Are there any Dopers out there that got circumcised after infancy/childhood? I’m mostly interested in guys that can remember being uncircumcised, and can tell me about the differences.
[ul]
[li]How old were you when you had the procedure? Pre-teen, teen or adult is fine if you’re not sure of the actual age.[/li][li]Was it for medical, cosmetic, or religious reasons? Something else?[/li][li]How was the procedure? General or local anesthetic? How long did it take to heal?[/li][li]Is it considerably easier to keep your penis clean?[/li][li]Was there a decrease in sensitivity? An increase?[/li][li]Did you notice any change in the attitude of sexual partners?[/li][li]Are you happy that you got circumcised? If you could take it back, would you?[/li][li]Anything else you’d like to share?[/li][/ul]
Finally, please note that this is IMHO and not GD. I’m not interested in debating the pros and cons of circumcision in general, I’d just like to hear about your personal experience.
Fortunately, I was young enough that I don’t remember a thing about it, so the above is not from personal experience, just the image seared into my brain.
Age: 11.
Medical reasons (fimosis)
General anesthetic.
This ain’t the kind of thing one asks one’s brother.
See directly above.
If he’d had any sexual partners by that age I’m quite sure we would have known.
I can say “yes” without asking. Often when people ask him things like “oh, wouldn’t it have been grand if you’d been born in the middle ages and been lord of the manor?” he answers with “if I’d been born then, first I’d be a second-son’s second-son’s son, second I would have died of pulmonia at age 3. I’ve very glad to have been born when I was born and have had the access to medicine that I have had.”
You’re welcome.
Another second hand report, this one from a college friend.
-24 yo at time of operation
-Performed for religious reasons (married a Jewish woman and converted to Judaism)
-Local anesthetic, not sure how long it took to heal
-“I wash it just the same as I always did”, so no effective change
-Initial increase in sensitivity, though not specifically sexual. i.e. It was sensitive just walking around, as the head was now exposed. Two years later, he says that while there’s some decrease in sensitivity, the greater loss is the complete lack of a certain specific sensation. He speculates that it’s the lack of foreskin sliding.
-N/A since so far as I know he’s only been with his wife
-Preferred being uncut, but the benefits (marriage, acceptance into Judaism) outweigh the loss.
One more second hand report. My dad was circumcised when he was in his 60s. He had the operation for medical reasons. He had suffered with a skin problem for years before the surgery – in fact, it was first recommended that he have it done when he was in his 30s. But he was always told that the procedure was really painful, with a lengthy recovery time. He worked for a living (obviously) and never felt comfortable taking 6 weeks off to deal with an elective procedure. Plus he was nervous about the ‘very painful’ part. And he only suffered during flarups of the skin condition, which, in the beginning, were fairly infrequent.
As he grew older, his skin problems increased – to the point where, during flareups, sex was painful and impossible. At the same time, the flareups began increasing. By this time, he was approaching retirement age, so he decided to ride out the discomfort and have the procedure done after he retired, rather than take the time off from work. This decision was based in part on not wanting to deal with a disability claim (which a 6 week recovery period would have required), and also partly because he didn’t want to deal with the embarrassment.
The last year and a half before retirement were pretty rough – the flareups very frequent and painful. He scheduled the surgery for shortly after he quit work. The procedure went fine and the relief was almost immediate. He found the surgery to be much less painful than he had been warned it would be, and the recovery time much shorter. In fact, he could have gone back to work after 2 weeks, instead of the 6 weeks he had been told to assume. End result, he was very happy he had it done and his only regret is that he didn’t have it done much, much earlier.
A second-hand, irrelevant report - a former coworker had his son circumcised at age 5 (I can’t remember the reason for it). For a couple weeks after the procedure, his son kept asking everyone he’d meet if they would like to see his penis because now it was “pretty.”
