Stenosis of the meatus

I lately learned that stenosis of the meatus is one possible side effect of circumcision, particularly if done young. Indeed, it's listed in possible adverse effects. I would like the opinion of medical professionals.

What's the mechanism for that? Maybe it happens if the glans has never been exposed, the meatus has never been in direct contact with clothing, and friction triggers a reaction that hardens it?

I discussed that with several medical collegues and there is partial evidence that circumcision with frenectomy expecially in early age can damage frenular artery with consequences on meatal tissues getting atrofic, less elastic and definitely reducing the meatal aperture. This was confirmed also by an urology surgeon during examination of my penis. She said meatal opening was very different from patient to patient, circumcised have smaller one some with a true stenosis, others have generally an opened meatus with an elastic appearence, patient having had an history of cathetherization also have a dilated meatus. She observed mine was a bit on the dilated side asking for specific procedure I may had undergone.

Interesting topic and rationale I have noticed that a couple of the circumcised patients seem to have a smaller meatus than uncircumcised men.

I have read that mental stenosis is commonly the result of repeated inflammation from exposure to diapers and urine in infancy.

Some sources I’ve read said that circumcision of infants and children is the only known cause of meatal stenosis. I was the one in five boys who developed meatal stenosis and required inpatient pediatric urology procedures when I was 6 years old. This was one of the absolute worst experiences of my childhood, and I still have nightmares about it 40+ years later.

Consider a first grade classroom of twenty children somewhere in the United States. One half of the students will be boys (10), one half of those boys will have had their foreskin amputated (5), and one in five cut boys develop meatal stenosis (1). Ever hear of that one kid in class, usually a boy, who is “hyperactive”, “out of control”, “a little monster”, etc.? Realize that the one boy with meatal stenosis has personal health problems that he doesn’t understand and embarrasses him among his school mates. He may be a bedwetter or wet his pants. He may take too long in the bathroom because he’s having trouble peeing or it hurts. He’s hyperactive because he’s reacting to a stinging or burning sensation in his urethra or he has a continuous bladder urgency that he cannot relieve. He often has his hand on his crotch and may squeeze himself to relieve his discomfort only to be scolded or humiliated by a teacher or class mates. He doesn’t understand the problem. He’s too embarrassed to talk about it. He doesn’t understand what makes him different from the other children. Is it any wonder that he misbehaves, seeks attention, and bullies other children? Is he trying to deal with his problem the only way he knows how?

That is just one way child genital cutting and subsequent urological disorders caused by child genital cutting impacts men’s lives.

I edited the last post, the last sentence was unacceptable.

Believe it or not, it is something very common for those of us who are circumcised. It happened to me as a child, it was because I played sports and used to walk naked on the beach.

One of the functions of the foreskin is to prevent any infection from entering the meatus or from being injured by friction with clothing. Not a single doctor in the US explains it to you, If you get an infection in your foreskin, it turns red, something similar has already done its job.

Otherwise, the only way to protect your body is by closing exposed places, such as in this case the meatus.

1) My first time with this problem was on a trip to the beach, wrestling, swimming, I won't be able to tell you when it was but something entered my meatus that is normally expelled by the body when urinating. But in this case it was not enough and it began to inflame my meatus to the point that it started to burn. Luckily with a little medicine I solved it.

2) The second time was when I started playing football, the movement caused friction with my clothes, which caused a burn on my glans and, above all, my meatus, causing it to close a little. Then my dad found out and they suggested that I use cream like Vaseline or put a protection on my glans.

3) The third was because we started using a different soap and it caused irritation.

The funny thing is that I asked friends and most of them told me that they had the discomfort but never went to the doctor or some of them had to have surgery when they had problems urinating.