When should a child's circumcision be performed?

Many parents of children with foreskin that is too long will ask the doctor this question when they go to the hospital: when is the best time to have surgery for their child's foreskin that is too long. Experts say that in the case of foreskin being too long, one should not rush to have surgery, because the child is at his age and is in the developmental period, so it is normal for the foreskin to be too long. However, if this phenomenon still exists after development, circumcision surgery is required. So when should children undergo circumcision surgery?

In which cases circumcision surgery is needed:

Generally speaking, it is normal for children to have an excessively long foreskin. As they grow older, the penis gradually grows larger, the foreskin retracts backwards, and the glans penis is naturally exposed, so there is no need for circumcision. If a child has hypospadias, the foreskin should not be removed, because the foreskin is needed to repair hypospadias. However, if a little boy suffers from repeated inflammation or even urinary tract infection due to excessive foreskin, he should be given surgical circumcision as soon as possible.

Congenital phimosis (refers to the adhesion of the foreskin to the glans penis after birth, which is also a normal physiological phenomenon) usually occurs within three to four years after birth. Due to the growth and reflex erection of the penis, the foreskin is constantly pulled, which can expand the foreskin opening. There is no need for surgery too early.

For infants and young children with severe phimosis, appropriate foreskin separation and expansion can be performed to enlarge the foreskin opening, and the patient can be washed frequently to keep it clean. Surgical treatment can also be performed before puberty.

As the penis develops, some of the phimosis in male adolescents may turn into redundant or normal foreskin, but this change tends to stop at around the age of fourteen. Therefore, the best time to perform circumcision is between the ages of ten and fourteen. Of course, if patients with phimosis and prepuce hyperplasia before this age develop complications such as smegma accumulation and foreskin incarceration, they need to be treated in a timely manner.

How to care after surgery:

During circumcision surgery on children, the doctor will give appropriate anesthesia according to the patient's condition. In order to avoid vomiting caused by the patient's inability to adapt to anesthetics, the patient should fast for four to six hours before the surgery. After the surgery, when the anesthetic effect wears off, the wound will have slight pain and bruising, and the patient should take medication regularly.

Symptoms usually subside after three days, and the wound heals after seven to ten days. Before the wound heals, you should follow the doctor's instructions and return for regular follow-up examinations. In addition, the wound area should be kept clean and dry after surgery. Please be careful not to wet the gauze when urinating. If the gauze is soaked with urine, remove it first and then return to the outpatient clinic to change the dressing.

After pediatric circumcision surgery, except for children who have received general anesthesia and need to be hospitalized for a short period of time for care and safety reasons, most patients can still carry out their daily work and do not need to be hospitalized. Adolescent and adult patients may experience swelling, pain and bleeding in the wound due to penile erection after surgery. If the bleeding is minor, local cold compress and pressure can stop the bleeding. If the bleeding is severe, the patient should return to the hospital for treatment immediately.

I hope parents can arrange the right time to have their children circumcised, so that their children’s lives will not be affected when they grow up. If you decide to have your child circumcised, you must choose a reliable andrology hospital. This is not something you can choose casually. In addition, after the operation, you should follow the doctor's instructions for care so that you can recover faster.