Doctor commenting on circumcision status

I know that in the 70s, it was difficult to get your new born son out of the hospital intact here in the US. I even know of a couple that didn't get their son circumcised and had to fight with the hospital cashier because that fee was routinely added.

My younger brother was born in the US in the late 1950s and very much against the wishes of my mother, he was circumcised as a matter of routine, or perhaps as she often remarked, as a matter of spiteful superiority with all-knowing, smugly superior doctors ignoring the express wishes of the mother. Because she had expressly stated that she did not wish to have a (possible) son circumcised. She was ignored in this, either through willful spite or perhaps even because of hospital routine. Occurrences like these can be explained either way I guess, depending upon how you perceive the situation.

Anyway, in the instances when this condition of my brother versus mine was ever brought up, I had the impression she was still resentful about the condescending attitude and willful ignoring of her wishes back then. It was something she never forgot and never forgave either.

So if this was still a bone of contention in the 1970s, imagine how it was with doctors and hospitals back in the 1950s and their attitudes towards circumcision.

When I first started with my current primary care physician and she was reviewing the sexual history on my pre-physical questionnaire, she asked me if I was circumcised because she hadn't examined me yet. I told her I was and she told me that was better for a homosexual man but I still needed to use a condom. That was the only time the issue has been raised. I'm sure it's in my chart at the urologist.

When I moved practices about four years ago, my doctor asked me because I was worried - legitimately - about a couple spots on my penis (which turned out to be fordyce spots). That's about it. Don't know why he asked if he was going to look at it later, but that's just how it went.

I have had many exams with most doctors retracting my foreskin. At age 4 my mother took me to the doctor to have my foreskin examined (circumcised?). Years later, my mother explained that the doctor stretched my foreskin with "tweezers" and then retracted my foreskin so that my glans was completely exposed. It HURT! And she said that I bled. I still don't understand the "tweezers". My foreskin slid back over my glans.

At age 12 my mother took me to the doctor to get my foreskin "SNIPPED". Again with the foreskin stretching and retracting. And OUCH! And bleeding.

At age 14? I developed gynocomastia (male breasts). My dad took me to the doctor who examined my breast and presence of my penis. He also retracted my foreskin. The doctor said that I would outgrow the gynocomastia but commented that my foreskin was somewhat lengthy and tight. Dad didn't comment.

An annual physical there after with doctor examining and retracting my foreskin.

Several employment physicals with the doctors retracting my foreskin.

I was employed at a large industrial company that had their own in-house doctor who examined me before employment. Annual physicals were, however, outsourced to other physician. After 8 years with the company I receive a call from the head nurse that the DOCTOR needs to see me. The doctor explains that I need a physical exam. He examines my penis and retracts my foreskin and then recommends that my foreskin should be circumcised. He commented that he could do the circumcision there in his office at no cost to me and would give me a week off with pay. The doctor had more encouraging words promoting the circumcision of my foreskin. I was reluctant to make any disrespectful comments to the doctor as out ranked me. I commented that I would have to think on it and pulled my pants up and got out of there.

My last exam was with a different doctor and different employment. The doctor examine my testicles and penis and then retracted my foreskin. He asked me if had ever had an infection under my foreskin and if I had ever had any problems with my foreskin. He was very professional about examining my penis and foreskin and discussing circumcision.

Note: I am from a community where the circumcision rate appears to be 99%.

Uncutforeskin, I would argue that the doctor you were taken to see at the age of 4 should not have forcibly retracted your foreskin. At such an age there is some probability that the foreskin remains attached to the glans, and it sounds as if that was so in your case.

My wife recently showed me an article containing statistics on foreskin retractability according to age (for some reason she seems to have developed an interest in the subject). The article suggests that even at age 8-10 only 42% of boys have a fully retractile foreskin. Mine was fully retractile at approximately 8 years of age, so I am in this group.

I suspect your doctor may have acted according to the figures published in 1949 by the British paediatrician Douglas Gairdner. He said that by the age of 2 years, 80% of boys should have a retractable foreskin, 90% by 3 years and 91% by 4 years. According to other information my wife has found, Gairdner's figures are now known to be way too high and should be disregarded in favour of better studies that also consider the condition of boys older than 5 years.

I do not propose to go into the statistics my wife found in any great detail, but the key conclusion from studies is that there is no specific age at which the foreskin should be full retractable. Up to 50-60% of boys aged 10 years do not have fully retractable foreskins. It seems that beyond the age of 18, there are still some cases of non-retractable foreskins that anecdotal evidence suggests resolve during the early twenties.

I was employed at a large industrial company that had their own in-house doctor who examined me before employment. Annual physicals were, however, outsourced to other physician. After 8 years with the company I receive a call from the head nurse that the DOCTOR needs to see me. The doctor explains that I need a physical exam. He examines my penis and retracts my foreskin and then recommends that my foreskin should be circumcised. He commented that he could do the circumcision there in his office at no cost to me and would give me a week off with pay. The doctor had more encouraging words promoting the circumcision of my foreskin. I was reluctant to make any disrespectful comments to the doctor as out ranked me. I commented that I would have to think on it and pulled my pants up and got out of there..

