Circumcision Not Recommended
Amputating the foreskin is not required for adhesions. Adhesions are the result of injury, and ironically , they are a common complication of circumcision.1
There is much confusion, even among trained medical professionals, between true adhesions (abnormal) and attachments (normal).2 The foreskin is initially attached to the glans before birth and slowly separates in the years following birth. The average age for separation is 10-years.3 See Phimosis.
Adhesions only occur when raw foreskin tissue and raw glans tissue join together following an injury, such as a forced foreskin retraction, commonly done or recommended by naive medical professionals.4 Adhesions often resolve by themselves.5 Treatment for adhesions, which should wait until after puberty, includes gently retracting the foreskin, or having a plastic surgeon separate the adhesion.6 Both have the advantage of retaining the foreskin.
- Yilmaz E. Batislam E, Basar MM, Basar H. Psychological trauma of circumcision in the phallic period could be avoided by using topical steroids. Int J Urol. 2003;10(12):651-6. ↩
- Agarwal, A., Mohta, A., & Anand, R. Preputial retraction in children. J Indian Assoc Pediatric Surgeons, 2005;10(2), 89-91. ↩
- Kayaba H, Tamura H, Kitajima, S, Fujiwara Y, Kato T, Kato, T. Analysis of shape and retractability of the prepuce in 603 Japanese boys. Journal of Urology, 156 1996;(5), 1813-1815. ↩
- Osborn, L. M., & Metcalf, T. J. Hygienic care in uncircumcised infants. Pediatrics, 1981;67(3), 365-367. ↩
- Øster J. Further fate of the foreskin: incidence of preputial adhesions, phimosis, and smegma among Danish schoolboys. Arch Dis Child 1968;43:200-3. ↩
- Kumar P, Deb M, Das K. Preputial adhesions–a misunderstood entity. Indian J Pediatr. 2009;76(8):829-32. ↩
