Male Circumcision : is it beneficial or poses more risk?
Hello lovely hivers, your nurse is here again to discuss an important topic that will help enlighten us as well as increase our knowledge. Am also happy and thankful to everyone here for your unflinching supports.
Alright, today's discussion will be basically on male Circumcision, as my previous post centered on female circumcision which is known to be a barbaric practice.
Although some don't accept the practice of male Circumcision due to religious as well as personal choice ,majority of males undergo this process either mostly as a baby or in few instances as adults.
Before I continue, I want to clearly state that everything I will talk about here will be purely based on medical advice as well as experience and is not in any way to impose any choice on anyone.
So please back to our discussion for today 😊 which is male Circumcision. As I explained in my previous post,
circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin also known as the prepuce which covers the glans of the penis (the smooth tip).
This is majorly on medical grounds or benefits unlike that of the female which is not on medical grounds.
I think it will make more sense, if I explain or describe the original state of the male penis before the process of circumcision as this will help our understanding.
Originally, the male penis which is known to be an organ of reproduction as well as a route for the passage of urine,is divided into
the shaft which can also be called the body, foreskin (prepuce), the glans also known as the head of the penis and then the opening at the tip(orifice), through which sperm and urine passes.
The foreskin (prepuce) is the main structure that distinguishes an uncircumcised penis from a circumcised penis and it varies in length in different individual.
Uncircumcised penis, with foreskin intact
In some males, it is very long that it covers the glans completely leaving only the orifice, while in some others, it covers just some parts of the head of the penis exposing the remaining part.
This foreskin usually retracts (draws back)when ever there is erection, exposing the head of the penis completely. But for those whose own are very long,even after the retraction, the glans of the penis still remains covered unless manually retracted during sex.
Coming back to the practice of circumcision, it is usually carried out on male babies on the 8th day, although it can also be carried out on adults though on rare occassions.
There are three major types of circumcision practiced namely
the plastibell device, Gomco clamp and Mogen clamp and the mechanism of these three types is to cut of blood supply to the foreskin inorder to make it easy for the physician or midwife to cut the foreskin off without bleeding.
Circumcised penis of a baby using the plastibell device
Least I forget, informed consent is usually obtained from the adult male patient or from the parents if the procedure is being carried out on a baby and the procedure is usually done under the cover of anesthesia, so as to block off the pain.
During the procedure,the prepuce(foreskin)is freed/separated from the glans of the penis and then cut off through any of the above mentioned methods.
It takes 20 to 30minutes to carry out circumcision especially using the plastibell device and 7 to 10days for the site to heal and the remnant of the device to fall off.
A circumcised adult male penis
Is there really any benefit associated with male Circumcision?
The answer is yes and some of them includes : Prevention of cancer of the penis in men and cervix in women
how does this happen? Usually, these cancers are caused by the Human papilloma virus(HpV) and
it is seen to multiply in epithelial cells found in the surface skin of the penis, and the foreskin may facilitate virus entry into those cells.
So by cutting off the prepuce during circumcision, the hide out for this virus is removed thereby preventing the cancer for the man, then for the woman because the man doesn't have this virus the woman is safe from contacting it and this is also how cervical cancer is prevented.
In addition to that, circumcision also prevents several other sexually transmitted infections as well as urinary tract infections in which the microorganisms causing them usually are trapped in the foreskin in the uncircumcised penis especially in individuals who are not conscious of their level of hygiene.
It is also known that this procedure when done on the male child, makes it very easy to wash and care for the penile region(good hygiene), there by preventing infections of any kind as there won't be any hideouts for these disease causing microbes.
Prevention/ solution of some penile conditions like balanoposthitis(inflammation of the glans and foreskin)
most often caused by a fungal infection, like a yeast infection, but bacterial infections can cause it, too. This most often happens as a result of improper hygiene, especially because the foreskin can trap moisture, creating the perfect environment for fungus and bacteria to thrive,
paraphimosis(inability of the retracted foreskin to be pulled up) and phimosis (inability of the the foreskin to retract or pull down from the tip of the penis),all these through circumcision are gotten rid of or prevented from occuring.
Improves sexual satisfaction in most women, there by making the sexual life of the couple fun.
Despite all these benefits associated with male Circumcision, it also have some risks which most times can be managed and they include: error in the cutting of the foreskin in which some the skin will remain and will require specialized surgical intervention to correct it.
Pain after the procedure, which can be managed using analgesic.
Bleeding during the procedure this can be stopped through the application of epinephrine topically on the site which has a vasoconstriction action thereby
Stopping bleeding from the site.
Delay in the healing of the circumcision site and this is usually as a result of poor hygiene during change of diapers and poor care of the area which results to microorganisms invading the site causing breakdown in wound.
This can be prevented through* application of antibiotic ointment to the site and great deal of hygiene.
So from our discussion today on the male version of circumcision, even though it's seen to be majorly done based on culture and religion,it also involve some discomforts. It is seen to have so many great benefits to the male and even extending to their female partners unlike that of the female circumcision also know as female genital mutilation which has no record of any medical or health benefit to the woman.
It is crucial to note that even with the benefits associated with male Circumcision, individuals still have there full rights to decide whether they want to be circumcised or not and so it should not be imposed or forced on anyone.
So having discussed this, I hope this post didn't bore anyone here, and also hope we gain something from it to add to our existing knowledge?
At this juncture, I will call it a day and I anticipate a positive response as well as input from anyone who reads this.
