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Call for higher circumcision rate

My mom had all three of her boys cut. I thought it was just the thing to do. So, I had all three of my son's circumcized when they were born too. But my last son, the doctor in Pensicola tried his best to talk me out of circumcising him. He gave me lot's of reasons not too, and countered all my reason's to have it done, telling me that in this day and age with the hygene habits of people today and the advances in modern medicine circumcision is really no longer a medical necessity and told me I would be destroying over 10,000 nerve endings and traumatizing my newborn child.

I had it done to them anyways. All I could think of was them taking shower, at the high school, getting picked on or laughed at for being different. (My boys are white. Most all white folks have their sons circumcized.) That's the best reason I could come up with after talking with the doctor.

And besides, even with my 10,000 nerve endings gone, it still feels pretty damn good when I sink it deep....well, you know. :3oops:

I don't remember being traumatized either.
 
And besides, even with my 10,000 nerve endings gone, it still feels pretty damn good when I sink it deep....well, you know. :3oops:

I don't remember being traumatized either.

If I had those 10,000 extra nerve endings, I'd never make it past oral.
 
Why would someone do such a thing to a male child. Holy crap. Why would they cut the skin off your pecker. That is insane. It hurts me to think about it.
 
The Immediate Complications of Circumcision

Chapter Four: The Immediate Complications of Circumcision
The immediate complications of circumcision may be classified as hemorrhage, infection, surgical mishap, other miscellaneous complications, and death.

Bleeding

The foreskin is highly vascularized,1 so hemorrhage is a particular problem and risk when the foreskin is cut. An artery that passes through the frenulum to provide blood to the glans penis is in danger of being severed.2 Williams & Kapila (1993) report bleeding to be the most common problem associated with circumcision.3

Special clamps are used to crush the skin to provide hemostasis. Old clamps may be worn, deformed, and fail to provide adequate crushing and hemostasis.4 When using the Plastibell® device, failure to tie the string tightly may result in bleeding.5

When a newborn is circumcised, there is great danger from bleeding because the prepuce is highly vascularized and because an infant’s body contains only 85ml/kg of blood.6 With so little total blood volume, a small loss of blood may cause exsanguination, hypovolemia, hypovolemic shock, and death.7-9 The coroner of Dade County, Florida reported the death of an infant from hemorrhage.7 Hiss et al. reported a hemorrhage followed by death.8 The coroner of British Columbia reported the death of a one-month-old infant from bleeding, exsanguination, hypovolemic shock, and multiple organ failure.9

Infection

Infection may range from the trivial to the life-threatening systemic infection.3

Life-threatening infections, includind septicemia and meningitis,10,11 tuberculosis,12,13 wound diphtheria,14 staphylococcus,15 and streptococcus,16 pyoderma17, impetigo,18,19 and scrotal abscess with salmonella infection,20 also have been reported. Scurlock & Pemberton (1977) reported a death from meningitis.11 The coroner of Ontario reported the death of a two-week-old infant from infection with Escherichia coli, intravascular coagulopathy, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.21

There are several reports of a significant increase in urinary tract infection (UTI) after ritual circumcision.22-24

Necrotizing fasciitis25-27 and Fournier’s gangrene (gangrene of the scrotum) have been reported.28 Such infections require extensive debridement (surgical excision) of infected tissue, if the patient is to survive.25-28

Circumcision infections may be spread by hospital workers.16,29,30,32,33 Hospitals are increasingly infected with antibiotic-resistant pathogens. St. Catherines’s Hospital on Long Island experienced an outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among circumcised boys in the hospital nursery.31 Any invasive procedure increases the risk of MRSA infection in the newborn nursery.32 Boys who are circumcised have a twelve-times greater risk of CA-MRSA infection.33

Surgical Accident

Circumcision is an imprecise surgical procedure. It is difficult to judge the amount of skin to excise. One problem is the removal of excess skin,3 which may denude the entire shaft of the penis and require an immediate corrective operation by a urologic specialist.34-36 Circumcision may also result in injuries to the urethra, including urethral fistula,37-39 which requires corrective surgery by a urologic specialist. A case of bivalving the glans penis caused by inserting the scissors into the urethra has been reported.40

Due to the difficulty in judging the correct amount of skin to excise, sometimes so little skin is removed that the penis does not appear to be circumcised. This may generate parental complaints and requests for a re-circumcision, although there is no medical indication for the second circumcision. Leith (1970) reported that, in his study of 200 circumcisions, 19 were recircumcisions.41 There is danger of painful erections if too much skin is removed.

