Facts and Feelings About Circumcision

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Facts and Feelings About Circumcision
Pros and Cons During my 16 years of marriage,
Whether or not to circumcise our son, however,
was one of them. After we found out in early
1993 That people were having a boy, I just
assumed he'd be circumcised. However, my
husband, Alain, was born and raised in France, in
which circumcision isn't done regularly the way
it is here, and he assumed exactly the opposite.
We did not have a spiritual reason for
circumcision, as Jews and Muslims do. "Why would
you want to put a baby via a painful, unnecessary
surgery?" Why, really. The Actual reason I
needed to do it Was so our son would not seem
different in the locker room when he got older.
Alain did not think that was a good enough reason
to snip off the baby's foreskin, a fold of skin
that covers the tip of the penis. Perhaps I
didn't think so, either. I heard varying rumors
Uncircumcised men have stronger sexual senses
since the tip of the penis is not always exposed
to the regular elements it's hard to keep an
uncircumcised penis clean. So I started doing
research, searching for a solid, medical reason
to justify the procedure. Then, the American
Academy Of Pediatrics (AAP) said that
circumcising toddlers did have potential medical
advantages, primarily related to preventing
urinary tract infections (UTIs). However, by
1999, the AAP had formed a task force on
circumcision that determined the process
shouldn't be routinely recommended. The task
force based this policy on 40 years of research
of both circumcised and uncircumcised boys, and
it concluded the following Problems with the
penis, such as Irritation, can happen with or
without circumcision. With proper care, there is
no Gap in hygiene. There may or may not be
differences In sexual sensation in mature men.
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There's an increased risk for a UTI in
uncircumcised males, especially babies under 1
yearold. However, the risk for a UTI is still
less than one percent. Newborn circumcision
provides some Protection against penile cancer,
which only happens in the foreskin. On the other
hand, the possibility of the cancer is very low
in developed countries such as the United
States. "We looked at whether Being circumcised
prevents HIV at a man's partner," states Jack
Swanson, MD, a pediatrician in Ames, Iowa, and a
task force member. "There may be a slight
advantage to being circumcised, but the numbers
were inconclusive. There weren't any medical
reasons which were persuasive enough for us to
state that all boy babies ought to be
circumcised," he says. However, in 2002, a
study found However, no clinical evidence was
weighty enough to undo the AAP's policy on
circumcision. In fact, this past May it
reaffirmed its stand that circumcision should not
be recommended unless the process is essential
to the newborn's health. The Most Important
Thing? "If you need it done for Nonmedical
reasons, that is the parents' decision," says Dr.
Swanson. And most American parents choose
Newborn circumcision regardless of medical
advice in actuality, for many it is a
no-brainer. "My husband and I spent just 10
minutes talking it," says Suzette MacKenzie, of
Concord, Massachusetts, of the son's circumcision
this past year. "We did not need Spencer to seem
different from his dad." The MacKenzies aren't
alone in Their opinion. "I went to high school in
Marin County, California, in the early'90s. My
friend's boyfriend was uncircumcised, and it was
a subject of conversation among the girls," she
recalls. "But if I lived in a location where 80
of the boys were not circumcised, I probably
wouldn't do it" What to Expect Circumcision
Facts and Statistics
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Globally, circumcision Isn't a Popular choice.
Firm statistics on global circumcision rates do
not exist, however, the Seattle-based
organization Doctors Opposing Circumcision
estimates that 85 percent of men haven't been
circumcised. In the USA, according to Hospital
discharge information, the National Center for
Health Statistics (NCHS) states 60 percent of
boys have been circumcised in 2002, the latest
year for which figures are available. However,
this rate, according to data from about 10
percent of United States hospitals, varies
considerably by region. In 2002, 81 percent of
boys in the Midwest were circumcised 69 percent
from the Northeast 64 percent from the South
but only 33 percent in the West. "The regional
differences may Studies show that Hispanics are
not as inclined to opt for circumcision compared
to other blacks or whites." Between 1999 --
when the AAP arrived Out from routine
circumcision -- and 2002, the percentage of boys
being circumcised in United States hospitals
decreased by over 5 percentage points, based on
NCHS data. But the biggest drop, 4 points, was at
the West Northeast numbers actually increased by
3 factors. The Procedure Jewish ritual known
as a bris, the process is usually performed at
home if the baby is eight days old. In the
clinic, male circumcision is most commonly done
on newborns about 24 hours old. Generally a
safe procedure, it can Be completed in under 15
minutes. Either a nurse retains the infant, or
he's placed on a firm surface, often called a
papoose board, and Velcro straps are wrapped
around the boy's arms and legs to keep him very
still. The penis is cleaned, and the performing
doctor should manage some type of analgesia
(pain relief), which is typically a lidocaine
injection. A sterile circumcision clamp or
device is placed over the head of the penis. The
foreskin is removed using a sterile scalpel or
scissors. In practice, Dr. Swanson claims that
the Number of boys that received analgesia was
reduced in 1999. Ob-gyns, family practitioners,
and pediatricians performed the surgery in equal
numbers, but the task force discovered that
ob-gyns utilized analgesia the least. "Pain
relief was not given routinely at that time, but
many physicians have adopted policies that
support the use of analgesia during
circumcision," says Carole M. Lannon, MD,
codirector of the Center for Children's
Healthcare Improvement and the task force chair.
If your physician does not use pain relief for
circumcisions, the AAP strongly recommends that
parents request it for their sons to spare them
unnecessary distress.
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After the Procedure Usually, the tip of a
circumcised Penis heals in about seven days.
Complications occur in 1 in 500 to 1 in 200
cases moderate bleeding and local disease are
the two most common. A botched job can result in
injury to the penis, sepsis (when a disease gets
into the bloodstream), or even death, but severe
complications like these are extremely
rare. After our son was born, my physicians
Alain won. Unfortunately, our son fell into The
statistical minority, developed UTIs, and has
been circumcised before 2 years old to prevent
recurrence. I no longer had to fear for my son's
fragile teenage years (which will soon be upon
us), and Alain knew that, because of our child,
the procedure was medically necessary. However,
if I were making the decision today for a
newborn, given that the present medical advice,
I hope I would be more open to leaving things the
way nature intended them. Caring for Your
Infant If your son isn't circumcised... Clean
the genital area attentively With soap and water.
The foreskin usually doesn't fully retract until
approximately age 5. Until then, retract the
foreskin lightly during baths, only as far as it
will go without forcing it. Do not use cotton
swabs or antiseptics, which can lead to
irritation. Once the foreskin fully retracts,
boys should wash underneath it daily. Your son
should Gently pull the foreskin back away From
the mind of the penis. inside fold of the
foreskin with soap and warm water. Pull the
foreskin back over the Head of the penis.
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The tip of the penis may seem raw Or yellowish,
and Dr. Swanson advises against placing soap or
water on the area until it heals. Change
bandages with each diapering to lower the risk of
Disease. You can use petroleum jelly to keep the
bandage from sticking. Sometimes physicians use a
plastic ring rather than A bandage. This ring,
which is placed on the tip of the penis, usually
falls off inside Eight days. A little yellow
coating or discharge round the head of the penis
Is normal but should not last over a week.