What are the advantages and disdvantages of circumcision?

Question

I have just been told by a urologist doctor that I should get a circumcision, and i am just curious at this question. Hope someone can help! Thank you

I forgot to mention. I have phemosis and I am currently recovering from paraphemosis. The reason the urologist recommended this was, because it has done it once, it will do it again. I asked about the stretching excercises (from Yahoo Answers thank you to everyone) He was saying that they dont always work. I am confused lol i don't know whether to go for the circ or try the stretches. Thank you all so much for your answers each one is much appreciated!!!

By the way.... This would be on the NHS as it's classed as a Medical Emergency apparently. So cost is not an option! Thanks again

Answer 1

There's pros and cons to both. Why is he recommending it?

If you have a tight foreskin:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ar_RUng9ddcs0Y8cymwzx27sy6IX?qid=20070602093055AAbYoxF&show=7#profile-info-AA10941604

And the risks (disadvantages) of circumcision are:

Less sensitivity / pleasure (due to constant rubbing of the head)
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2006.06685.x
http://www.circumstitions.com/Sexuality.html#sorrells

More difficulty with masturbation (since the already-lubricated foreskin wouldn't be there to rub the head with)
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2006.06646.x

Meatal stenosis (when the urethra opening gets irritated due to constant rubbing and closes up); not found in uncircumcised guys
http://www.drgreene.com/21_1137.html

Higher erectile dysfunction rates
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14979200&dopt=Abstract%7C

Again, less sensitivity
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11956453

Shorter penis (a guy who was circumcised posted about that this morning; he went from 7 to 5 inches) caused by skin pulling it back due to tightness
http://drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21&action=detail&ref=1125
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArmhXebGWe5O6RYIziPL7c7sy6IX?qid=20070515070130AAgFvkC&show=7#profile-info-V0U4aWi3aa

Skin bridges (where pieces of skin attach to the head, like bridges)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=6728346

And those are the major ones. Those are risks; they're not guaranteed, just like the risks for being uncircumcised are not universal. Everyone's different. I've provided you with the links so you can compare the rates and such, some are common, with the masturbation difficulty in the 63% range, while others are less common, like meatal stenosis (around 10%). I guess that's why circumcision is becoming less popular; only the USA is the last remaining advanced/industrialized nation to do it, and our rates are falling (to as low as 14%).
http://forums.govteen.com/showpost.php?p=3069995&postcount=2

Answer 2

There aren't many real advantages of circumcision. Circumcision is only really beneficial if there's a problem with the foreskin that couldn't be resolved otherwise (i.e. severe pain phimosis or recurrent & frequent infections/irritations). These cases are rare, as there are a large variety of treatments at every stage until it gets so severe that circumcision is necessary.

There are many misconceptions and false advantages of circumcision that have been easily dispelled. Circumcision does not make the penis more hygienic or cleaner, provided that an uncircumcised guy maintains good genital hygiene of the foreskin and penis. In guys with a normally functioning foreskin this is very easy (link 1). Thus circumcision for this reason is overkill.

Circumcision does not reduce the rates of contracting STDs, including HIV. Most statistics show no significant difference between circumcised and uncircumcised men in rates of contracting STDs. While a few recent studies seem to show a decreased rate of contracting HIV for circumcised men, it's worth noting that there are also studies that show good genital hygiene essentially negates this benefit (link 2). Regardless, one thing is clear: good genital hygiene + safe sex >>> circumcision.

Lastly, there are potentially significant disadvantages of circumcision. There are many nerve endings in the foreskin that would be cut off; these nerve endings may contribute to sexual sensitivity (link 3). Furthermore, several studies indicate that the foreskin may play a role in the sexual satisfaction/pleasure of both the man and woman (links 4, 5, 6).

In summary, as long as one's foreskin is working normally, one maintains good genital hygiene, and one practices safe sex, it's likely more beneficial to remain uncircumcised.

If your urologist is recommending circumcision due to a problem with the foreskin, most can be easily remedied without any surgical intervention (links 7, 8, 9). If you've no problems with your foreskin, then you need to get a new urologist. See remaining links for more discussion on the subject.

Again, if you don't have any problems with your foreskin, find a new urologist. And if you do, there are many other options (and almost all of them are cheaper and less painful - if at all).

Answer 3

Jorge has given you the major references, but I'd also like to suggest that if your problem is that you can't retract your foreskin easily that you look at http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis --just scroll past the parts about babies.

The only three absolute indications for circumcision are frostbite, gangrene, or cancer of the foreskin. Everything else can be treated without amputating the foreskin. It's easier for doctors (and more profitable as well) to just chop it off, but that would not be in the best interest of the man being so chopped. At the very least get a second opinion, preferably from a doctor who is not Muslim or Jewish, as these religious groups regard circumcision as the norm, when in fact it is not.

Answer 4

Excellent answer and good sources too Jorge

pls look into(research) all options that can remedy your foreskin problem, before agreeing to a circumcision.

The penis head of the circed man, rubs all day in underpants, without causing pain or sensation. Could your uncirced penis head do that? No, it'd be too painful, too sensitive for you(that is most uncirced penises), as your penis head is covered and hence alot more sensitive.

The penis ejaculates in the vagina due to frictional rubbing on the vaginal walls(actually you can think yourself to an orgasm, but thats a different topic). The vaginal walls have alot less friction than underpants....

