What is circumcision ? should children be circumcised ?

When a boy is born, there is a physiological adhesion between the foreskin and glans. The glans is completely wrapped by the foreskin, which is medically called phimosis. In this article we are going to talk about circumcision

　　As the penis and foreskin gradually develop, some proportion of the phimosis disappears, while others still exist.

　　In most cases of phimosis, the foreskin can be turned over when the penis is erect or by hand to expose the glans, which is called foreskin overlongness.

　　What are the benefits of circumcision for children with phimosis?

　　In daily outpatient clinics, it can be found that most children with urinary tract infection symptoms have foreskin or phimosis, especially those with smegma, foreskin adhesions, and phimosis.

　　Because the patient’s foreskin cavity is difficult to clean, it provides a place for bacterial growth and reproduction, which can easily cause urinary tract infection.

　　Puberty is the peak period of penis development for boys. If the foreskin of adolescents is too long, especially phimosis, it will restrict the development of the penis and cause the penis to be short.

　　For patients with phimosis who are in puberty or before puberty, early circumcision can promote faster and better development and growth of penis diameter.

Should children be circumcised?

Most little boys are born with a long foreskin that almost completely covers the entire penis.
The so-called circumcision refers to cutting off a part of the child’s foreskin that is too long to allow the glans to leak out and ensure that the urethral opening is exposed.
As a result, the urethral opening will be completely exposed to the air while urinating.

Male circumcision is the removal of all or part of the foreskin of the penis, which is recorded in the Bible.
People who practice circumcision are widely distributed around the world. In the early days, it was said that it was to punish masturbation, deliberately causing pain to boys, and to test whether they were real men.
Many countries practice puberty circumcision to declare a boy to be an adult.
In order to show that he is a real man, anesthesia is not given during the circumcision ceremony. The boy is not allowed to cry. The foreskin is cut off directly by the surgeon with a razor blade.
This backward and barbaric practice at that time caused many boys to die from penile necrosis or tetanus infection.

In the United States today, most little boys are circumcised at birth for religious and social reasons. It can be done by an experienced doctor in a few minutes and has fewer complications.
Because the urethral opening is exposed to the air, the chance of babies suffering from urinary tract infections is greatly reduced.
In addition, circumcision can help prevent penile cancer (a very rare disease) in children.
As adults, circumcised people are less likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.
Their female partners are also less likely to develop cervical cancer.

Circumcision risk

But circumcision also carries some risks, such as infection and bleeding.
If the child is born prematurely or has a congenital disease, circumcision cannot be performed immediately.
Moreover, the current scientific research evidence does not prove that circumcision is an urgent operation. Such an operation will not bring greater benefits to the child’s health at present.