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Re: I have a question - Tangential question

Written by Paul B. at 02 Aug 2001 23:44:43:

As an answer to: Re: I have a question - Tangential question written by rjk at 02 Aug 2001 17:31:30:

> Paul M, you seem to have a built-in frill in the meatus ('pee-hole') that may be the result of having had diaper rash when
> you were very young. (That's speculative, of course!)

Very speculative indeed.

The trick is, nappy (diaper) rash has interesting characteristics, most notably being that it only occurs on skin exposed to the
nappy. This means that it does not extend into the folds, a girl's vulva or inside a boy's foreskin, so circumcised boys get meatal
stenosis but uncircumcised boys do not. One of the standard reasons that ritual infant circumcision should not be practiced.

That Paul M now has a foreskin normally covering his glans, is pretty good proof that it was doing so as an infant and he would
have been most unlikely to have had meatal stenosis.

It's a fascinating point - nappy rash is directly caused by (bacterial action in) the nappy, while the skin itself resists this action
quite effectively. The ultimate, but rather difficult, cure for it is to manage without a nappy!

> Surgery was developed to enlarge a narrow meatus (but not necessarily to eliminate a 'frill'), called a 'fish-mouth'
> operation.

Not heard of that one. Oh well!


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