A friend wants to get a circumsision

[MewSkitty]

I have a friend, who's 15 and he is uncircumsized, and wants to be circumsized. He lives in the US, and dosen't know a thing about doing this. So, he asked me to research it for him. He would like to know stuff like how much it'll cost, if it's going to hurt, and other stuff like that. Your info would be greatly acepted.

[Donster]

why would your friend want to do this? to "fit in" with everyone else? Other than for medical reasons, or religious reasons, there really is no good reason to get circumcized. Increasing numbers of babies in the United States are joining the rest of the world in not being circumcized.

[annie24]

tell your friend to talk to his doctor.

 

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here is a good medical resource, you can look it up here.

 

there are pros and cons, but ultimately it is a personal choice.

[rose2summer]

Check out this website, it may of great use:

 

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Interestingly,

Circumcision Results in Significant Loss of Erogenous Tissue

Investigators found that circumcision removes about one-half of the erogenous tissue on the penile shaft. The foreskin, according to the study, protects the head of the penis and is comprised of unique zones with several kinds of specialized nerves that are important to optimum sexual sensitivity.

[MewSkitty]

He has personal reasons that he dose not wish me to tell you guys for doing this, and I believe them to be good reasons for doing this.

[AwdreeHpburn]

I suppose then that they are good medical reasons. Since we have no info, I am going to go with that assumption.

 

If he is determined, then for sure he needs to talk to a DR. But what WE found out when we were having our uncircumcised son, a lot of medical insurance companies are starting to drop their coverage on their plans for circumcision because it is an unnecessary medical procedure.

 

If he has a good medical reason, his DR will tell him so. But attemting something of this nature without consulting a DR is....well, just silly.

 

I reccommed he start there.

[Juliana]

There is a medical condition, not uncommon, where the foreskin does not allow the penis to become fully erect. It usually starts bothering boys as they come into puberty. Basically, it's painful for them to get an erection. It can lead to impotence. Circumcision is the cure, but if they have already been circumcised, they're pretty much out of luck.

 

Best not to mess with Mother Nature, but if you have to, you have to.

[deejay74]

ok i am going to share some really personal info with you all.

 

i was circumcised at age 10. yes, i remember it vividly and i can tell you it was one of the most painful things i had to endure. i've had my share of surgeries and nothing i can remember hurt as much as being circumcised.

 

i mean, you're going to get stitches on your genitals!!! the stitches went all the way around the shaft about a half centimeter from the base of the head. i mean, imagine how that must feel. i, unfortunately, had some complications when it was healing so that made my experience even worse!

 

if you're wondering if there is a loss of feeling in the "pleasure zone", i can't remember. all i can tell you is that my penis works great now!! i definitely feel what i need to feel and it feels good!! haha! as far as i can remember, there wasn't any real difference in the way things felt. maybe it's because i was a little too young to know about sex when i got it done.

 

anyway, if your friend doesn't need to get circumcised because of medical reasons, then i wouldn't recommend it. my parents made me get it done so that i will "look" like the rest of the boys. the only real issue is keeping the head of the penis clean, otherwise smegma can form.

 

hope this helps.

[annie24]

yeah, I remember another poster here, he got circumsized at 19 or so, and was complaining of terrible pain!

 

I guess that is why they do it when boys are newborns - so they won't remember it.

[Donster]

i see it as community sanctioned genital mutilation. There is some slight scientific evidence, however, that indicates that circumcised men have a slightly lower chance of contracting HIV than uncircumcised men (the cells in the foreskin are slightly more susceptible of being infected by the virus than cells in other parts of the body).

 

But I have to reiterate, nowadays that we have things such as running water and daily showers, there really is no compelling reason to do it, other than a few rare medical reasons.

 

1) idiopathic balanitis (non-specific inflammation of the tip of the penis/foreskin)--but keeping the area clean and not using strange soaps that might irritate the skin will help.

2) as another poster commented, when the tip of the penis cannot come out of the foreskin due to tightness (but some skin stretching exercises can help in this case)

3) if the skin is already ripped from forceful masturbation or other trauma. (but this is really just for cosmetic reasons).

 

i've known two men who were circumcised as adults. one for religious reasons. one for medical reasons. for any other reason, your friend really has to think very seriously.

[Korydon]

yeah, I remember another poster here, he got circumsized at 19 or so, and was complaining of terrible pain!

 

I guess that is why they do it when boys are newborns - so they won't remember it.

 

Actually, Annie, "they" do "it" to newborn baby boys largely because helpless children can't object when their genitals are mutilated, except, of course, by going into shock, crying hysterically, throwing up, and, later, through disruptions in parent-child bonding.

 

Research, however, demonstrates that neonatal pain IS remembered in the child's limbic system and diencephalon (specifically, the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior and mediodorsal thalamic nuclei, and mamillary nuclei); these structures are well developed and functioning during the newborn period.

 

According to Anand and Hickey in their "Neonatal pain and its effects", NEJM, Volume 317, No. 21, pp 1321-1329, 19 November 1987: "Numerous lines of evidence suggest that even in the human fetus, pain pathways as well as cortical and subcortical centers necessary for pain perception are well developed late in gestation, and the neurochemical systems now known to be associated with pain transmission and modulation are intact and functional."

 

Furthermore, they report: "The persistence of specific behavioral changes after circumcision in neonates implies the presense of memory. In the short term, these behavioral changes may disrupt the adaptation of newborn infants to their postnatal environment, the development of parent-infant bonding, and feeding schedules. In the long term, painful experiences in neonates could possibly lead to psychological sequelae, since several workers have shown that newborns may have a much greater capacity for memory than was previously thought."

 

Korydon

[New_Horizons]

I had it done by laser just before I reached adolescence. It was done for health reasons so I really don't care now. But at that time I was weirded out by the whole thing and I felt very uncomfortable with the fact there were FEMALE nurses present. It hurt like hell for several days. I could not wear underwear for a week. Peeing was fine though.

[InsomianicMind]

I dont know when i was circumzized, i just have proof that i was, But i dont remember any pain.

[Charles II]

Many uncut boys are terribly unhappy with their foreskins and are determined to get rid of them, no matter what it takes. Most do not undergo the severe pain expressed by a few here, and are enormously happy with the result. Take a look at puberty forums everywhere, such as on Steady Health.