More serious surgical mishaps include excision of part of the penis42-45 or glans penis,46-48 necrosis of the glans penis,48 necrosis of the penis caused by electrocautery devices,49-51 and total ablation or amputation of the penis.52

Death

Death may be the result of either bleeding7-9 or infection.11,12,15,21 There is no central registry of circumcision deaths, so the incidence of death from circumcision is controversial. Williams & Kapila (1993) characterize death as “rare.”3 Gairdner (1949), however, reported 16 deaths annually in Britain in the 1940s.53 Circumcision deaths may be attributed to bleeding or infection rather than the underlying circumcision. Few doctors are willing to acknowledge death from an elective, unnecessary, non-therapeutic, allegedly “minor,” surgical procedure. Gellis (1978) estimated there are more deaths from circumcision than from cancer of the penis (which would mean more than 200 deaths per year).54 (Prevention of penile cancer is not a valid excuse for circumcising. See Chapter 3.) Baker (1979) argued that there are at least 229 deaths per year in the United States from circumcision.55

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous immediate complications of circumcision include life-threatening pulmonary embolism,56 apnea and projectile vomiting,57,58 tachycardia and heart failure,59 pneumothorax,60 and gastric rupture.61


Chapter Five: Post-operative Complications of Circumcision
The immediate postoperative complications of circumcision may be classified as urinary retention, meatitis, meatal ulceration, meatal stenosis, skin tags, adhesions, skin bridges, concealed penis, phimosis, and miscellaneous complications. These complications are iatrogenic.

Urinary Retention

Circumcision sometimes results in urinary retention1 with possible obstructive uropathy.2 Bandages used in ritual circumcision may cause urinary retention.3,4 The plastic ring portion of the Plastibell® may also cause urinary retention,5 which may result in a ruptured bladder,6 renal failure,7 or interruption of circulation in the lower extremities.8,9 Urinary retention caused other complications that led to death in one reported case.10 Urinary retention is not seen in non-circumcised intact boys.

Adhesions and Skin-Bridges

The first step in the genital cutting of newborn boys is separation of the inner surface of the foreskin from the glans penis, to which it is fused at birth. The tearing, which Gracely-Kilgore (1984) compared with “skinning a squirrel,”11 leaves the surface of the glans penis and the inner lining of the foreskin raw. Newborn circumcision wounds are not sutured, so the residual foreskin heals wherever it falls. The residual foreskin may heal together with the glans penis, which results in adhesions that may form a skin bridge,11,12 resulting in tethering.1 Gracely-Kilgore reports that 15 percent of boys seen in her practice had adhesions and three percent required surgical correction.11 Adhesions may require surgical separation by a urologic specialist.13 Adhesions are not seen in non-circumcised intact boys.

Meatal Complications

Meatitis, meatal ulceration, and meatal stenosis are pathology only seen in circumcised boys who have been deprived of the protective foreskin. The connection between circumcision and these iatrogenic pathologies has been known at least since 1921.14 The exposure of the unprotected glans penis to the ammoniacal diaper (nappie) is generally believed to be the cause of inflammation and ulceration.14,15 Persad et al. (1995), however, have suggested that ischemia of the glans penis, caused by the severing of the frenular artery at circumcision, may be the etiologic factor.16 The ulceration may eventually result in the formation of scar tissue, restricting the opening of the urethra. Leitch (1970) reported 8 cases of meatal ulcer and 3 cases of meatal stenosis in a series of 200 circumcisions for an incidence of 5.5 percent.17 A meatotomy may be required to open the urethra.18-19 Meatal complications are not seen in non-circumcised intact boys.

Urinary Tract Infection

Several studies find that more than 50 percent of urinary tract infections (UTI) occur within 12-14 days after ritual circumcision.20-22.

