Sweet Peas, Pods & Papas: All About Birth, B@@bs & Babies
Cassandra Okamoto: Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 5:05 AM
Definition of the procedure/test
"Male circumcision (from Latin circumcidere,
meaning "to cut around")[1] is the surgical removal of the foreskin
(prepuce) from the human penis.[2][3][4] In a typical procedure, the foreskin
is opened and then separated from the glans after inspection. The circumcision
device (if used) is placed, and then the foreskin is removed. Topical or
locally injected anesthesia may be used to reduce pain and physiologic stress.[5]"
History Why was it developed? What was it
supposed to treat?
“The origination of male circumcision is not known
with certainty. It has been variously proposed that it began as a religious
sacrifice, as a rite of passage marking a boy's entrance into adulthood, as a
form of sympathetic magic to ensure virility or fertility, as a means of
enhancing sexual pleasure, as an aid to hygiene where regular bathing was
impractical, as a means of marking those of higher social status, as a means of
humiliating enemies and slaves by symbolic castration, as a means of
differentiating a circumcising group from their non-circumcising neighbors, as
a means of discouraging masturbation or other socially proscribed sexual
behaviors, as a means of removing "excess" pleasure, as a means of
increasing a man's attractiveness to women, as a demonstration of one's ability
to endure pain, or as a male counterpart to menstruation or the breaking of the
hymen, or to copy the rare natural occurrence of a missing foreskin of an
important leader, and as a display of disgust of the smegma produced by the foreskin.
It has been suggested that the custom of circumcision gave advantages to tribes
that practiced it and thus led to its spread.[1][2][3] Darby describes these
theories as "conflicting", and states that "the only point of agreement among proponents of the various
theories is that promoting good health had nothing to do with it.”
Pros & Cons
PROS As per the medical community:
- Easier hygiene.
Circumcision makes it simpler to wash the penis. Washing beneath the foreskin
of an uncircumcised penis is generally easy, however.
- Decreased risk of urinary tract
infections. The overall risk of urinary tract infections in
males is low, but these infections are more common in uncircumcised males.
Severe infections early in life can lead to kidney problems later on.
- Decreased risk of sexually
transmitted infections. Circumcised men might have a
lower risk of certain sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Still,
safe sexual practices remain essential.
- Prevention of penile problems.
Occasionally, the foreskin on an uncircumcised penis can be difficult or
impossible to retract (phimosis). This can lead to inflammation of the foreskin
or head of the penis.
- Decreased risk of penile
cancer. Although cancer of the penis is rare, it's less
common in circumcised men. In addition, cervical cancer is less common in the
female sexual partners of circumcised men.
“However,
all of these problems are uncommon (for example, only about 1% of all boys will
have a UTI), so lowering the risk of an
uncommon problem isn't a huge benefit. Additionally, an uncircumcised penis is
easy to care for and keep clean, so improved hygiene is not actually a reason
for routine circumcisions, either.” (from webmd.com)
Sources:
CONS
- The foreskin might be cut too
short or too long
- The foreskin might fail to heal
properly
- The remaining foreskin might
reattach to the end of the penis, requiring minor surgical repair
- Pain
- Risk of bleeding and infection
at the site of the circumcision
- Irritation of the glans
- Increased risk of meatitis
(inflammation of the opening of the penis)
- Risk of injury to the penis
- Studies show that circumcision
is significantly painful and traumatic, resulting in large increases in heart
rate, blood pressure and stress hormone levels.
- Some infants don't cry because
they go into shock.
- Penile anesthetic injections,
if used, don't completely eliminate pain.
- The trauma can cause behavioral
and neurological changes and disrupt mother-child bonding and feeding.
- It could interfere with the establishment of breastfeeding if the child is in too much pain to want to nurse.
Sources:
Additional Links To explore for more information
Pictures:
Disclaimer:
The material included on this site is for informational purposes only.
It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical
advice. The reader should always consult her or his healthcare provider to
determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss Bowman and Bowman House,
LLC accept no liability for the content of this site, or for the consequences
of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog contains information about our
classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official website
of The Bradley Method®. The views contained on this blog do not necessarily
reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American Academy of Husband-Coached
Childbirth®.
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