Thanks to you all for sticking around patiently. Expect more interesting and brain teasing posts from me.
Reference
Abnormalities in penis prevented through circumcision
Inflammation of the glans and foreskin
https://twitter.com/cyprianzz/status/1505261660939948039
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I don´t buy these alleged benefits. Do you have data/studies which show the reduced risk for cancer and infections?
Maybe you are also for a female circumcision? Maybe those skin parts also impose a risk?
No, this is all religous stuff and the benefits are just made up.
I am a (not circumcized) biologist and if this little skin would impose a risk, nature would have long removed it by mutation & selection. The human body is good as it is and does not need a surgery to get optimized.
Alright, let me take this time to unveil them. There are series of research works done to prove the benefits of male Circumcision, and even my few years of experience in the nursing profession has increased my understanding of it's benefits. For more facts and data kindly go through these research works and links I just shared. I even added one of them in this work.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/male-circumcision-reduces-risk-genital-herpes-hpv-infection-not-syphilis
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684945/.
I have written on female Circumcision anyway in my previous post, you can also check out my previous post on female genital mutilation. I am totally against female Circumcision because it clearly has no medical benefits rather it poses high level of risk.
Science is based on facts, and series of researches that I can't even post here have shown the benefits of male Circumcision.
Also, the appendix is a vestigial organ in the body, but most times its prone to infections and inflammation in which its cut off from the body through surgery that's the same reason why this little skin is removed to prevent some of those issues that may surface later if care is not taken.
In this case, my argument is not based on religion or any beliefs, rather it is based on pure facts and it's in no way imposing it on anyone, just as I wrote in my work it's a matter of choice but that wouldn't stop me from bringing to lime light it's benefits as a medical personnel.
Thanks for your comments.
The study and the review you referenced, rely mainly on data from African males who were circumcised as adults - under clinical study conditions by educated and well trained physicians and those subjects were taken care post surgery to treat any complications, unlike the many children and youths circumcised in real life, with occasional (but in sum many) complications. So data from these populations can´t be generalized, alone from the very different sexual behavior in Africa than in many parts of the world, where there is much less promiscuity an hence a much less risk for infections with HIV and HPV. There must have been a reason why they went to Africa, right?
But that´s the point, there is no free choice in most cases. Children are forced to this highly traumatic intervention! It is a mutilation, a crime against humanity and a violation against the right to physical integrity.
I understand the angle you are coming from, but the truth still remains that in the medical field when the benefit of a procedure outweighs the risk involved, then it's seen to be good and this agrees to the principle of consequentialism in which if the consequences of an action is good it's termed right. From my experience as a nurse, I still believe that the benefits of male Circumcision outweighs any risk and that is why it is right medically.
Even if it may be medically useful (in case one has as an adult a high risk due to his sexual preference), is it ethical to enforce it to a boy, considering the risks? I say cleary NO!
Well, having explained everything clearly to you, I can only say that you are entitled to your opinion, as everyone has diverse ways they perceive things or ideas.
I love the argument and as a doctor I don think I can win on this.
The only thing I can say is it circumcision should be done based on consent.
Who gives the consent before the age of 18 is usually the parent. So whatever the parent feel is right is what should be done
Simple question for you; Do the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risk??
Short answer: no. Because it is not only the risk of infections or bad healing after the surgery, but also the foreskin is higly innervated. Nature had some thoughts by "putting" all those nerves there. Many circumcised menalso mentioned that their sex experience is worse after the intervention and that they are desensitized due to the permanent exposure of the glans to the environment. Actually simple logics.
https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/130/3/e756/30225/Male-Circumcision
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11904-009-0025-9
What percentage of people have an infection after surgery?
It's not everything that nature puts that are useful in the body.. I hope you are aware.
The appendix is one.
An umbilical hernia is another.
There are a lot of things that you can come up with in nature that might need some form of reconstruction.
Phimosis, balanitis and the likes are not a good experience.
The fact that there is increased risk of his an increased risk of things settling within the foreskin is questionable.
Moving forward, you will probably say that I might also support female circumcision. I do not and the reason is the clitoris is separated from the vagina and so can't get easily infected.
However, the penis goes into the vagina which is a home for a lot of organisms and so makes it more scientific and more beneficial to be circumcised as a male.
As I said, I've nothing against not being circumcised.
I have seen a lot of men who are not circumcised and have not had any complications.
I sincerely love your analogies
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Thanks for sharing this second post on this topic.
I was about to say that this is an important sentence, as it is at the basis of the "debate" between those who are for or against (male children) circumcision. The key point is about the child who has no choice. The parents choose for them, usually (but not always) on the basis of religion/culture.
I have no real opinion on this, as I understand the two sides of the coin. We may say we don't leave the choice to the kids and this is bad. However, we could also say that parents try hard to do what they think is the best for their kids. In this case, the benefit over risk ratio is above 1 (at least from what I understood), so that circumcision enters the category of "the best things for their kids".
I noticed this debate already started even on chain ;)
Just as you said @Lemouth the topic has two sides to it, but the key thing medically is the outcome which is the benefits that superceeds the risk. Thank you for your input, it's well appreciated.
I definitely agree on this.
I learnt a lot from this article. My baby was circumcised last month using the plastibell method but I couldn't stay there
Hubby was the one with them. I only cried from his shouts of cry.
I can now see the process here
Am really glad my post was useful and meaningful to you. Thanks you for your time.