If your uncirced penis head is very sensitive, then you may be ok after the circ. If your uncirced penis head is not that sensitive, I believe your penis head feel nothing after the circ

Only give up your foreskin, if theres no other course of action

Answer 5

By all means follow what the urologogist is telling you. You don't indicate what is wrong. There are no disadvantages to being circumcised. The procedure is painless with a local anesthetic and a tranquilizer for relaxation or even sleep.

Advantages: simplified hygiene if you shower or bathe every day and a first line of defense against STDs (a recent study in New Zealand confirms this). The scientific and medical studies in So. Africa, France (a non circumcising country), and the USA all came to same conclusion: circumcised men are 60% less likely to get AIDs from an infected woman in foreplay before intercourse than uncircumcised men The HIV virus takes hold under the foreskin as well as bacteria and yeast infections, the only cleansing of that area is by mild soap and water, because of the hypersensitivity of the glans. That does not kill the infecting agents. Of course for much needed protection a condom should be used for intercourse.

Circumcision is preventative medicine. Phimosis is prevented. So is the rare cancer of the penis. The hardening of the foreskin after age 70 does not take place thus there is no need for circumcision in aging men.

Other advantages: many uncircumcised men who are circumcised in adulthood find that the penis takes on new sensitivty sexually. The nerves that end in the foreskin are activated in the shaft of the penis for total sexual pleasure. The glans expands in size and shape and provides a larger sensitive area. If the frenum is left in tact (unless it has ripped open), then that very sensitive area remains under the penis head even if only a small remnant is still there. The slight drying of the glans makes for greater staying power in the male thus preventing premature ejaculation and giving the female time to have her orgasm. Oral sex is more pleasurable because of better hygiene. Masturbation does not need.outside lubrication. As soon as you begin, semen starts to flow through the urethra and exit the pee/ejaculatory hole in the head. It can be smeared over the glans and shaft. It is a natural lubricant. In intercourse the normal female lubricates profusely.

Some people think that the penis takes on a very pleasing look. Circumcision is not mutilation; it is plastic surgery and a is a very brief procedure. There may be some discomfort and swelling afterward. The discomfort lasts only for a week or so, sometimes only 3 or 4 days. The swelling lasts a bit longer.

Please don't be taken off guard by the small and minor groups of anticirc organizations. They are always trying to demand that no one be circumcised. They come out whenever circumcision is mentioned on the internet so as to pretend to be a majority opinion. Their statistics are wrong because the rate of infant circumcisions in hospitals before the mother goes home has dropped significantly. The old statistics never considered Jewish and Muslim circumcisions that are in the home, hospital, or places of worship. Now also many Hispanics (not so many Cubans) are circumcising their young and also more African-Americans. The steady overall 80-85% rate for infants in the USA, with variables from state to state has has held fast for 20 years.

An anecdote, I was struck when I saw recently in Hawaii, over a period of two weeks, that men and their little boys and infants changing after swimming in the Pacific were all circumcised except for a father and son, from Central America and another from Germany speaking their own languages which I understand. Most of the men in that particular bathhouse were serving in Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force bases on Oahu.

Most circumcisions are done in clinics, in the hospital as outpatients, and in the offices of pediatricians and family doctors. The statistics would now be estimated as 90% of infant boys and uncircumcised adolescents and adult men are being circumcised in the USA, about 95% of boys 11-13 in South Korea and 100% in the Philippines and in the polynesian South Pacific as well as in some other islands; in Muslim countries about 99% and Jewish boys (8 days after birth and converts in Israel and in other areas about 98%).

The three references below will also help you.

Go for it.

Answer 6

I read this somewhere and it said that youre supposed to lose some sensations in having sex if ur circumcised.

I think muslims need to be circumcised is because of their religion, they probably think masturbating is wrong because without the forskin, it probably hurts to masturbate unless you use lube.

So, the advantage to have a circumcised penis is that its easier to wash your penis and less dirt build up on ur penis. Disadvantage is that you cant masturbate without lube and you lose sensation in sex.

Advantage to having an uncircumcised penis is that you can get a lot of sensation in sex and masturbating. Also the foreskin is supposed to protect the penis. Disadvantage is that you can have dirt built up but thats no big deal since we all get showers every day. Just pull the foreskin back to wash it.

I am uncircumcised by the way and ''i'm lovin' it''

Answer 7

Why would you want to circumcise your son? It shouldn't be done without your son's consent, and there is no reason for this barbaric act to be carried out in the first place. That's how God made us men, with foreskin, so what's your problem?

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Answer 8

Since you have a urologist, you need to ask him why you need a circumcision. I'm Jewish, so circumcision for males is a foregone conclusion with me; I feel the practice makes for healthier people, both male and female, as a circumcised male is far less likely to harbor organisms such as the one that causes cervical cancer. However, this is your choice, and it should be an informed choice. Talk with your doctor so that you can understand his reasoning.

Answer 9

If it has been advised medically you have little option. Overall it makes little difference overall. There are perhaps less infections in circumcised men. On the down side, though it is possible sensitivity may be reduced after a while. The up side of this is that this may enhance endurance.

Answer 10

many advantages of being curcumcised. It's going to take me a while to list

* less risk of stds
* less chance of getting an infection
* circumcised penis looks much better and more appealing
* probably won't suffer from pre-ejaculation
* no filth collects
* cleaner and better hygene
* won't have to suffer from an overly tight foreskin
* less chance of health problems

it's just better to be circumcised. That's why your uroligist told you to. They are smart and no what's best