Circumcision?

Question

I'm 34 weeks and having a boy and plan to have him circumcised but have several questions? Does it hurt them much or do they numb it? I read where some say dont let them use the cap.method, why? How many ways can this be done and what is the best? I want all the foreskin taken off. Can I request this? Will it bleed much after we get home and what do I do if it does? Can I lay him on his stomach. What is circumcision maintenance and what else should I know about this?

Answer 1

Hi gina t,

Are you aware that male infant circumcision is the totally unecessary, excruciatingly painful, permanant and irreversible amputation - yes, amputation - of the best part of your future son's penis? Do you know how magnifiscent a stucture the foreskin is? Did you know that the glans was never designed to be permanently externalized the way circumcision forces it to be? Leading it to become, by the time a man is 30, desensitized and leathery like the elbow?

May I ask, where is your son in your discussion about this decision? Have you asked HIM whether he wants to have a traumatic and unfortunate encounter with a scalpel on the first day of his life? Your son may well live into the 22nd century in this era of increased longevity for humans. The best thing you can do is to give him a fully functioning, intact penis and save yourself the truama - yours and his - of violating his genital integrity.

http://mensightmagazine.com/Articles/Northrup/lovecirc.htm

Answer 2

I had my son circumcised.
They can put a numbing cream on his penis a few hours before the actual procedure. Yes it hurts them and yes they cry a lot.
But they are also strapped down to keep them very still. They are more crying because of this. I
They gave my son some sugar water and he calmed down right way. He did have some bleeding which required mild pressure for a little bit longer than normal.

At each diaper change you will need to take a piece of sterilized gauze and place a BIG dollop of Vaseline on it. Then you place it on the penis to prevent the diaper from sticking. Make sure you have the nurse at the hospital show how to correctly do this.

If I remember right it was pretty much healed within one week. And I never noticed any discomfort except that first day.
For that first week all you need to do is wipe the baby down with a clean wash cloth anyways.

good luck

Answer 3

If the circumcision is performed for religious reasons, the area is not numbed and the child cries for a few minutes. After witnessing dozens of religious circumcisions, it appears that the application of the clamp to pull the foreskin clear of the penis is more bothersome to the child than the actual cut.

If it is just for aesthetic or health reasons and done by a doctor in a hospital setting, a topical anesthetic is used.

Answer 4

I have three boys and I had them all three circumcised. From my personal experience with all three of them, my sisters boys, baby sitting boys, etc. Circumcised is the way to go. As far as pain, They do numb it some and it doesent seem to be painful at all. None of mine fussed very much the first day.

The plastic cap or bell is not reccommended. It is tied on with a string around the foreskin and everything forward of the foreskin is trimmed off leaving the little cap ring around the head. As the skin tied by the string dies from lack of blood supply it will fall off in about 8 to 10 days. The problem with this method is 1. It doesnt take off enough foreskin leaving a fat roll of puffy foreskin around and covering about half the head. Only the tip of the head is exposed. 2. It's usually tied on crooked and results in a lopsided circumcision. 3. It can leave tags and jags of skin if it is not tied on tight enough.

The other way they do this is while looking at the penis they can see where the rim of the head lies under the foreskin and they draw a line around the penis about a quarter inch behind it. They skin the foreskin back as far as it will go and place a metal thimble like cone over the head of the penis. The foreskin is then pulled forward over the cone covering it up. The foreskin is then stretched, tugged and pulled forward to get all the slack out from the shaft and seats the cone way down inside the foreskin past the rim if the head. Then a clamp is placed around the base of cone behind slightly behind the rim of the head and lined up on the line marked around the penis. The clamp has a thumbwheel that is tightened down which crushes the foreskin around the cone and left on for several minutes to seal the foreskin off. The foreskin hanging out forward of the clamp is cut off with a small scapel. When the clamp is taken off and the cone is removed the ped. using the thumb and forefinger skins the remaining shaft skin back well behind the head and applies vaseline and wraps it in gauze. It oozes a little blood for a couple of days. The newly exposed head will be bright red and wet looking until it dries out in a few weeks then turns pink. The insicion line should be behind the head and as it heals will crust some with yellow crust. This is normal and will heal into the brown ring scar that is so prominant on most circumcised men.
This method provides the best looking circumcision result and when healed in about 10 days completely and permanently exposes the head. The foreskin cannot be pulled over it again, ever.

Answer 5

I can tell you my son was only away for a very short amount of time and when he came back, he was very calm, not crying and took to the breast. They can numb it. It does not bleed much at all. Just keep the gauze covered in petroleum jelly so that it doesn't stick to the penis. It'll heal up nicely in a few days and then the gauze won't be necessary.

And I wouldn't request anything "special". Let the doctors do what they know how to do...they are the ones who do this every day. (Not trying to be rude, I promise).

Answer 6

There are three ways to have a circumcision preformed. They do numb the area with a local anesthetic. It may bleed a bit but as long as you keep it clean and place Vaseline around the head of the penis regularly, it should be fine. You should place a baby on his stomach until he has total head control, around seven months, so no need to worry about him on his stomach.

Answer 7

Male circumcision is an elective surgery to remove the foreskin (prepuce), a fold of skin that covers and protects the rounded tip of the penis (glans). This surgery is most commonly done on newborns about 24 hours old. See an illustration of the penis before and after circumcision.

If a baby is born early (premature) or has certain medical conditions, he may be circumcised when he is somewhat older. Circumcision may also be done in older boys and men to treat problems with the foreskin of the penis (such as phimosis and paraphimosis) or for inflammation of the tip of the penis (balanitis).

This topic focuses on the circumcision of newborns.

