Give me a reason why... - Page 2

[hakunangovi]

Calpurnia, I have heard the infection excuse many times, and even in my own family. But what I have to ask is why did the Dr not prescribe an antibiotic like they would for an infection of any other body part ??? I realise that that this is a rhetorical question that you personaly probably can't answer, but I really do wonder why a foreskin is the only body part that gets amputated because of infection.
As an aside, I recall reading somewhere that after one case of balanitis, a boy/man is less likely to experience a recurrence. So many of those circumcisions are being done to prevent something that is unlikely to ever happen again !!! The lack of logic in the medical fraternity blows me away !!

[calpurnia]

Howard, all I can tell you is that my partner had pathological phimosis (spelling?). I don't really know any details of how it was treated before circumcision, except that he was in some pain for several years, I think.

I have to say, I find it really hard to comment on circumcision and the medical fraternity because I'm in the UK, where (as far as I know) circumcision is pretty non-existent.

[Stardust27]

Hi Calpurnia,

yes, it is true that routine infant circumcision has been virtually non-existent in the UK since the 1950ties, but unnecessary “medical” circumcisions of older boys (for problems which really are no problems like non-retractability at age 5 or which could be treated without surgery like infections and phimosis) do apparently happen very often. Check out the website of NORM-UK, an organisation founded by a British doctor, to learn more about the situation in the UK and what those dedicated and qualified people are doing about it.

www.norm-uk.org

Stardust

[calpurnia]

Stardust,

I've never really thought about circumcision because it's so totally not an issue - my family is not "anti-circ" because you don't have to be. It was just automatic that none of my brothers or cousins have been circed (or even my uncles). My dad is but he didn't grow up in England. I certainly never imagine circing my (future possible) son and I still don't intend to - neither does my partner.

That was a long winded beginning to my question - so why has routine circ dropped out of fashion in the UK when it hasn't in the US?

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

Cal xx

[TigerTail]

yo cal, as an aside, a scottish bf i had 'had' to be circumcised at 13 because of similar reasoning, & he was unable to experience orgasm henceforth, period. i'm guessing he would've preferred to try antibiotics first.

suse

[Quirky]

Originally Posted by calpurnia

Stardust,

That was a long winded beginning to my question - so why has routine circ dropped out of fashion in the UK when it hasn't in the US?

Cal xx

As I understand the history the UK decided to drop routine infant circumcision from coverage under the national health system after the cost-benefit analysis of circ showed costs but no compelling benefit. Before that, RIC had been the norm for a couple of generations. After that, the rates plummeted.

If only we had a national medical system here that could make a rational decision like that! There is a movement here to stop state Medicaid programs for low-income people from funding RIC but that is only a drop in the bucket given how many private insurance companies cover it.

[Stardust27]

Sorry for not answering sooner, Calpurnia – I’ve been offline for the weekend.

However, Quirky already gave you good info about the end of routine infant circumcision in the UK. I’d only like to add that the study of a British doctor named Gairdner, which was published in 1949, played an important role (http://www.cirp.org/library/general/gairdner/). He showed that boys’ foreskins would get retractable by the time they were 3-5 years old and that thus there was no need to panic about tight foreskins in babies. He also cut through the myths about cancer, STDs etc. While it was big progress back then, Gairdner’s study has become something like a bane for intactivists today. For unfortunately, his work is still quoted whenever the “proper time” for retractability is discussed, even though several more recent studies (see http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/) have shown that it can take far longer, until puberty. The problem was that Gairdner artificially lysed the natural bond between glans and foreskin of the boys in his study, thus hastening the natural process. Many boys are needlessly circumcised today because of his data and because the medical world still clings to the 3-5 year limit, for whatever reason...

Another interesting aspect about routine infant circumcision in the UK is that the aristocratic part of the population clung to the practice far longer because for them, it was/is a matter of class. For example, the Princes William and Harry would have been circumcised at birth if their mother hadn’t steadfastly refused.

Stardust

[calpurnia]

Thanks for that, Quirky and Stardust, esp the Gairdner background. Interesting that the NHS played a part - I'd never thought of that but I guess we do have centralised medical decisions.

My family are obviously just intact plebs :LOL

[Xenogenesis]

Originally Posted by Frank

(I could use a new yacht!)

You Have A Yacht! :















Can I Have The Old One When You Get Your New One!

[Frankly Speaking]

Oh mercy! You're going to get rumors started!

This reminds me of something that happened once. I had a customer who was from South Africa and told me about "going yachting" on the local lake. At first I was quite impressed and asked more questions. I learned that his "yacht" was a 12' sailboat, basically a surf board with a sail on it. In the South African lexicon, going boating is "going yachting." Under that definition, yes, I do have a yacht and you wouldn't be getting nearly as much as you imagine! :LOL




Frank

[Xenogenesis]

Originally Posted by Frank

Oh mercy! You're going to get rumors started!

Originally Posted by Frank

. . . you wouldn't be getting nearly as much as you imagine! :LOL

Depends. Are You Part Of The Deal?

[Nathan1097]

Originally Posted by Frankly Speaking

you wouldn't be getting nearly as much as you imagine! :LOL

Uh.... Yes I think we would! Ahem!

[Frankly Speaking]

Originally Posted by Last Minute

Depends. Are You Part Of The Deal?

If I were, you still wouldn't be getting as much as you might imagine! :LOL



Frank

[Xenogenesis]

Originally Posted by Frank

If I were, you still wouldn't be getting as much as you might imagine! :LOL

Maybe I'll raffle off some pictures for a big ol' contribution to nocirc!

:

~ "KommonKazi Laila".