Anyone had any experience with circumcision?

[JuliaStevenson]

Hi, first post on here;

I was wondering if anyone had their son circumcised (just so I can prepare myself, lol).

When circumcised what actually do they do during the operation? Is it the case that there is blood everywhere, or is it like a small snip or something?

Does anyone also have any tips for the healing process? What is it meant to look like after healing, like is he going to have a scar down there,... or? I kind of regret not doing it when he was very young, apparently then it heals so fast there is no scarring at all, now they have to do him now; apparently it leaves a little scar.

In terms of pain relief, apparently they're going to have to put him to sleep. This scares me.

They also give the option of a "partial circumcision", where they leave a but of loose skin that bunches up on his willy. Is this something anyone else has done?

I think you should make it clear pretty quickly if this is a medically indicated circumcision OP. These things tend to get pretty heated on MN for good reason if it's not.

+Theyaremysunshine Yes, it is medically indicated. :)

DS1 was circumcised last year - he was 9 at the time. We had first sought advice when he was 6, but at the time a 'wait and see' approach was taken. However, when we took him back again aged 9, it was felt that circumcision would be necessary.

DS was fine about the op - if I'm honest, I don't think he really understood what was going to happen, and we didn't want to overly worry him about it, as he can be quite dramatic about medical things. In practice, he was fine immediately after the op, until he went to the toilet and could see what had been done. The sight of the bloodied bandage tipped him over and he came over very faint.

The worst part was when he had to remove the bandage the next day - he had to sit in the bath to do it. I think he was there for over three hours in the end . But it came off and then he was much better. He was clearly uncomfortable for several days, and took a full two weeks off school as he still hadn't put pants on after the first week.

I don't know if he has a scar or not - he's reached an age now where he doesn't really want mum peering at his privates. We did take him back to the Drs as there was quite a lump underneath his penis that wasn't going away, but we were told that was all perfectly normal, and that it would go down in time. Perhaps I should ask him if it's gone...

It's fair to say it's a pretty unpleasant procedure to put your child through, but I do believe that we made the right choice for our DS. Good luck to you and your son.

Agree with previous speaker. I can not understand at all how people can do this for other than serious medical reasons! We had to do it when my son was 8months, and thus the operation part was simple - he understood nothing. But the recovery took ages - at least two weeks his willy was sore (the uncovered part was drying and hurting). We had to put pain soothing gel on it for three weeks. There was also some infection, horrible. he seems to have recovered fine, even if at some point I was sure he will have scars. He is 5 now and has yet to realize his willy is different than others - even if he has 2 borthers he seems to think willies may differ like our bodies/hair etc differ.

MIKEROL how exactly does your comment aid the op in managing a medically necessary circumcision? She is consenting to a medical procedure for the health of her child.
If your interest is to have a debate about cultural or religious circumcision please do go and start your own thread but this one is not the place for it - unless you feel a medical condition should remain untreated simply because his foreskin is involved? I'm sure you don't.
I'm unsure if op is in the UK but the NHS will usually opt for any other suitable treatments before surgery. It really is a last resort.

Op please don't worry about the GA risks are low and it's very quick. He'll probably be in for the day. The exact procedure depends on what you choose to do, I have no experience of a partial but his doctor should be able to give the best advice for pros and cons of each - and there's usually someone here with experience!
Poor chap but hopefully it won't be long after that he feels much more comfortable.

I'm in the US, where routine unnecessary circumcision of baby boys is more common than not unfortunately and my ex-partner had a noticeable scar. Not that I've had a lot of experience on the subject but I've never noticed one on any of the other men I've... erm... looked at.
So I'd say that a scar is possible but not inevitable.