Is it true that blood stop flowing naturally to the penis shortly after birth so a male can be circumcised?

Question

We are debating whether circumcision has any medical basis. Someone in our group said that blood stop flowing to the penis shortly after birth so that the penis would not bleed as much during circumcision.

Answer 1

Within the Jewish tradition, circumcision is performed on the 8th day after birth. The question about blood flow lessening is not correct. There is usually little blood loss with circumcision anyway and new studies have shown that circumcision helps stop the spread of HIV. Both my boys were circumcised and we are not Jewish. It is a difficult choice to make so know that someone so little is subjected to this pain, but a little tylenol helps and it heals quickly.

Answer 2

If god made man in his image, does god have a foreskin? Or why would god create a creation that was intentionally imperfect? If you look amongst the primitive tribes, you will see that many of them have rituals to mark somebody's membership in the tribe. Scarification, tattoos, piercings, neck bands, etc. Male circumcision is no different. It also has the added benefit that it helps to de-sensitize the penis, allowing society to control the boys sexuality and re-divert some of that energy into religion. All religions mess with a person's sexuality and try to control or influence it in one way or another. Same motivations as so called female circumcision (really mutilation). Apparently in the "Jewish" version, sometimes the Mullah (circumciser) sucks away the blood from the circumcision with their mouth. There have been several cases of transmitting herpes to the young infant. And then there's the story of David Reimer, whose botch circumcision caused his penis to be so badly destroyed that it was amputated and he was re-formed into a girl and socialized as a girl. The cleanliness argument is garbage, as we've known how to produce soap for a long time. Ash (postash=KOH) + fat + heat was all you need. It was re-adopted by the Victorian-era Americans as it made masturbation less pleasurable. All circumcision is barbaric and a sign of a savage and uncivil society. It inflicts incredible pain on a young and helpless boy for no reason at all. That baby cries and screams out in pain. How can you subject somebody to that? How can you mark their young mind with that kind of terror and pain? It's truly a horrible and tortuous practice.

Answer 3

no that is not true. That is just something people say to make you not feel so guilty about cutting on that part of your son's body. It is also not true that the baby suffers no pain, It hurts and they cry! If you don't have a religious reason for doing this, then don't! There is no real reason, it is not medically necessary. As for the std's and aids, they are only more common because the men do not understand that they need to pull back the foreskin and wash well after any intimate activity. If this is done and condoms are used then there is no real reason to have a child circumcised.

Answer 4

No that is false. The real reason for circumcision is religious. In Judaism the foreskin is removed in a ceremony called a Briss(sp) usually by a Rabbi. The reason circumcision became popular in our culture was a medical one. Most men were not pulling back and cleaning the foreskin as they should, leading to infections. To ward off these future infections it became common medical practice to circumcise babies 10 days after birth. Because it was once thought that after 10 days the baby was strong enough to withstand the surgery which is done without anesthetic, because the baby is too young to remember the pain. But there are a lot of capillaries there and yes there is bleeding.

Answer 5

With proper care there's no reason your son should have to have a circumcision. You don't have to retract the foreskin every day, you don't have to really do much with it. The foreskin will eventuall begin to retract on its own, and at that point you can start to teach your son how to properly care for himself when he uses the bathroom and when he's bathing. As for the bleeding, it's better to wait at least a week after birth to perform a circumcision because the blood flow IS much less after that time. That's one of the reasons doing the circ 8 days after birth is mentioned in the Bible- less bleeding, faster recovery.

Answer 6

Someone in your group is wrong :)
No, there is no cessation of blood flow to the penis shortly after birth.

The original basis for circumcision was sort of a medical basis -- it was thought to be "cleaner." In case you hadn't noticed, ancient hebrews (to their credit in most cases) were sort of obsessed with cleanliness -- hence the kosher food rules, circumcision, etc. Though they were told as "commands from god," in reality they were all pretty good ways to stay healthy in a dirty and dangerous world.

There was just a study the other day published, claiming circumsized men had a 50% less chance of getting AIDS (from either a male or female partner). That's probably a good medical basis :)

Answer 7

I dont think that is true....think of the many cultures who DO NOT circumcize....it would be problematic for blood to stop flowing to any area on the body. There is no medical reason in a newborn...sometimes men develop a medical need to be circumcized, but these are far and few between. What possible medical need would a newborn have to be circumcized? Many other cultures never circumcize, or do, but at different ages...as a rite of passage into adulthood for some.

Answer 8

The question should be "is cicumcision natural." No, it is not.It was created in hot countries for sanitary reasons. However, the need for this practice is no longer as necessary as it was in the past in these hot countries and not at all in more temperate climates.It was not practiced extensively in the US til the last 40 years and since has become cosmetically acceptable.
The forskin is natural to the penis. Its elimination is a social decision. The blood does not stop flowing..as in this case... for a social fashion...

Answer 9

No that is not true. I have seen circumcisions done on infants and I would NEVER have my son circumcised. If you are decided to do it, ask the doctor that does it if he will use anesthesia. Most don't. There is no possible way, even though I am quite certain they wouldn't remember it, I would have that done without it.

Answer 10

Nope. Not true at all. In fact there is not really any medical reason. It does cut back on STD and AIDS but so does teaching your son safety. I have a son and he is not circumcised. There is no real reason for it.