Post-circumcision Phimosis

Oddly enough, circumcision, which is touted to prevent phimosis, actually causes phimosis.22,23 When the circumcision scar forms beyond the glans penis, a phimotic ring results, causing phimosis. Blalock et al. (2003) reported an incidence of 2.9 percent in circumcised boys.23 Leich reported that 11 out of 200 required recircumcision to correct post-circumcision phimosis.17.

Inconspicuous Buried, Trapped, or Concealed Penis

This iatrogenic condition occurs secondary to circumcision.24-30 A second surgery usually is necessary to effect a repair.28-30.

Keloid Formation

Keloids are an overgrowth of scar tissue. Keloids are reported after circumcision.31-33 They require surgical removal and repair.31-33.

Circulation Problems, Ischemia, Necrosis, and Gangrene

Circumcision severs arteries and veins including the frenular artery that supplies the glans penis,16 so it is not surprising that circulation problems are reported after circumcision. Gangrene of the penis,34-36 and of the glans penis,37,38 have been reported.

Miscellaneous Complications

Miscellaneous post-operative complications include chordee,39 inclusion cysts,40,41 lymphedema,40,41 neuromas,42 sub-cutaneous mass,43 and cancer.44

Genital Integrity Policy - Table of Contents
 
Chapter Six: Long-Term Adverse Effects of Circumcision
Male circumcision has many adverse effects that do not appear until later in life. These effects usually are overlooked and ignored in most discussions of male circumcision.

Emotional Effects

Memory starts before birth1 and newborn infants have fully functioning pain pathways.2 One would expect, therefore, to find psychological effects associated with the genital cutting operation.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a normal response to an abnormal event. Neonatal genital cutting is an event in which a newborn infant experiences extreme levels of pain, terror, and helplessness,3 so it fulfills the criteria as a psychogenic for PTSD. Levy (1945) reported that children experience behavior problems, such as night terrors and a fear of nurses and doctors, after surgery, including circumcision.4 Cansever (1965) tested boys before and after circumcison and reported that the ego seeks safety in total withdrawal.5 Levy found their symptoms to be similar to combat neurosis, now known as PTSD.4 Taddio et al. (1997) studied the behavior of babies at first vaccination. They found that circumcised boys have a much stronger reaction to pain of vaccination than do girls and intact non-circumcised boys, which the authors suggested is an “infant analogue” of PTSD.6 Other authors also have reported PTSD in circumcised males. Rhinehart (1999) reported four cases of PTSD secondary to neonatal circumcision in middle-aged men that he encountered in his psychiatric practice.7 Ramos & Boyle (2001) reported PTSD in 70 percent of Philippino boys who experienced ritual circumcision and 51 percent of Philippino boys who experienced medical circumcision.8

Circumcised males often feel great anxiety regarding their circumcision. This manifests itself in a reluctance to talk about circumcision or an assertion that “I’m circumcised and I’m fine.”9 van der Kolk (1989) reports some traumatized males also have a compulsion to reenact or repeat the trauma.10 These feelings emerge as the “adamant father” syndrome. Typically, a circumcised father will irrationally and adamantly insist that a son undergo circumcision, although this is contrary to contemporary medical advice. Some circumcised doctors also exhibit anxiety by pushing medically unnecessary circumcision on their patients11 or writing medical journal articles to defend the practice.12,13 This has caused the medical literature on the subject of male circumcision to become voluminous and polarized because other doctors write letters and articles to refute the false claims of circumcised doctors.13

Circumcision of the newborn usually is performed in the first week of life (the perinatal period), and, as reported above, clearly is traumatic for most boys. Several authors report that perinatal trauma causes self-destructive behavior in adult life.10, 14-17

Circumcision is cyclic trauma. Many males, who were circumcised as infants, grow up to become circumcisers themselves, in an unending repetitive pattern of abuse.10-13,17,18

Sexual Effects

Taylor et al. (1996) report circumcision removes more than 50 percent of the normal skin and mucosa from the penis.19 This skin and mucosa is provided by nature to allow for the expansion of the penis during erection. There may not be enough residual foreskin and mucosal tissue after circumcision to allow the penis to expand during erection. The result not infrequently is painful erection or tearing at the scar site, as the residual tissue is stretched to the limit and beyond.20,21]

