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Children's health

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Original poster

circumcision (for medical reasons) - any experience please?

13 replies

EdnaKrabappel · 29/07/2011 20:31

Poor ds has had a couple of bad infections and it looks as though things aren't quite right with his penis. Nothing final yet but if the infections continue then circumcision is a strong possibility. He is 4.

Can anyone let me know how things went if their ds was similar age and faced a similar problem please? I hate the idea of him having to have an op and this one in particular, but if it has to be done then it has to be done.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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mummyosaurus · 29/07/2011 21:07

My DS had a circumcision at 3.6 as part of another urology procedure. Hospital stay of a week, but that was because of the main procedure, not the circumcision. After that week it was all pretty much healed up.

It was not pleasant, but I am so glad we got it done at that age and not later (say as a teenager).

Hope someone else is along soon with more similar experience.

faverolles · 29/07/2011 21:40

DS was 6 when he had his done. It was a trickier op than usual because the foreskin had fused to the end of his penis.
He came home the same day. He was in quite a bit of pain and refused to wear clothes for a couple of days.
Having said that, the 4 yo in the next bed was dressed and running around within 2 hours, and the nurses said that was usually how it went.
Have some loose fitting boxer shorts for him, as he might be reluctant to wear pants.
Good luck :)

Original poster

EdnaKrabappel · 29/07/2011 21:47

thank you for your replies!

So hoping it won't get that far but wanted to try and think through what it all means and how it might pan out. He may have the only thing (bxo) that means he would have to have this done. But he may not. Fingers crossed we can get on top of the infections.

hope your boys continue to do well

OP posts:

wonkylegs · 29/07/2011 21:56

My DH had it done at this age and we've talked about it a fair bit as it looks like DS may be heading down the same route. Fairly simple although not nice procedure hardest thing sounds like the need to stop him riding his bike for 4 wks - which will not go down well. We will probably need to do that this year (3) for surgery on his hydroceal but I'm not sure they'll do them together so that'll mean 2 periods of trying to get an overactive young boy to not do his fav thing.
Planned lots of treats and other activities to take his mind off things.

Suzannesee · 02/08/2011 11:16

faverolles said
"the 4 yo in the next bed was dressed and running around within 2 hours, and the nurses said that was usually how it went."

Just been chatting with a mum from the playgroup who had her son done at age 4. She confirmed he was as described above and the hardest thing was keeping him off astride toys. In the end she just padded his underpants and let him get on with it.

If your son is having foreskin problems it's best to have him circumcised ASAP rather than wait in the hope it will go away. It may do, but it may not, then he is faced with a more embarrassing and painful operation.

About a third of the world's males are circumcised at some stage in their lives (mostly in childhood for religious reasons) and they and their partners get along without their foreskins just fine. It is not a big deal if done early.

letsgetloud · 03/08/2011 22:08

My son was circumcised yesterday. He is only 13 months old but we cannot believe how great he has been.

I was really dreading it but we had a good long talk to the consultant again yesterday and realised if this doesn't work then the alternatives are far worse. My son has urological problems (think that is the right word).

He went in at 11 am and we were home by 6.30pm.

He is absolutely fine today. Rolling around with his sisters on the floor, shouting at them, crawling and bumping himself along all day. My oldest dc said she has never seen him as active .

GiganticusBottomus · 04/09/2011 17:27

A latecomer to the thread but it looks like my DS may have to be circumcised too. He is at school - does anyone know long will he need to be off for after the operation? DH and I are not keen on him having it done but it does seems like it may be the only option after repeated, nasty infections. Poor DS

Suzannesee · 05/09/2011 08:07

Hi GiganticusBottomus. I'd say 5 days is ample, depending on how he heals. My nephew was circumcised at age seven. He had it done on the Tuesday and asked to go back on the Friday because he was fed up sitting around at home and hates missing school and his friends. We kept him off and that plus the weekend meant he was roaring to go Monday and did.

I was helping my sister care for him because she was ill at the time and on advice padded his underpants to make him more comfortable. We wrote an note for the teacher to keep him quiet for that week but he was fully over it and fully active again the week after.

My nephew had two years of foreskin infections and they just got worse and more frequent and the foreskin became scared and un-retractable so no chance of cleaning under it. This perpetuated the problem because you can't get rid of the 'grunge' that's got in there and started it in the first in place. The younger they are, the quicker they heal. Don't put it off! Your son will be fine without his foreskin.

Suzannesee · 05/09/2011 08:12

Sorry that typo should be 'scarred' not 'scared'! LOL :-) I think he was a bit scared before the op but the doctor and nurses were great and he coped fine. In the end he was just happy to have his problem sorted so easily.

GiganticusBottomus · 05/09/2011 08:37

LOL at scared! Poor foreskin! Yes DS keeps getting infections which are miserable so it will be for the best I think. Not keen on anyone cutting bits off either of my children though! DS will be very pleased at having a week off school, I will get some work from his teacher if I can so he doesn't miss anything too important

thelittlebluepills · 05/09/2011 14:51

DS2 (3) had a circumcision recently - the only time he cried during the whole hospital was when they took the canula out of his arm - not because it hurt but because he wanted to keep it!

they put a local anaesthetic in during the op so he was painfree for quite sometime - he only freaked out a few days later when he noticed what had happened in the nappy department! the end of his penis has been quite sensitive since (and he has kept talking about his willy being broken) but all this is getting much better now

the only thing in hindsight which I wish we had done differently was to prepare DS1 for what happened as he was very traumatised to see DS1's bloody bandages and stitches

DS2 was up and running around very quickly

DH will probably take alot longer to get over the trauma of it - he was useless on the day and kept telling me how sick he felt

Suzannesee · 05/09/2011 17:27

thelittlebluepils wrote:
"he only freaked out a few days later when he noticed what had happened in the nappy department! the end of his penis has been quite sensitive since (and he has kept talking about his willy being broken) but all this is getting much better now"

Yes, be aware there is a period of discomfort as the now permanently exposed glans is very sensitive and they have to get used to it rubbing on their clothes. This is where padding underwear helps. PM me if you want more on this.

GiganticusBottomus · 05/09/2011 21:30

Thanks for the messages. Suzzanesee - I have pm'd you

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