Tell me what's bad about foreskin retraction?

[Raene]

I come from an all-girls family and I'll admit I know close to nothing about penises. I am 99% sure I'm having a boy in August and I definitely WILL NOT circumsize. I know all about that issue.

And I'm not saying I'm pro-retraction at ALL...just that I don't even understand it and I would like to know more. Why do they do it? Why is it bad?

Sorry I'm really, really clueless.

[l_olive]

Because it's actually fused to the glans of the penis until the child is older. It would be like pulling your fingernails back in order to clean under them.

[latinalonestar]

We have a sticky called "Definition of Retraction and Why it is Bad" The foreskin is fused to the glands and the opening is very narrow to protect anything from entering. The opening is like a sphincter and only opens enough to allow urine to pass during urination. If you try to retract you could tear the opening and rip the foreskin off the glands of the penis.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=575627

[robertandenith]

yes. I am adding: Separation of the foreskin occurs NATURALLY thank to the hormones that create this process throughout infancy til puberty. So in reality, since every child anatomy and function is different, this will occur at different ages for every child. If we try to do this, it will only cause pain, tears then this will lead to infections (premature retraction/separation) = trauma. The only person who should do this, is the owner himself.

[kriket]

Originally Posted by Raene

Why do they do it?

They (I assume you mean doctors) do it because they are convinced that something must have gotten in there and they should look at it and wash it out.

If something got 'in' you would know it. It would be like when you get a splinter/sliver under your fingernail. You are totally aware of when where and how you got it.

They also think that smegma is something harmful that needs cleaned. Smegma is like... eye boogers. If there is some on the outside that you can wipe off, go for it. Don't dig around in your eye looking for it!

They also (and this is personal speculation) either can't remember when they were non retractile, or don't have anything to retract so they are looking at your son's penis, expect to see the glans, don't see it, and pull the skin out of the way so they can see it, not thinking of the damage they are causing!

Mostly they do it because they are uneducated. There are forskin savvy drs out there, or at the very least, drs who will respect your wishes to not have a penis inspection every time you go for a WBV. :

[robertandenith]

I also think they do it because the adult can retract to clean. Of course most doctors don't have a foreskin so they don't really know how to care for an intact infant/child.

[knucklehead]

FYI, a baby girl's clitoris is fused to the clitoral hood at birth and for some time after. No one recommends ( I hope) that you physically dig around in there and get everything loosened up on a girl, so beware of docs and others telling you that baby boys "need" to be retracted.