region. The "orifice," if you could call it that, looked like an aloe vera plant. Or maybe one of those long-leafed chrysanthemums. Or a Blooming Onion from Outback.

I really don't get why people don't get the truly weird stuff fixed. There has got to be a physician somewhere that would say the treatment is medically necessary, if for cleanliness alone. If I couldn't find that person's actual orifice in the forest of hemorrhoids with another person pulling the cheeks apart, and I had trouble getting the feces out from between the "leaves," I know there's no way the actual patient can wipe properly.

Man, who else is suddenly craving Outback?

[TriciaJ, RN]

Man, who else is suddenly craving Outback?

Um, not me.

[acim]

I had a patient with hemorrhoids so bad once it reminded me of that part of Stephen King's book The Tommyknockers where it was talking about the townspeople developing tentacles in their genital region. The "orifice," if you could call it that, looked like an aloe vera plant. Or maybe one of those long-leafed chrysanthemums. Or a Blooming Onion from Outback.

I really don't get why people don't get the truly weird stuff fixed. There has got to be a physician somewhere that would say the treatment is medically necessary, if for cleanliness alone. If I couldn't find that person's actual orifice in the forest of hemorrhoids with another person pulling the cheeks apart, and I had trouble getting the feces out from between the "leaves," I know there's no way the actual patient can wipe properly.

I so just got the heebies.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

The ones around the orifice are actually called hemorrhoidal skin tags. I remember reading about them (no idea as to why) and thinking, "Oh yeah, I had a patient with those once." It's a "getting old is a *****" kind of situation. Sometimes they're left after external hemorrhoids heal on their own or from other inflammatory processes. The lady partsl ones are a similar situation. Skin is weird.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

His ability to conceive is already compromised by his being male. But his ability to impregnate wouldn't be so hot, either.

(Sorry to be pedantic. Don't even get me started on the standardized care plan I saw once called "Care of an amputated limb.")

That had me lol'ing.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

We later discovered after reading his chart more in-depth, that he had "ambiguous genitalia". Would have been nice to know that going in, huh?

Yes, why, oh, why do people leave that for other people to discover??? That has to be one of those things worth mentioning.

[PyridiumP]

Wow. That IS weird. That's gotta have some impact on his ability to conceive later on in life...

He won't be doing any conceiving, since he presumably has no uterus (although in some of these cases they find that too). However, assuming he had normal testes, vas, and spermatogenesis, he could have reconstructive surgery or, failing that, semen retrieval for in vitro fertilization.