DMark the procedure you were talking about is called preputial plasty (IIRC). It is also a good solution to phimosis and paraphimosis (foreskin ‘too tight’ and stuck either in front of or behind the glans). Minor nip, no more problem, easy healing.
drollman, assuming you follow the general consensus here, I recommend you get some resources on how to actually take care of it, too. Most people I know - even doctors and urologists - are clueless about how to actually care for it. You can cause worse problems by washing with soap (rinsing with water is good), just as with girls (UTI and yeast infection risk goes way up when you use soap). Also, you may find that the foreskin fluctuates in how retractable it is, and it may sometimes also balloon when he pees. DO NOT PANIC. This is often caused by minor inflammation, especially after the boy eats a lot of sugar (or that’s the case with my son, and I’ve heard the same from others). Have him rinse it in the bathtub himself, before you use any soap in the water. He can pull the foreskin back as far as is comfortable for him, if it is retractable at this point (it may not be fully retractable until he’s much older, but most kids retract by about 3 yrs). The nocirc site, while very biased on reasoning, is a fine site for tips on care and treatment of any problems that occur (such as how to get the bits out of a zipper, something that is useful for ANY guy, I’d think!). Pretty much treat it as you would treat girl parts (ask the wife about what happens when you use soap…).
I added the word “or” because I think that’s what you meant. If you really meant they don’t know what’s going on apart from experiencing the pain involved, I apologize for putting words in your mouth.
Also - if you are doing a thoughtful review, do you have any family history info on this child? Medical history of the family of origin may help you make a more informed choice. There are apparent medical reasons for circumcision, on a case-by-case basis, based on family history (though often enough, those cases can be managed with less radical approaches, too). However, for the most part, the data that would actually help you make a decision is spotty, biased, or poorly reported. My actual opinion is with the others here - leave it for him to decide, given his age.
FYI, the AAP does not support the secondary infection risks (such as cervical cancer and AIDS) as a reason for ‘routine’ circumcision, as both are at least partly preventable with behavior changes (specifically, wearing condoms, safer sex). The Canadian Pediatric Society has similar thoughts. http://www.cps.ca/english/statements/FN/fn96-01.htm#CONCLUSIONS
Enola, NO doctor I know of would do a circumcision on an older child without anesthesia! PERIOD. (The AAP recommends strongly that babies have anesthesia, as well, and more than just EMLA - they recommend a full ring block.) I do know a woman whose son was circ’d at 4 1/2 (his older brother was also circ’d the year before, and his baby brother at birth - they all had extensive UTI problems including kidney infections, probably due to internal defects in urinary tract structure, but the circ on the older boy did help, so when the second started having the same issue, they went ahead with him, too.) Anyway, at this age they use a general anesthesia. How else would you perform the surgery? Can’t exactly strap them down at that age. General anesthesia carries its own risks, so is probably not worth pursuing just from that issue, anyway.
I’m afraid that this thread can only attract opinions, so it’s in the wrong forum.
The fact of the matter is there are no medical benefits to circumcision. None.
So the only reason for doing it is either social or religious. It might be worth considering the fate of any parent who decided to lop any other bit off their infant child for any other reason than medical.
Most of the pro-arguments you might hear are based around anecdotal and rare horror stories. You can get medical cases involving any part of the human body. But no-one tries to justify chopping a healthy specimen off except when it comes to the foreskin.
I would also say that only in American culture AFAIK is this done for non religious reasons. Is there any evidence showing European and Asian men have any more problems? I don’t think so.
To me circumcision is up there with piercing in the category of “things people do because they think it’s cool and I think are weird”.
I wonder if in a couple of generations kids will be routinely pierced at birth and parents will be discussing nipple rings and nose studs for their babies…
The OP was asking for factual answers in several areas.
The fact is that circumcision provides statistically insignificant benefits. There is evidence that shows it cuts the risk of penile cancer in half. However, that is the difference of about 1 in a million versus 2 in a million.
I will avoid comment on the rest of your post, since this is the wrong forum for that.
Son came from Korea at age 6 months. I wanted him to have a circ. I NEVER saw a kid growing up who wasn’t cut, and it sure wasn’t an all Jewish town. It’s just the times, I guess.
We took him to an ace Peds Urologist, and just for yucks and giggles ( because son had had a UTI at age 2 months ) he did a sonogram.
4 months later he had major surger to repair a diverticulum in the right-hand kidney/bladder area. He also had a defect on the left, which corrected itself over time.
And yeah, while he was in there, he did the circ.
The cervical cancer and STD issues simply are not opinion. You wanna disbelieve hard data because of personal opinion, more power to ya. It’s not fighting ingnorance then, it’s just debating.
I’m not questioning or disbelieving the ‘hard data’, although the cervical cancer one is very questionable. I’m questioning some people’s solution. That’s the matter of opinion.
As has already been asked; would a programme of universal surgery on all female infants, in order to minimize a small risk to future partners, even be suggested?
‘Hard data’ indicates that feet get bunions. Studies further indicate that amputation of a foot cuts this risk by a full 50%. Extrapolation suggests that cutting any part of your body off completely removes all risk of it either becoming diseased or spreading infection in the future.
Amazingly some may say that this is not a solution. Are they just ‘debating’ and ‘disbelieving hard data because of personal opinion’?
That nocirc.org site had some data on general care of uncut penises. It mentioned cleaning just by rinsing in the shower, no soap, because soap could cause problems. I’ve always washed under my foreskin with soap, just like the rest of my body, so I’m curious- does soap cause any problems, and why? Is just water better?
Whether a kid gets nipped or not depends on the preference of the mother. Most women in the US prefer the cut look, some don’t. If she prefers one style, she’ll choose her husband accordingly.
This is BS. Sorry, I mean “cite?”. I (male, circumcised) didn’t want my sons circumcised, but my wife didn’t have a preference until we talked. My sister-in-law said that she left it up to my brother for their son, and he (also circumcised) decided not to have it done.
As to the woman’s preference of one “style” over the other, do you really think women are so shallow, they’re going to choose their husbands based on that one feature?
Being uncut myself, I must say I don’t know how a circumcized guy can
masturbate,
The funniest thing is, I simply can’t picture the process WITH a foreskin. :eek:
Suffice to say, it’s definately possible through nothing more than the “routine” genital manipulation. Quite how this changes with a foreskin, I don’t really understand.
