Circumcision for 10 yr old. . .

[maltesers]

Has any parent had an older child circumcised. Would like to hear how it went. I am worried being an older child he will be in such pain.
My Ds has such a tight foreskin so we are going to go ahead with the Op. Still waiting for a theatre date. . . . .

no help with regard to the op and I'm sure you've researched etc etc and is a last resort but.....

have you tried stretching exercises?

DS1 was circumcised at age 7 for the same reason as your DS. He was in some pain for 3 days and some discomfort for 2 weeks and then was fine.

I strongy advise you try and get the operation scheduled for the school holidays if possible.

maltesers, is the tight foreskin causing him pain or discomfort? Sometimes circumcision isn't necessary. Some boys have tight foreskins right up to puberty.

Have you researched alternatives to a full circumcision? Or got a second opinion? Apparently surgery is more advanced now and they can sometimes retain the foreskin which does have many good functions!

this is a very useful website

I would definitely avoid a full circumcision if at all possible having done lots of research on the subject.

Thank you for your input everyone. His foreskin isnt causing any pain at all.
We have tried the cream which didnt make a lot of difference.
The Consultant here recommends the Op , and i dont want to leave such a thing until he is in puberty. . .Surely if we leave it till then and he still needs the op, which i think is likely, then it will be even worse for him to have this done at 13 - 15 yrs ?
Maybe i should seek a 2nd opinion and see my parents private medical practice, , ,

maltesers - yes it is much much worse after puberty. There was a 14 yr old boy in the same ward as DS and the consultant said he strongly recommends avoiding doing it that late or even leaving until adulthood as happened one of my friends.

Ah, ok, thanks for your advice. I agree. .

It says in my link above your op -

the steroid cream on its own won't do a thing, it needs the stretching

yes we did the stretching too every night in the bath. . .its helped a tiny bit but then just remained the same.

It often sorts itself out when they hit puberty. Or rather they 'sort it out themselves' iykwim! I think the op is going to be painful regardless of when it is done so I would be more inclined to give it a chance to do it the natural way especially if it's not causing him any problems. How does he feel about it? It is his foreskin after all :)

He is pretty cool about he Op. . .have told him it will be sore. . .but TBH needs must,. . . .

He will be sore. Unfair to tell him otherwise. But he should know that you will give him medicine to help. The expectation of pain when peeing is also a difficult one to deal with. However not peeing makes them sore too....

My usual technique with kids this age is to get them off to sleep (either using an intravenous cannula or gas - choice depends on child/ circumstances). Once they are safely under GA I would then do a penile nerve block (local anesthetic in and around the penis) to block the nerves. Sometimes the surgeons do it not the anaesthetist. This should last about 6-12 hrs. It will be more painful when that wears off so you need to be prepared to get drugs into him.

After that the kids get paracetamol (calpol) and ibuprofen (neurofen) to take away home. I think the circumcision kids may also get a couple of doses of codeine (but I'm not sure).

Obviously I'm not at home with them but they are usually OK when they leave the hospital.

maltesers do get a second opinion too, apparently there are more options nowadays and a more 'conservative' approach is sometimes possible. do check out that website the foreskin has many roles and maybe his could be adjusted rather than removed.

My friend's DS was done at around 12. It was sore obviously but he recovered quickly and in a strange way I think it made him feel a bit more like 'one of the boys'; men clapping him on the back and telling him he was brave, etc.

A friend's ds had it done at that age and he was very uncomfortable indeed. He couldn't wear underwear at first and/or sit down. He was absolutely embarrassed by the whole thing too. That's probably personality rather than the norm though.

DH has had problems growing up with his foreskin and it tore eventually due to being too tight (was during one of our first times together). He had an op, not circumcision but something else and is fine now. So maybe there are other options.

The other thing to remember is that there is still quite a lot of ignorance about circumcision around, there's a generation of doctors still around who were circumcised and may believe it's 'cleaner'. There is a growing view that that's nonsense.

Also there is the possibility that circumcisions are a nice trainee surgeon's procedure. Call me cynical but I don't think anyone should have a procedure that is any more than absolutely necessary and as conservative as possible taking into account the very latest research.

The alternative is preputioplasty which involves a slit in the foreskin then restitching rather than removal of the foreskin.

We did discuss this with our consultant but is not suitable in severe cases. The consultant also said it is impossible to tell if preputioplasty will work until they get the child in the operating theatre and under anaesthetic. We had to give the consultant discretion to do either operation.

My surgeon says that a slit in the foreskin ofen causes scar tissue and in so doing the operation has to be repeated some time later. So circumcision seems the best thing i suppose.

However i really dont want to put him through any more Operations. He had some severe medical problems when a baby / toddler and 9 anaesthetics, so i dread this being done. . . . . . . .

Sorry to be blunt about it but if you're dreading it so much then why are you doing it? It's not causing any problems and it can take up to age 17 for some children's foreskins to come back. Why rush into something you are so unsure about on one doctor's opinion?

have a read of this

the chap seems to know his stuff and believes it will work?

I trust his advice . . he is a surgeon who has much experience of this problem/Operation, . . .Whereas I do not , so i am taking the advice of a professional.
I dont want to leave it till he is that old. . . .how awful would this Op be at 17 !!!!!!

why do you think it will feel worse at 17?

Leaving it until 17 risks serious infection through repeated ballanitis, scarring of the glans and associated sexual/relationship problems later in life.

He hasn't had any problems BB. Yes, he may in the future, in which case it would make the op seem like a better solution but at the moment he is still young enough for this to fix itself naturally and if it isn't causing problems why put him through a painful op and risk all potential problems that can go along with that in the future?

Also maltesers, there are many professionals who do not recommend this procedure at this age if it is not causing any problems. Who is right? I really do think you need to get a few more medical opinions.