Earlier work by Winkelmann (1956,1959) showed the prepuce to be highly innervated and a “specific erogenous zone.”22,23 The foreskin contains the areas of the penis most sensitive to fine-touch.24

Meislahn & Taylor (2004) report an online survey of intact males, in which most of the men identified the foreskin, not the glans penis, as the site of sexual pleasure.25 This study is the first to report “directionality” in the foreskin. That is, the foreskin tends to return to the forward position. The survey found that stretching of the foreskin produces erection in intact males. The survey also reported that stretching of the ridged band of the foreskin produces contractions of the bulbocavernosal muscle, which produces ejaculation. The intact males who participated in the survey reported the foreskin to be far more important than the glans penis.26

Removal of the nerves of the foreskin by circumcision produces a deficit in sensory input into the central, parasympathetic, and sympathetic nervous systems. One, therefore, would expect to find alteration in sexual response. Several recent studies have found this to be the case. Coursey et al. (2001) reported that adult circumcision degrades erectile function.26 Fink et al. (2002) also reported worsened erectile function after adult circumcision and, in addition, a degradation of penile sensitivity.27 Pang & Kim (2002) carried out a survey in South Korea, where many adult males have been circumcised, and report that a man was twice as likely to have experienced diminished sexuality rather than improved sexuality.28 Shen et al. (2004) surveyed 95 circumcised male patients and reported erectile dysfunction in 28, weakened erectile confidence in 33, prolonged intercourse in 31, and difficult insertion in 41.29 Senkul et al. carried out a survey of young adult Turkish males who were circumcised in adult life. They reported increased time to ejaculate.29 Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff (2005) report that young circumcised males have more difficulty in reaching erection and orgasm.31 Kim & Pang (2007) reported a decrease in masturbatory pleasure and an increase in mastubatory difficulty in Korean males who were circumcised as adults.32

Denniston (2004) surveyed 38 men who had experienced sexual intercourse before and after circumcision. Twenty-two of the 38 men (58%) felt that the pleasure of intercourse was lessened and they would not have circumcision again.33

Circumcision changes male sexual behavior. Laumann et al. (1997) reports circumcised males have a “more highly elaborated set of sexual practices.” This includes more frequent masturbation and a greater preference for oral sex.34 The British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal 2000) reports that circumcised males were more likely to report homosexual partners and partners from abroad.35 Richters et al. (2006) report that more circumcised men in Australia tend to reach orgasm "too quickly".36

Female Sexuality

Several studies report that male circumcision also adversely affects female sexuality. Warren & Bigelow (1994) report the foreskin avoids problems with vaginal dryness.37 Fleiss & Hodges (2002) explain that the lack of gliding action in the circumcised male partner causes the taut shaft skin to drag the vaginal lubrication out of the vagina.38 O’Hara & O’Hara (1999) surveyed women in the United States who had had sex with both circumcised and intact partners. They report the women preferred the partner to be intact by a ratio of 8.6 to one.39 Women reported that they were more likely to be orgasmic and even have multiple orgasms when the male partner is intact.39 Bensley & Boyle (2001) surveyed 35 women in Australia who had sexual experience with both circumcised and intact partners. Eleven, who had a mean age of 27.3 years, indicated a preference for a circumcised partner. Eleven, who had a mean age of 36.4 years indicated they would choose a genitally intact partner.40 They reported that circumcised males are signicantly less likely to use condoms because of concern about reduced penile sensitivity. In addition, the females were significantly more likely to report vaginal dryness with a circumcised partner.40,41 The experience reported with a circumcised male partner is similar to the symptoms of “female arousal disorder.” Female arousal disorder may be a normal response to sex with a circumcised male partner.41,42

from the same source
 
last article form the same source


Social Effects

Laumann (1997) reported that 77 percent of the adult males in the National Health and Social Life Survey (1992) were circumcised.34 The effects of this wounding by circumcision have been discussed above. Goldman (1997) argues extensively that the result of having so many emotionally and sexually injured males in a society would produce undesirable social effects.43

