You should avoid getting the area wet for the first 3 days, you can then take a shower bath but do not bath for 3 weeks.
It's important to keep the tip of your penis clean. The area should be kept dry for 48 hours after the operation. After this, take warm baths or showers once or twice a day. Don't use bubble bath or scented soaps, as these may irritate your healing wound.
Given this, it's normal to wonder if baby's circumcision wound also needs to stay dry. Luckily, it's okay for the wound to get wet—and it will when baby urinates.
The tenderness should be much less by day 3. The scab at the incision line comes off in 7 to 10 days.
The Stitches
Although soluble (Vicryl Rapide) stitches have been used and will fall out between 3-4 weeks, they can be removed after 2 weeks. You should avoid getting the area wet for the first 3 days, you can then take a shower bath but do not bath for 3 weeks.
You can shower the day after the operation, and showering daily is recommended to keep the wound clean. Apply the antibiotic ointment to the wound lightly twice a day. Continue to use this each day until the tube runs out (usually 5-7 days). You may return back to your normal activities when it is comfortable to do so.
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.
To reduce the effect of night erections pulling on the stitches during the first few days, empty your bladder before retiring and a few times during the night. Do not lie on your back, but on your side. It may be helpful to draw your knees up a bit into a more foetal position.
It's best to avoid full-body bathing until the second day after surgery, but sponge bathing is fine. After the second day, you can bathe your baby or toddler as normal; with newborns, you should wait until the umbilical cord has fallen off, at about two weeks. Avoid very warm water.
Bathing/Bandage Removal:
Showering is permitted after 48hrs. Remove the bandage 48hrs after your procedure during the first shower. Stand in a warm shower for several minutes allowing the bandage to moisten. This will allow you to unravel the bandage easily.
The smegma appears as accumulations of opaque-white or yellow substance composed of dead cells and skin oils, which is malodorous [1]. It constitutes the emission of the sebaceous gland that accumulates between the foreskin and the glans [2].
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 can add a few tablespoons of salt to the bath water to help with the healing process. Use the Fucidin cream that was prescribed 3 times a day and in between nappy changes, apply some Vaseline or Olive oil. Please do not interfere with the wound, other than to make sure it is kept clean.
A full bladder always stimulates erections, so don't drink any fluid after 6pm and use the toilet before going to bed. It would also be a good idea to wear fairly tight underpants to reduce any friction against the sheets on your bed and to inhibit an erection should it begin.
Clean the circumcision site with warm water and a cotton ball once or twice a day. Apply Vaseline for several days. This helps keep the area clean and keeps the wound site from adhering to the diaper.
Circumcised boys, especially those with excess skin remnants, may have a marked smegma secretion and attention should be paid to clean it as in uncircumcised boys (Fig. 10.19).
Children can return to normal activities and no special restrictions are needed (although swimming should be avoided for the first 3 weeks to avoid an infection). The wound will be uncomfortable for approximately 7 to 10 days.
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. Foreskin-owners or not, most people may not know that the cells have been used since the 1970s to heal stubborn wounds.
Foreskins removed during hospital circumcisions are sometimes sold to biotech labs, since young skin is ideal for researching skin for burn vitamins, insulin manufacture, and also making skin creams for ladies. One infant foreskin can be grown into literally thousands of square feet of new tissue.
That said, “studies show that there is no significant change in sensation in adult men who undergo circumcision,” says Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger, director of urology at New York Urology Specialists.
There may be oozing from the wound site for a few days. If the ooze from the wound changes to a yellow/green colour with or without an offensive smell, and/or the wound site becomes very red and sore and this does not resolve within a few days, your may have a wound infection.
Bathing. It's best to avoid full-body bathing until the second day after surgery, but sponge baths are fine. After the second day, you can shower or bathe as normal, but don't scrub the incision site — just let the soapy warm water run over the incision and pat it dry.