Should Boys be Routinely Circumcised or Not? 1. An important question for many people is whether routine male circumcision should be practised or not. ... In the modern world, the routine circumcision of boys and even infants who have nothing wrong with them, seems pointless. In an information centred culture it would be much more appropriate to routinely check all boys to determine whether a boy had any problems, and if so which sort of individual treatment he required. The real problem is actually getting the question right - not the answer! The anti. pro. circumcision debate, is the singular most destructive factor to clear thinking about circumcision. It misleads the listener to believe there are only two options, - and only one answer which applies to every boy. I want to help bring the treatment of phimosis out of the "preliterate" times of habitual and one dimensional thinking where either everyone or no-one is circumcised ... phimotic minded - routine thinking ... can we stretch the imagination a little please ... Welcome to a Third Perspective on Male Circumcision I hope you enjoy your visit. 2. RIC - Routine Infant Circumcision, in its present form in the modern USA, is idiotic. The foreskin is removed in earliest infancy often even before the mother has held her baby. What a ridiculous example of modern medicine, especially for the (presently considered) most advanced country of the world, where they are developing gene technology etc.. Not only the pain of an often not anaesthetised operation, (which obviously a baby wont consciously remember, but babies are sensitive and they certainly experience this and experiences form impressions and impressions develop into attitudes), but also this traumatising operation was inevitably followed by the after effects of a burning soreness from a hyper sensitive glans for some weeks or months, slowly diminishing in pain until now in adulthood the glans has become hardened and sometimes insensitive. In addition the operation is often performed carelessly, frequently by student doctors, and normally with no post operative check up - skin bridges are a common result. The infant trauma of an intrusion in a natural developing process, leaving post operative problems which otherwise would not have existed is a truly irrational experience. One can appreciate the vehemence of opposition to such a procedure. Compare this to the traditional Jewish circumcision which cut only the tip of the foreskin off, and left the epithelial adhesions to loosen themselves from the glans over the following year or so. In my opinion Abraham acted with care and intelligence when 4 to 5 thousand years ago he introduced this form of partial circumcision for Jewish babies on the 8th. day. But this has become cold and clinical in its modern form in the USA with no cultural recognition or celebration - just another method of ignoring or repressing foreskins - (at least the Jewish boy has a party day). Without information, preventative health care and modern anaesthetic I find the Jewish approach is the most appropriate, however, in these modern enlightened times preventative health care means routine monitoring and education. Welcome to a Third Perspective on Male Circumcision I hope you enjoy your visit. 3. There are other considerations - New research could reveal a solution for adhesions. And : How often does phimosis occurr in old age? I often hear from nurses in old peoples homes, I recently talked with another - and I always hear that pratically every male is either circumcised or phimotic. Washing these men is apparently the nastiest job they have. Urologists and Surgeons have told me, regarding both frenuloplasty and circumcision, that they operate mostly during puberty, and then in old age. Perhaps the most striking evidence is that in Germany this phenomenon has a name : "Alters phimose" (old-age phimosis) - it is so common that they have named it! The only scientific indication could come from Taylors study on 22 corpses, all of whom had phimotic ring. From 5 case histories I know, this fibrotic ring develops between 70 and 76 yrs. old I would like to e.mail 100 or so medical faculties with the following idea for final year medical students - they always want original research projects for diploma work : A first test statistical study of 100 male OAPs is needed. Welcome to a Third Perspective on Male Circumcision I hope you enjoy your visit. 4. Individual problem related specific treatment is an expected medical standard in our culture, (the statistics are irrelevant, even if its 80% with problems - today's medicine normally monitors and then treats problems specifically). Routine operations or ignoring problems are simply not appropriate attitudes for modern medicine, ... you name it; modern medicine checks it, and intervenes only when there is a problem - except when this concerns boys foreskin. Future generations will certainly develop a completely new approach and attitude to medicine and health. They might even consider routinely gene manipulated body parts as appropriate. This is not important to me, what is important and ridiculous to me, is it looks like we will have gene manipulated hands noses and hair, but there will still be a debate going on pro and anti routine circumcision. Ultimately I want the circumcision and phimosis taboos to be broken so that the foreskin is treated by modern medicine with the same care, thought and respect as every other part of the human body, and at present to me, this means .... The Third Perspective on Male Circumcision I hope you enjoy your visit.