Goldman (1997) suggests that men who were neonatally circumcised would be more likely to suffer from low self-esteem, to avoid intimacy in male-female relationships, and a higher incidence of divorce.43 Moreover, he says neonatal circumcision may cause a higher incidence of unnecessary surgery, and of adult violence, including suicide, rape, and murder.43

Baker (1996) argues that men harbor rage toward their mothers for their circumcision. She also identifies a connection between sexual violence, rape, and neonatal circumcision.44 DeMause (1996) connects perinatal circumcision trauma with increases in teenage suicide and social violence.45

Effect on Medical Society Policy Statements

In the United States, where non-therapeutic neonatal circumcision once was a routine practice, a nearly totally circumcised male population was created. Medical doctors in the United States are largely a part of this circumcising culture, in which the abnormal appears to be normal. Circumcised men who become medical doctors have no personal experience of the foreskin and may never have seen a human foreskin. As reported above, if the doctor is circumcised himself, he is more likely to recommend circumcision to his patients.11

Medical societies in the United States are composed of men and women from this circumcising culture. Certain medical societies have issued public statements regarding circumcision. These statements inevitably are drafted by committees composed of persons, whether male or female, who are products of the circumcising culture, and who may feel a need to defend their culture of origin.12

These committees are faced with the challenge of sorting out the medical literature on circumcision, which as indicated above, has numerous papers written by circumcised doctors, who tend to be biased in favor of circumcision.12 Doctors from circumcising cultures may be blinded to the bias of published papers.

Moreover, male members of the committee are faced with the uncomfortable task of challenging their own circumcision.46 Members may be parents who have had a son circumcised and who may feel a need to defend that decision.12 Some members conceivably could even have a compulsion to reenact the trauma of their own circumcision on others!10

Doctors who are appointed to policy committees may have strong opinions on circumcision as a result of their previous experiences in a circumcising culture. Medical doctors, who profit from the performance of circumcision, may be appointed to serve on a policy committee.*46

Conflict-of-interest is inevitable. Such conflicted doctors are unlikely to be able to produce a truly evidence-based statement, even if they are able to sort out the bias in the medical literature.46,47 Fox & Thomson (2005) report that medical societies downplay or minimize the risks associated with male circumcision.48 For example, one law review article has found serious departures from the evidence in two statements produced by the American Academy of Pediatrics.49

American medical societies, thus far, have been unable or unwilling to acknowledge the human rights (see Chapter Nine) and medical ethics (see Chapter Eleven) issues inherent in the non-therapeutic circumcision of children.13 Similarly, they have not recognized the long-term adverse effects reported in this chapter.13

Foley (1966) reports that circumcised doctors are biased in favor of circumcision.50 Circumcision practice of long ago, therefore, has an effect on the policy statements of medical societies today. Such statements are the result of compromises between the bias of the committee members in favor of circumcision and the overwhelming evidence supporting genital integrity as the optimum choice for health and well-being. Such statements tend to perpetuate the status quo.46 The public, therefore, is poorly served by the apparent inability of circumcised doctors to produce a truly evidence-based statement.13
 
Childbirth Educator Today



Care of the Intact Penis
by James E. Peron, Ed. D.
In a society where routine circumcision has been common for many years, even parents who choose to protect their sons from routine circumcision may have questions regarding hygiene of the intact penis.

Should the young child's foreskin be retracted for proper cleaning? At what age should the child's foreskin be retractable?

Leave the foreskin alone; wash only what is external and readily visible.
Never forcibly retract your son's foreskin and don't permit anyone else to do so.
Make certain your son's medical attendants understand his foreskin is not to be retracted or tampered with.
Always stay with your son during his doctor visits and exams.
When teaching the child to bathe and care for himself, let the child retract his own foreskin if he wants to. He will not retract it beyond the point of discomfort.
A child's foreskin does not need to be retracted regularly for cleaning until the end of puberty. It should not be retracted during early childhood.*
What about "smegma" and hygiene?