In 1999, about 65% of all male babies born in hospitals in the United States were circumcised. 1 But this rate varies depending on where you live. In some parts of the United States about half of all males are circumcised, while other parts of the country have higher circumcision rates.

Who performs circumcisions?

Circumcisions usually are done by a pediatrician, obstetrician, family medicine doctor, surgeon, or urologist. However, ritual circumcision may be done by others trained in the procedure, such as mohels of the Jewish faith.

Should I have my son circumcised?

Circumcision is not medically necessary. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not recommend circumcision as a routine procedure for newborn males. When making this policy, the AAP considered the possible health benefits of circumcision, such as a lower risk for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the first year of life. The AAP also considered the risks and costs of the procedure when making this policy. 2

When you make this decision, it may help you to think about your personal and cultural preferences. For example, you may want to consider your family and religious traditions while you weigh the benefits and risks of the surgery. It is your decision whether to have your son circumcised.

What problems can develop if my son is circumcised?

Problems from circumcision are rare. If they occur, they are usually minor. The most common circumcision problems are pain, bleeding, infection of the circumcision site and at the opening of the urethra, and irritation of the exposed tip of the penis. Long-term problems are even rarer but can include damage to the opening of the urethra, excessive bleeding that requires stitches, severe infection, or scarring and other problems from surgical error.

Answer 8

Now that it is considered a cosmetic surgery and not routine procedure, it can be quite costly. However, there are many good reasons to choose it: it is far more common for boys to be circumcised, and being the "odd one out" might cause some confusion about sexuality (or so I've heard). Also, not having it done can increase the risk of infection, and many other complications. While any procedure has a slight risk, I believe it's worth it.

For the record, my son is not yet, because we couldn't afford it. We have him scheduled for early July, when he'll be 3 months old. It's better to do it sooner (having it done in the hospital is quite convenient, and they're much more willing to work out payment plans).

I know they do numb it, but for more information you should invest in the book What to Expect When You're Expecting and What to Expect the First Year. They're invaluable books and discuss both sides of the issue in great detail.

Answer 9

Just for the record, I am 100% pro circumcision. Newborn circumcision is usually done in the hospital the day you go home (unless you have medicaid which doesn't cover it). since the babies can feel pain, the doctor will numb the penis first with a topical cream and then with a small injection. the babies are normally given a pacifier dipped in sugar water throughout the procedure and they normally don't cry.
the main two kinds of circs my hospital does is the gomco (when they just cut it off) and the plastibell (cap). they both have their pros and cons which you can talk to your ped about. personally i think it's just better to get it over with (the gomco) instead of dragging it out and waiting for it to fall off- which i've heard can sometimes not fall off completely leaving some foreskin behind. circs do take all the foreskin and it should not actively bleed bright red blood, some spotting is normal. be sure to talk to your nurses about how to take care of the circ because you should use vaseline with a gomco (cut) but not with the plastibell (cap). they should be able to answer all your questions you may have before you go home and if you think of more, just call the pediatrician's office.
and lastly, i wouldn't lay your baby on his stomach simply because the risk of SIDS is decreased when the newborn is laid on their back or side. when they get old enough to hold their head up and you are watching him then you can definately give him some tummy time!

Answer 10

I had both of my boys circumcised, and nothing bad happened. I don't know if it was painful to them or not...I didn't watch the surgery. When it's first done, the head of the penis is bright, cherry red, and the nurse/doctor will put some antibiotic ointment on it. When you get him home, every time you change his diaper, you'll have to put vaseline on it and place a small piece of gauze over the head of his penis to keep it from rubbing his diaper and making it hurt. Do this for a few days, and eventually it gets sorta crusty looking (but the redness goes away after just a day or two) and you just wipe the crusty stuff (meaning it's healing) off with a wet wash cloth. Neither of my boys penises bled at all, and I didn't lay them on their stomachs. I don't think you're supposed to until they're a few months old...when it's time to start tummy time. Most newborns don't enjoy being on their stomachs. :)

The ONLY thing I can tell you is (from my personal experience with my older son)...he (and his younger brother too) have a tiny bit of skin around the head of their penises. If your son is like this (if you decide to have him circumcised) make SURE you pull this skin back when you change his diaper (after the circ. heals) and wipe away any white stuff that accumulates. That's called smegma, and it's something that penises manufacture. Their pediatrician told me what it is and why, but this was two years ago and I don't remember!! With my older son, before I realized I had to do this, he would get sore...like this smegma would build up and eventually the skin would grow around it and make sort of a "tunnel of smegma" if that makes sense. When this happened with him, I went nuts...I had no idea what it was. He was about 2 months old at the time, and I took him to the ER. This is where the doctor told me to pull the skin back and wash it every day. Since he was pretty much a newborn, I wasn't bathing him every day at that point, so I didn't know. At diaper changes, I just wiped his butt and his testicles...how was I supposed to know to do this? I don't have a penis, LOL!

Answer 11

Hi Gina,

Great questions!!!

Circumcision is the oldest known surgery in the world...predates writing. I think that tells you something about it right there. There are also probably more methods of doing this surgery than other kind.

My advice it not to worry about it. It is a very quick snip and with modern medicine your baby shouldn't feel a thing. Talk to your doctor about what you want. I made sure to let my doctor know I wanted the head fully exposed to avoid cleaning problems.

I must say both my sons have excellent circumcisions and they were done different ways. I would say, ask your doctor how its done, explain what you want, and ask her what after care is needed.

It is healthier and as a side benefit, its a lot nicer looking. I'm sure you'll be happy with your decision!

If you need any advice, feel free to contact me.

Love,

Sara
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