Oh that is too bad. Poor little guy. Yeah, my kid is going through the same problem. The cortisone cream has improved the condition slightly, but it still hurts him. We’re going to get a second opinion before doing the surgery.
Human skin does have a great potential for stretching, e.g, lips, ears, necks, etc. so I wonder if there would be a way of inserting a very thin flat ring of plastic between the foreskin and glans, then each day or two replacing it with a slightly thicker one, each time streching the prepuce just a tiny bit until it and the opening would be large enough to be able to slide back. On the other hand, that seems like a lot more trouble for the doctor than just lopping off the foreskin.
funny, the first thing I thought of was that, what, 1980 National Geographic with the neck-ring ladies? remember that one? They added a ring every once in a while and their necks got long as hell?
Oh right, in Burma was it? It was interesting, rather than making the neck higher (which it appeared) it pushed down on their shoulders to make them lower, extending the neck downward. If I recall correctly, removing the rings would be very dangerous as their neck muscles atrophy and they could no longer hold their head up. The practice has mostly stopped, being seen as cruel, but a few villagers still do it to their young daughters because it draws tourists and is a good source of income. There are still signs for tourists that say “long neck village, this way.” People come to have their photos taken with the long necked girls and buy souvenirs.
yes, you know you are a child of the 70s and 80s if you recall that story and the NG cover of the Afghan woman with the stunning eyes. Note: she didn’t age very well.
Btw, the son in question, in my case, is the one that lives in LA with his mother and while I have a “say” on his pending circumcision, I have to rely on his doctor out there (who sounds on the money with everything else) and my ex (who often DOES attribute false sicknesses on my son, etc).
Oddly, the doctor (pediatrician) that my son sees, advised me on the phone that he is 44 and just had the circumcision himself.
Overall, it’s mutilation, unless medically necessary. My son’s mother did two rounds of the steroid cream with no results. I feel bad but I am not sure what else to do.
I agree about the neck problem, but I was more considering tribes who but weights on their earlobes and inserted plates in their lips, causing them to stretch greatly. Apropos of this, I recall a general forum I was on about twelve years ago where some guy posted a thoroughly revolting picture of an Indian male who had been tying stones to his penis for years so that it was about a foot and a half long.
Since there are no bones or muscle in the area, the neck problem wouldn’t apply.
Isn’t circumcision a normal practice, even for the non-religious? I think it is in America. I wouldn’t worry overmuch about it ... might as well please the in-laws, and it will be easier for the kid to keep himself clean, and to be socially accepted.
Well, there are such things as public restrooms and gym changing rooms ... the kid’s genitals will be seen by someone other than his parents at some point in his life.
Isn’t circumcision a normal practice, even for the non-religious? I think it is in America. I wouldn’t worry overmuch about it ... might as well please the in-laws, and it will be easier for the kid to keep himself clean, and to be socially accepted.
What is it? A hundred and fifty thousand years as a species or x million years of evolution as hominids, and suddenly it’s “a normal practice” to mutilate? The problem is with those who normalize like this, however “normal” they now pronounce themselves to be, and not with those who do not regard the odd practices of Abrahamic bronze age nomads, or, for that matter the subincision practises of some Aussie Aboriginals (and a few other peoples around the world) (now there’s mutilation for you!), as norms justifiably worthy of following.
OK, Aboriginal mutilation might serve as a marker of tribal identity and/or an attempt at family planning. As for those shepherding desert tribes, the tribal identity thing might be of importance; the problem of sand lodging under the foreskin might be considered a pretext.
Just because something is done one way for millions of years doesn’t mean it’s the best way. Modern medicine is very recent. So are our modern methods of hygiene. From what I understand, circumcision is a hygiene issue, not just a religious one. It is NOT mutilation, the way I see it. Multilation means you’ve handicapped the person in some way. Circumcised men feel just as much sexual pleasure, and can still pee standing up. The painful part is performed in infancy, just like immunization shots. It isn’t remembered.
Just because something is done one way for millions of years doesn’t mean it’s the best way. Modern medicine is very recent. So are our modern methods of hygiene. From what I understand, circumcision is a hygiene issue, not just a religious one. It is NOT mutilation, the way I see it. Multilation means you’ve handicapped the person in some way. Circumcised men feel just as much sexual pleasure, and can still pee standing up. The painful part is performed in infancy, just like immunization shots. It isn’t remembered.
it is my understanding is that circumcized men do NOT feel as much sensation. they chop off quite a bit, relative to the actual shaft size. as to the issue of not remembering it, since when is that the criteria for doing something that is of dubious necessity already?
even if there are medical benefits to doing it: a) there could be similar benefits to performing mastectomies on 15 year old girls, to avoid future breast cancer.. but we don’t do that, and, b) a man, like a woman, has the ultimate right to decide what will be done to his body. under what premise do we remove that right from someone, over an issue (part of their body) that will remain an “issue” long after they are a child ?
They added a ring every once in a while and their necks got long as hell?
Are we now turning into bonobos who have sex to socialize?
