Re: Dorsal Slit Reversal

Written by Bob Knight on 11. August 1999 at 02:18:45:

In Reply to: Dorsal Slit Reversal written by Steve on 10. August 1999 at 03:05:41:

>hello, I recieved a dorsal slit as a child. I believe it was an obliqe dorsal slit. It was done without my permission and I want it reversed. I have finally gotten the nerve to consult a couple of doctors and have been met with total disregard for my feelings. they cannot comprehend why I would want to do this. I want to have the original scar re-opened and put back to its original position and stitched. Does anyone out there have a dorsal slit- has anyone tried to have it repaired- how did you find a doctor that isnt arrogant as hell- does anyone have before and after pictures? I havent been able to get any information about this in 5 or 6 years. am I totally alone on this????? If you can help me I would greatly appreciate it. Thank You Very Much! Steve

Steve, I wouldn't get too upset that somebody else gave you a d.s. without your permission. I got diphtheria and other shots, dentistry & x-rays (among other procedures) as a kid without giving my permission, but never thought too much about it. A definite possibility is that you may have had a phimosis or some other problem that needed help and your parents opted for d.s. as less traumatic that circumcision, which it definitely was. The fact that you didn't get a "routine circ" suggests the possibility of something like this. You ask if anyone out here has a dorsal slit & has tried to get it repaired: well, I had one for years and then traded it in for a circumcision, which I have never regretted. The d.s. didn't bother me, was easy to keep clean, and there was no great need for circumcision on my part, I just felt it would be neater & easier to keep clean, which it is -- no smegma ever, & no dirt collecting because there's not much skin for it to collect under. An interesting sidelight: lady friends have commented favorably on the appearance of my circumcised penis, and a urologist (who didn't do the circ) referred to it as a "super job." So if the appearance of your dorsal slit is one of the things that bothers you, you might seriously consider circumcision by a competent surgeon. (Ironically, you probably won't have a problem finding a doctor to take your request for this procedure seriously.) Oh yes, sex feels great with my circumcised penis, not to speak for anyone else. The doctors you've consulted probably tend to disregard your feelings because their bias is toward improved hygiene, not aesthetics, and they consider that you've had a minimal invasion of your anatomy. One point to consider if aesthetics are involved in your scheme is the likelihood that if you could find a doctor in sympathy with you (& you might in France, Denmark or California), the slit could be stitched up so the foreskin would more or less surround the glans, but I believe it would be quite impossible to stitch it in such a way that there would not be a prominent scar running the length of the original slit. A question: have you shared your thoughts with any friends close to home? Do they agree with you in down-grading your dorsally-slit penis? I've known a good many boys & men with d.s. in my time, & none of them had a problem (physically or emotionally) with their condition. Some soldiers in combat who could not wash properly had themselves given a dorsal slit in preference to a circumcision, and seemed to be totallly happy with the result (maybe because they'd kept their foreskins!). Something that's important to you, namely what you consider to be the intervention into your bodily integrity, is probably considered to be trivial by the arrogant physicians you've encountered, and I think that's too bad; you deserve the consideration of being taken seriously, because if it's serious to you, it is in fact serious. Have you discussed the matter with either of your parents to get an idea of what they were thinking when they had the d.s. done? This won't restore your penis to an uncut condition, but it may give you some insights that haven't occurred to you. (If you've seen Rosalind's letter in this same forum, you can see that parents are sometimes confronted with unpleasant problems that demand treatment of one kind or another.) What I've laid out here may not be much comfort or help to you. I know some men who'd be happy to have nothing more serious than what confronts you, but again that may be small comfort to you. A thought that occurs to me in this wandering monologue is that you might get more satisfactory treatment from the medical profession if you'd go to a plastic surgeon & ask him (or her???!)for a recommendation. Any treatment you got would probably be expensive, but if the doctor gave you the courtesy of a serious view of your problem and an approach to achieving a better-looking penis, with more eye appeal to sexual partners, this might be of real help to you. Good luck, & best wishes. Bob.