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Re: Advice needed

Written by tmtanec at 22 May 2002 19:49:55:

As an answer to: Advice needed written by US dad with decision at 21 May 2002 19:43:40:

I agree with you that the best plan here would be to respect your son's wishes and leave things as they are. Leaving him to sort his foreskin out for himself isn't likely to bother anyone else at all, and shouldn't prove much of a bother for your son either.

Also, it could be that in suitable circumstances your son's foreskin already retracts quite well. He is quite young, however, so the muscles in his foreskin may still be very strong and may sometimes contract so powerfully that retraction becomes difficult or impossible. This will tend to happen when your son is cold and may also tend to happen when he is stressed.

It is possible, then, that the doctor was entirely in error (i.e. he was wrong to do what he did, and also drew an incorrect conclusion from this). Even if your son's foreskin is still somewhat tight, however, it may loosen up without any outside intervention over the next two or three years. If he feels that it is tighter than he'd like by the time he gets to 18 or so, you could suggest it might be worthwhile doing some Internet research.

I can't imagine what this doctor thought he was up to, nor why this sort of physical exam is part of the summer camp's requirements. The doctor should have asked your son to retract his foreskin for himself. If he thought there was a problem, he should have discussed a heap of other treatments besides circumcision, and should also have suggested that it might be better to wait for at least a year before thinking seriously about any of these.

I have to say that if this doctor was based in the UK and had behaved as you've described with a kid of mine, I'd be writing to the Royal College of General Practitioners to ask for an opinion. It sounds as if this particular medic would benefit from some Continuing and Professional Development modules on Andrology. I don't know if Continuing and Professional Development is mandatory for GPs in the US. In the UK, it will become mandatory in 2007.


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