After surgery, your child's penis may be painful, swollen, and bruised. In an older baby or child, there may be some blood coming from the wound edge. The penis may have petroleum jelly and gauze on it from surgery. If gauze is used, follow your doctor's directions about when to remove it.
Circumcision for any age is generally a minor, well-tolerated procedure. However, we recommend using a circumcision service that routinely provides adequate local anaesthetic to make the procedure as pain-free as possible.
This pain often gets better in 3 or 4 days. But it may last for up to 2 weeks. Even though your baby's penis will likely start to feel better after 3 or 4 days, it may look worse. The penis often starts to look like it's getting better after about 7 to 10 days.
One known downside of circumcision is pain. In the past, it wasn't common to give pain relief to infants for a circumcision. But now pain medicine is recommended to help keep them comfortable. This can be a cream put on the penis beforehand, or medicine injected into the area to numb it for the circumcision.
These findings suggest that it is better to perform circumcision when boys are < 1 year old, when the anesthesia complications are also at a minimum. A longer hospitalization is associated with an increased risk of infection as well as increased costs (24).
Typically, circumcisions happen a day or two after birth, in the hospital. It's best to do it as soon as possible. Delaying the procedure can make it riskier. In the Jewish faith, circumcision (also called a bris) gets performed when a baby is 8 days old.
After your baby has a circumcision, you will need to keep the area clean. Gently clean with warm water — do not use diaper wipes. Soapy water can be used if needed. If there is a dressing on the surgery site, put a new one on (with petroleum jelly) every time you change a diaper for the first day or two.
The penis will be sore and inflamed for a few days after the operation. Ointment may be prescribed to use for a few days to help the area heal. Your child will also need regular pain relief for at least 3 days. They can take paracetamol or ibuprofen following the instructions on the packet.
Healing may take up to 3 weeks. In most cases, the child will be released from the hospital on the day of the surgery. At home, children should avoid vigorous exercise while the wound heals. If bleeding occurs during the first 24 hours after surgery, use a clean cloth to apply pressure to the wound for 10 minutes.
The procedure generally takes about 10 minutes. Circumcision is similar for older boys and adults. However, the procedure might need to be done under general anesthesia, recovery might take longer and the risk of complications might be greater when done later in life.
After surgery, your child's penis may be painful, swollen, and bruised. In an older baby or child, there may be some blood coming from the wound edge. The penis may have petroleum jelly and gauze on it from surgery. If gauze is used, follow your doctor's directions about when to remove it.
Urine will not hurt the circumcision and should not cause pain since surgery was not performed on the area where the urine comes out. Urine is sterile and does not cause infections. It is not unusual to see a small amount of bleeding from the incision for the first day or two.
You should remain relatively inactive the first 72 hours following surgery. We do encourage walking around for a few minutes every two hours to maintain good circulation, but otherwise, no activity.
If the urethral opening or the foreskin area has redness, swelling, signs of infection or there are signs of narrowing over the urethral opening such as slow urine flow, hesitation in urine flow, ballooning of foreskin during passing urine, you need to bring your son to visit a doctor.
It Is Your Decision
The American Academy of Pediatrics considers circumcision a choice for parents to make. Some parents choose circumcision for religious or cultural reasons. It is important to consider the pros and cons, how the surgery is performed and the potential complications.
The introduction of a newly modified circumcision method has made it possible to improve the results of the procedure. This method is called the 8-figure non-absorbable suture (8FNS) technique.
Wear underwear that is comfortable for you. You may prefer a snug fit for support. Or you might like loose-fitting briefs. The underwear should hold the penis upright.
Circumcision ranks among the world's most common surgeries (and one of the oldest). After its removal, most foreskin is tossed as biological waste — but when they're kept around, the leftover cells have proven a vital asset to medical research.
Circumcision can be done at any age. Traditionally, the most common time to do it is soon after your baby is born, or within the first month of life. Because the process is painful, a local anesthetic is used to numb the area and the surgery is performed while the baby is still awake.
Wash the area daily with warm water and pat it dry. Don't use hydrogen peroxide or alcohol, which can slow healing. You may cover the area with a thin layer of petroleum jelly, such as Vaseline, and gauze bandage if it weeps or rubs against clothing. Change the bandage every day.
By not circumcising, you'll give your son a gentle beginning, help get breastfeeding off to a good start, protect him from unnecessary pain and surgical risk, and reduce your own stress in the postpartum period.
At birth, the foreskin is attached to the head of the penis (glans). It is attached by a layer of cells. Over time, the foreskin will separate from the head of the penis. This is a natural process and occurs over 5 to 10 years.
The possible medical benefits of circumcision include: A lower risk of HIV. A slightly lower risk of other sexually transmitted diseases. A slightly lower risk of urinary tract infections and penile cancer.
Call your pediatrician right away if: Your baby does not urinate normally within 6 to 8 hours after the circumcision. There is persistent bleeding. There is redness around the tip of the penis that gets worse after 3 to 5 days.