Does a baby boy feel any pain when he is circumsised?

Question

Those who feel 'it is best for your child' please explain why. If you are talking about chances of getting infection, I do not know anyone who has ever had a penis infection because they have a foreskin .........

Answer 1

NO they DO NOT feel any pain. I am a surgical tech in the OR and do at least 3 to 5 of these a day with the surgeons I work for. You people need to get some real facts instead of the crap you get off the internet and people on here. As for these stupid videos that people have you refer to, where in God's name are you getting these from??? What country are these circs being done in becuase I've never seen them done that way. When I assist on these procedures I stand directly over the baby and usually talk to them while assistng. I hardly ever see a baby cry during the procedure. Most of them that do cry start before the procedure even begins. Most of them cry because they are taken out of there nice warm blanket and sprawled out on a circ table, but they usually stop when the overhead light is turned on and they warm up a little. Some of them just cry because they don't like to be put down and like to be held. As far as anethesia, yes it is used and you mothers are the ones to blame if it was not because if you request it it has to be used. They usually use a topical analgesic to numb the site, but anesthesia usually is not used if not requested because it is not needed. If any of you so called "infant penis" experts knew anything about the anatomy of an infant's penis you would know that it is not fully developed yet and there are no nerve endings in the head of the penis. Therefore, they DO NOT feel anything when this procedure is being done. The surgeon will, however, use a topical analgesic if the mother requests to put her mind at ease. If they would allow it I would tape the next one I assist on and put it on youtube for everyone to see how it really is done that way all of these questions can stop.

Answer 2

Yes, they do feel pain. It is cutting off a piece of living tissue. When they go to do the circumcision, they tear the foreskin off of the glans- this is comparable to tearing your fingernail off of your finger. There are only two reasons to ever get a circumcision- gangrene and frostbite. Baby boys are perfect just the way they are born. TAKE THE WHOLE BABY HOME!!

When a baby boy is getting circumcised, not only is it shaping his penis to what the dr/medical student thinks it should look like, but they also have to stimulate an erection so they know how much skin to take off. Just the thought of that makes me want to vomit.

So your baby boy's first erection ends with pain. Wonder how that subconsciously engraves itself?!

I think all parents who want their son circumcised should
1) Have to do research beforehand
2) Watch a circumcision video
3) Pay out of pocket, it is a cosmetic and harmful procedure which should not be covered by insurance
4) Stay in the room and watch it be done to their baby

Circumcision is evil. Don't believe me? Go here to download the video. Tell me you can watch the whole thing and still think this is a good thing to do.
http://www.intact.ca/video.html

http://www.infocirc.org/fourn.htm

People will say that the baby didn't even cry- that doesn't mean they don't feel it. Infants go into what is nicknamed a "circoma" which is actually a shock coma.

And it's amazing how some people say they don't feel the need to justify it, and then turn around and state reasons attempting to justify it. Guilty much?

Bottom line is- it is a COSMETIC procedure. It is not your body. They can always get it done later, when they are old enough to make that decision, but they can never truely get it back once it's gone.

Answer 3

Yes, it causes pain and in a 1998 study, only 45% of doctors used anesthesia for infant circumcisions. Babies feel pain and just because they won't remember it, doesn't mean it should be done.
If the same procedure was done on an adult, you bet some anesthesia would be used.
I would not do that to my child.
But that's just my opinion.

And, just wanted to add, anesthesia only relieves some of the pain. Remember, having something injected by needle to a very sensitive part of a the body is gonna hurt.

Answer 4

My first son eight years ago was curcumcised. Of course he felt pain and then ago a year later when he had to get re circumcized due to half done job at birth which resulted in a hernia. My second son born a month ago will not be getting one. My pediatrician says half of all boys are not circumcized now a days. Which is mostly because insurance company's no longer pay for this stating it is cosmetic.

Answer 5

I don't know for sure if they feel pain. But why take the chance? It is purely cosmetic, why would you make that choice for him? He may want his foreskin. The foreskin has a ton of nerve endings in it and makes sex more pleasurable. I know that is difficult to think about now but one day he will grow up and his thing is going to be very important too him. If he wants to be circumcised later, he can make that decision.

Answer 6

Yes! They remember it too :(

Circumcision makes baby boys far more sensitive to pain than girls
and their non-circumcised counterparts, a Hospital for Sick Children
study suggests.

And circumcised males may continue to be less tolerant of injuries
and painful ailments in youth and adulthood, said Dr. Gideon Koren,
whose study was published in this week's issue of the British
medical journal The Lancet.

Videotaping 100 boys and girls as they got their diphtheria, whooping
cough, tetanus and flu vaccinations at the age of 3 to 4 months,
researchers at the hospital studied the infants for their responses
to the jabbing needles.

"We discovered that the pain was higher among the boys with
circumcisions whereas (with) the boys that did not have circumcision,
the pain was not different from the girls."

About 50 per cent of the babies were boys, and half of these were
circumcised—about the rate in the Canadian population.

Doctors measured the babies' pain responses by the length and
loudness of their cries and by the amount they writhed and wriggled
in their discomfort.

The increased response to the vaccination pain among the circumcised
boys was likely due to a remembrance of their earlier penis surgery,
Koren said.

"It tells us that boys who are circumcised remember that pain and
it probably conditions them to respond more for later pain," said
Koren, who is head of clinical pharmacology at the Toronto pediatric
hospital.

The study helps shatter the belief of some that newborns don't
experience pain, he said, and argues forcefully that baby boys
should be given pain relief during circumcision.

We do know from adults that we are conditioned for pain, and the
infant's pain conditioning may well linger into later life, he
said.

"We did not check for this but I would not be surprised. If this
is something that the newborn baby is remembering and it's already
causing him to be conditioned, then it may have long-term effects."

Koren said there seemed to be no other explanation than circumcision
for the different reactions from the infants. "We also looked at
cultural background and maternal intervention on pain response.
No significant associations were found."

Answer 7

My husband is; our son isn't. he will make the determination for himself, and if he has it performed, he will have a large number of soreness drugs. Newborns don't get Motrin after the technique. Do the dad and mom who circumcised their sons plan to instruct them approximately risk-free intercourse? Do you extremely think of that this is going to likely be a concern getting them to bathe? i've got yet to work out somewhat boy who can save his hands off his penis!

Answer 8

Oh no the dreaded circumcision question. I feel no reason to defend myself because I circumsized my son. But I will tell you this. We both were in the room when he got it done and they numbed the area, therefore there was no pain. The only time he cried was when he was taken out of his blanket but never cried through the procedure.And it was over pretty fast!He was in perfect shape the whole time it was healing too. If this was such a bad thing like a lot of people think it is I wouldn't of done it.A lot of people on here just don't have their info correct!!!Because they are getting it off the internet! His father is circumsized and we both made the decision together. At least my husband and I can have peace of mind because our son didn't "go through anything" and wasn't "put through anything" because we were there!!And that's all I have to say about it.......

Answer 9

it depends on the doctor if he uses a certain medication around the babys foreskin for a half an hour there will be no pain it kinda like putting novacain on it but if he doesnt there are pain sensories in the foreskin and some pain is noted but since the baby is so small it is believed he wont remember the pain ever. But if he will feel it

Answer 10

The circumcision itself normally doesn't hurt, especially if it is done right after birth. Newborns don't understand pain yet and are generally not bothered by it. The recovery from circumcision is what actually hurts. And it will hurt no matter what age the circumcision is performed at. Don't let people convince you that being circumcized will traumitize your child. It's a bunch of psycho-babble. Do what you feel best for your child.