[ ARC forum 2 ]

Circumcision - No!

Written by Paul B. at 30 Oct 2001 09:18:31:

As an answer to: circumsicion or no? written by Ricardo at 29 Oct 2001 04:56:59:

> i have never been circumsize my foreskin covers the head but im able to bring it down.

OK, you basically have a normal foreskin. As indeed you should.

> now the foreskin on the tip hurts and its really uncomfortable and it hurts.
> Also the the tip of the foreskin is a little reddish and that hurts.

Jim is well on the mark when he asks what you have been doing that might relate to this. As he says, the possibilities are that you might have traumatised it, or developed an infection such as those that trouble women.

> This problem started only a couple of days ago.

So what have you been doing in the last week?

> Do you think it is because the foreskin is too grown?

It's a foreskin.

> do i need to be circumsize?

This line of questioning troubles me. You appear to have no idea whatsoever of what circumcision is. Why would the idea of circumcision have any possible significance for you? Why do people associate minor foreskin problems with thoughts of circumcision? As I said, women suffer quite a lot of these irritations, but they do not talk of circumcision, do they?

Please understand. Circumcision is a ritual mutilation whose deliberate purpose is to cause a calculated amount of damage to the penis, and limit its sexual functioning. That is what circumcision is, it is not a medical procedure except in the most extreme of cases. It is however inordinately popular in America.

I realise you have virtually no experience in such matters, and it is a function of the teenage years for one to assume quite inordinate significance to trivial matters, so please understand, you have a minor irritation, nothing more. It is most probably due to a yeast infection called candida, for which the drugs clotrimazole or miconazole (Canesten, Clonea, Daktarin) are used as creams, readily available from the chemist (drug store), but will very likely respond to a quite basic soothing and mildly antiseptic salve such as Zinc and Castor Oil, sold for the treatment of napkin (diaper) rash on babies - and that is essentially what you have!

I caution you against using any form of antibiotic cream such as "Neosporin", "Polysporin" or such as they may make the yeast infection worse and it is quite possible to be allergic to them. They must not be used unless a pathology swab clearly shows the presence of a bacteria that only they will treat, and the absence of candida.

If the simple applications I suggest do not settle the irritation, and the foreskin is still tight, you might need to see a doctor to obtain a prescription for a steroid preparation to be used in addition. Do beware that some American doctors think in terms of circumcision even where it is not needed, because there is a tradition there of profiteering from the operation!

> do you think it might be a rash or allergy?

If it's red, then it is a rash. That's basically what a rash means. If you think it might be an allergy, what is it you have been in contact with that might cause an allergy?


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