Parents are frequently told that the foreskin must be carefully cleaned to remove "smegma" from under the foreskin. Smegma is a natural oily, waxy lubricant formed between the foreskin and the glans. Rarely does it exist in the uncircumcised child whose foreskin has not been forcibly retracted; the substance we are warned to carefully wash away is rarely produced during childhood. During puberty, these natural secretions tend to increase, providing a natural lubricant between the foreskin and glans for protection and to permit the foreskin to slide easily over the glans as nature intended for this age. By mid-teenage, the foreskin is retractable and hygiene is a simple matter. Any accumulation of these natural lubricating substances can easily be cleansed during the boy's shower or bath.

What about irritation or itching of the foreskin?

If the infant boy has redness or irritation of the foreskin area and tip of his penis, simply apply a protective healing ointment such as A&D ointment, Oil of Vitamin E, anti-biotic ointemnt, etc. Don't try to retract his foreskin. The irritation will usually clear up in a few days.
Some baby boys develop little "pearls" under the foreskin between the glans and the foreskin. These are shed cells from the glans and foreskin gradually separating that will eventually work their way to the opening and be discarded. Rarely do they present a problem.
An older uncircumcised child may complain of foreskin irritation or itching. Interestingly, this seems most common with those boys whose foreskin has been regularly retracted from early childhood.
Active young boys playing outside may occasionally get dirt or sand in the foreskin opening. It may lodge between the inner foreskin and glans tip causing minor irritation. If the foreskin is partially or fully retractable, you may very gently retract his foreskin and rinse the area with warm water.
If the foreskin will not retract or is swollen, do not force it. Wash the area and apply a soothing lubricant to the tip and exposed surfaces. Remember always return the foreskin to its normal resting position.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*Improper retraction by force can cause small tears in the foreskin and the mucosal fold under the foreskin where it is normally adherent to the glans. This may cause bleeding and considerable pain, and open the route for potential infection and irritation. If this is a regular practice, restrictive scar tissue may form around the opening of the foreskin or between the foreskin and the glans.)


James E. Peron, Ed. D. is a medical research writer and founder of Childbirth Education Foundation, P.O. Box 251 Oxford, PA 19363 Phone: (717) 529-2561 Email: jperon@epix.net

Care of the Intact Penis
 
good, because without it not only is your junk unblowable, you're going to hell.

sexual attractiveness AND a covenant with God. A good deal, I say.


:rofl

I think any dude who can muff dive has a right to be blown cut or not. LOL!

If an uncut pecker bothers you, you should try eatin' a poo-nanny. :rofl
 
good, because without it not only is your junk unblowable, you're going to hell.

sexual attractiveness AND a covenant with God. A good deal, I say.
So that's why she screams "Oh God YES!!!!!"

KEWL!:cool::cool:
 
I had a gay friend back in college that would disagree with you NCFY.

I don't see why you shouldn't. I mean, yeah...if I was at an age I could remember things and THAT'S when they wanted to do it I would've been like "hell no not putting something sharp there!". But as a baby, get it over with, make it simpler to clean and upkeep. I'd be annoyed if that wasn't done, forcing me to have longer shower time ;)

I had it done when i was young so im pretty happy about that, dont remember a thing, and it cant have been a very pleasurable expo either.

And i dont get it with gay guys. I have a few gay friends that think having foreskin is better because of increased sexual drive but they much rather have a partner that didnt have it.
 
Boy dies after circumcision

Johannesburg - One boy died and four others are in a critical condition after alleged botched circumcisions near Ntabankulu in the Eastern Cape, SABC news reported on Sunday.

Ten others were in a stable condition after they were rescued from an illegal initiation school.

The boys, aged between 15 and 17, had been admitted to the Sipethu hospital.

Police spokesperson Mlungisi Mathidane said that when police arrived at the school on Saturday, the 14 boys had disappeared into a forest.

Police arrested one person and tracked the boys down on Sunday.

News24 - Error
 
^^^by posting the whole article here I beleive you have violated their copyright protection
 
Its a cultural practice that doesn't have any negative effects. I don't see why people get so up in arms about it, as if its a big deal whether or not a kid gets circ'ed. Its not as if its done to keep a man down or something. Hopefully my son won't think he's less of a man, because he's missing a little bit of foreskin. If he does, I haven't raised him right.

And you wanted your son sexually mutilated for what reason?
 
Umm... can someone tell me what the outrage is all about here?
 
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