Snip the tip? Rethinking circumcision

January 30, 4:06 PMSexual Health ExaminerCourtney Bee

Previous Next

54 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Sexual Health Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

                 Either way they still fit nicely in the bun

It's been noted that circumcision has potential health benefits that include a slightly lower risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in young boys, penile cancer, and certain sexually transmitted diseases. But one statistic that's not touted quite as often is that all of these problems are uncommon (for instance, only about 1% of all boys will have a UTI), so lowering the risk of an atypical problem isn't a huge benefit. In addition, an uncircumcised penis is easier to care for and keep clean, so improved hygiene is not a basis for routine circumcisions either.

While circumcision is a common procedure in this country, it isn’t without risk. It can be so painful that many pediatricians advise using nerve blocks as well as a local anesthetic. Other risks include excess bleeding, infection, adverse reactions to the anesthesia, disrupted breathing, and a poor aesthetic result.

Opponents of circumcision claim that removing the foreskin decreases the amount of sexual pleasure a grown man experiences, although studies haven’t been definitive. "All mammals have foreskin," says George C. Denniston, MD, MPH, director of the nonprofit group Doctors Against Circumcision. "It's blasphemy to say we should take it off." The AAP, a collective of doctors who specialize in child health issues, concluded in 1999 that both the benefits and risks of circumcision are very small. Based on their research, the AAP does not recommend routine circumcision.

And if you’re curious about the style of penis females prefer, several informal studies (of the Cosmo magazine variety so take it with a massive grain of salt) have shown that women do exhibit a slight to significant preference for the circumcised look. Some of the women said they preferred circumcised penises simply because they’d had encounters with uncircumcised penises that weren’t kept clean or had accumulated lint from underwear. But these factors are within the individual’s control, and with proper hygiene, needn’t be an issue. Much in the same way some men favor a particular breast size, women also have their bodily preferences, but they don’t tend to list either genitalia style as a strong turnoff. 

When I published Health Plans Cut Circumcision, an article explaining how Medicaid had eliminated coverage of circumcision, the message board was ignited with comments from readers strongly opposed to the procedure itself. As this article neared completion, I noticed a message board comment that deserved inclusion. While most circumcisions carry minimal risk, one reader reminded us that these risks aren't to be taken lightly. "Personally I was circumcised after birth," Wesley wrote, "for no good reason and had my frenulum and all the inner foreskin removed, with the scar right behind the glans and just for good measure, the doc decided to make the cut uneven and did not bother to stitch the wound up, so the seam in the middle of the shaft, that goes all the way up the penis and ends with the frenulum in a normal penis, healed incorrectly kind of skew, so that the seam is on the far left side, just under my glans. I do not have much sensitivity in my penis because of this circumcision and it badly affects my sex life when I struggle to achieve orgasm with my wife. I am now trying to restore my foreskin to cover my glans and gain some sensitivity back by allowing my glans to become a bit more moist and protected. There have been a lot of positive results from men who have fully restored their foreskins, so it is worth trying for me. However, I will never get back what was taken from me fully (to view the full comment, see Health Plans Cut Circumcision)." 

The bottom line? Perhaps it’s time to reconsider circumcision, and if you are thinking about having your child circumcised, make sure you’ve reviewed all the facts. Don’t simply opt for circumcision because you’re afraid your son will resent you when the teen years hit. Once those angry teen hormones start pumping through his body, he’ll hate his penis until the precise moment it makes a girl sigh. And after that? Whether he’s a crewneck or turtleneck, he’ll love his penis. And my fellow females will love it, too. Promise.    

What are your thoughts about circumcision? Share them below.