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March
To Circumcise or Not
Dear Paul,
Your book was one of the many resources we
looked to when deciding whether to circumcise our
son I am proud that we chose not to. However we
keep getting conflicting advice on care of the
foreskin. Help! Our pediatrician told us that we
need to start pushing the foreskin back, almost
halfway down the shaft (he is only 15 months old).
My gut reaction is just to do what I have been
doing and push it back only as far as it will go
every now and then. I really do not want to mess up
my son's penis. What do we need to do?
Montana Calling
Dear Montana,
We have a special foreskin section up on our
website at www.goofyfootpress.com.
It includes care of the foreskin for parents like
yourself, as well as tips for the partners of
grown-up guys whose mom and dad resisted chopping
off the end of their infant son's penis.
Since I am not a physician, I cannot give you
medical advice. What I can do is inform you that
the advice your pediatrician has given you
contradicts everything I've heard from
foreskin-friendly physicians, and it will probably
lead to more rather than fewer problems.
First, I want to warn you that you should never
let a healthcare professional handle your son's
penis without a firm warning against retracting
your son's foreskin. And then, do not let them
examine your child's penis without your watching.
There are way too many physicians and nurses who
will try to retract the foreskin even when parents
say not to.
American medicine has always had a prejudice
against the male foreskin, which is understandable
when you consider that the only "medical" reason
for circumcision has been for the physician and
hospital to make extra money. In the only study
ever done that supports circumcision, the parents
of the uncircumcised boys were instructed to
retract their sons' foreskins, just like your
pediatrician has instructed you. It was this
unfortunate instruction rather than the foreskin
itself that caused these boys to have problems.
Retracting the foreskin of a young boy is one of
the worst things you can do to it unless there is a
specific medical reason.
During infancy and childhood, the inner surface
of the foreskin is physically attached to the skin
on the head of the penis. This protects the opening
of the penis from irritation, infection and
ulceration. By trying to retract the foreskin
prematurely, you are literally ripping apart these
delicate tissues that nature has "glued" together.
Over time, the cells that attach these two surfaces
together start to dissolve on their own.
To quote from the website of an organization
called NOCIRC,
"A boy should not be coaxed or urged to retract his
foreskin. In early childhood, a boy will pull his
foreskin out, away from his body, but as he gets
older he will begin to pull it towards his body,
too, and one day he will discover that he can pull
it all the way back behind his glans. Many boys do
not develop fully retractable foreskins until after
puberty. The first person to retract a child's
foreskin should be the child himself."
In our own internet sex survey, a lot of intact
guys have reported that they didn't fully retract
their foreskins until they were well into their
teenage years. Also, when your son reaches puberty,
you'll need to speak with him about retracting his
foreskin when he is in the shower and washing
around it.
You can get a list of foreskin-friendly
physicians from the NOCIRC organization
415.488.9883.
If you are a young man and your foreskin has yet
to retract, don't worry. Check out a couple of the
sites that we have listed on our internet site, and
find a foreskin-friendly physician to discuss the
matter with.
©2010, Paul
Joannides
Related Issues: Talking
With Kids About Tough Issues, Relationship,
Sexuality
Books: Relationship,
Sexuality
* * *
In America, sex is an obsession, in other parts of
the world it is a fact. - Marlene Dietrich
Paul
Joannides is the author of the Guide
To Getting It On!--the Universe's Coolest and Most
Informative Book On Sex.
You can contact him at www.goofyfootpress.com
by clicking on the cover of the Guide that
appears on his web site. All columns are the
property of Paul Joannides and Goofy Foot
Press
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