Quote:
Originally Posted by mgracer  Okay I've read a few posts about members against circumcision.
Our son got sick 2 weeks ago and his doctor said the tip of his penis got infected some what. She said my son is a candidate for "early" circumcision. Is 5 year old too young to be circumcised? My heart is melting by just thinking the pain he have to endure and I wanted circumcision to be done when he's like can decide a little for himself.
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These infections are not serious. They usually clear up by themselves and never re-occur. Girls are ten times more likely to get infections yet we never consider chopping bits off them.
Make sure you are caring for the intact penis right (no care is required , do nothing). Considering your doctor recommended circumcision - he probably also told you to pull the foreskin back. This is probably what caused the infection.
The foreskin is attached to the glans from birth. It should be left to separate naturally. Any attempt to pull the foreskin back or clean under it is damaging. First off it hurts. Secondly it creates micro-tears in the skin. These not only increase the chance of an infection; they form scar tissue. Scar tissue is inelastic and so may cause retractability problems later on.
After the foreskin has separated from the glans, soon it will be able to retract over the glans, once the hole gets big enough. Again, you must not force this, this happens all on it's own. The time it occurs varies for each boy. Most are retractable by age 10, though it can occur up until the age of 18.
So just to re-iterate - do not pull the foreskin back. Do not clean under it. Don't use soap as that can irritate. Do not allow this clueless doctor to take away an important body part without the boy's consent.
Care guidelines:
http://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/care/
Normal development of foreskin:
http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/