Any doctor who thinks anyone needs to be circumcised in order to be able to perform a job adequately, needs to have HIS head examined. He has either been brainwashed or is suffering from some outlandish kind of John Harvey Kellogg delusion. He must certainly have been a doctor with issues, if not outright unhealthy obsessions.

Gives me the creeps reading about it.

Any doctor who thinks anyone needs to be circumcised in order to be able to perform a job adequately, needs to have HIS head examined. He has either been brainwashed or is suffering from some outlandish kind of John Harvey Kellogg delusion. He must certainly have been a doctor with issues, if not outright unhealthy obsessions.

Gives me the creeps reading about it.

I quite agree. He sounds doctrinaire to the point of trying to bully any man who he found didn't conform to his ideas. He was acting outside his remit for those 'employment physicals', as clearly what he was trying to do had nothing to do with 'fitness for work'. Whether the circumcision rate in that community was 99% or not, it was not up to him to try to add the missing 1%.

In his place I probably would not have been as tolerant of this doctor as the poster apparently was. He would be getting told where he could stick his surgical instruments.

When you were a boy (kid/teen), did your doctor ever mention you being circumcised/uncircumcised (to you, someone else in the room, or to themselves) or write it in their notes? At what age did they? How did they do the penis exam?

As a kid I once saw the doctor because my mother was afraid that I had a slight phimosis (my cousin had just been or was soon to be circumcised for that reason). They discussed surgery, if only because my mother mentioned the cousin's problem. I do not recall the details of the examination, I think she just pulled on it.

It's possible that our doctor checked on it in later visits, but no later than puberty. Since there was already my mother checking my foreskin once in a while, I already had had my dose of embarrassment so a little more did not register.

I had a medical by the military later. The doctor checked that I had two descended testicles (and actually palpated them) but with respect to the penis I think she just had a look that it seemed "normal", without actually pulling on the skin. Maybe it was because it happen that my glans was showing already. No remark.

Never, but now I know that they're trained to note it in your chart.

BTW this has been discussed recently and extensively. You should use the search feature.

Topic Merged - Moderator

It's usually mentioned as the genital exam is being done, and then marked on my medical record (and physical form for exams when I was younger and needed to turn a form in to camp or school).

It's usually mentioned as the genital exam is being done, and then marked on my medical record (and physical form for exams when I was younger and needed to turn a form in to camp or school).

That is very interesting. Can you recall the sorts of things the doctors have said in commenting on your circumcision status?

How did they state it on your exam records? Was it written in or was there a box to check?

No, but i did have one mention my tanner stage which was embarrassing

That is very interesting. Can you recall the sorts of things the doctors have said in commenting on your circumcision status?

How did they state it on your exam records? Was it written in or was there a box to check?

The only two things ever said in reference to my having a foreskin were first, simply noting out loud that I am intact. While I was a teenager, I would be asked if I had any issues with tightness. But I haven't been asked that question since I stopped going to a pediatrician at 18.

On the physical form there was an area for genitalia. In it, were check boxes to note normal or abnormal overall findings. Below that one, a box to write in the tanner stage. Below that, there was a check box for males, circumcised or uncircumcised. Next to each box was an area for written comments.

Last week a local hospital was offering free skin cancer screenings. I opted for the full body screening. I explained to the nurse that I wanted the doctor to check my nose where I had a previous cancer lesion removed, a mole on my right arm, a mole in my groin area, and a "knot" on the back side of my scrotum which I can feel but can not see. The doctor comes in. The doctor comments that he would not have known that I had surgery on my nose if I had not pointed it out to him. He checks the moles on my arm and in my groin and comments to just keep an eye on them and have them checked annually. He snaps on a pair of latex gloves and has me get on my back on the exam table. He comments that the "knot" on my scrotum is a scrotal cyst - very common. It is benign and can easily be removed. He then comments "You're not circumcised - why not?" The doctor grasps my penis and begins to retract my foreskin. He comments to me and the nurse taking notes "you have a phimosis - your foreskin should not be this tight". " You are not going to like my recommendation but you need to get circumcised - see an urologist TOMORROW!" "It is not as painful as you may think but you definitely need to get your foreskin removed - not two days from now but tomorrow - I want you in an urologists office in the morning!" I get dressed and the nurse hands me a note: "Circumcision - Urologist, Scrotal cyst - excision". I thanked the nurse for the note.

The doctor had caught me off guard with his recommendation for circumcision of my foreskin. On my way home I am thinking "do I have cancer of my foreskin? The doctor did not comment about that - just to get my foreskin circumcised". Now I am confused. "Tomorrow" came and went and I didn't make it to the urologist's office. Next year????

On my way home I am thinking "do I have cancer of my foreskin? The doctor did not comment about that - just to get my foreskin circumcised". Now I am confused. "Tomorrow" came and went and I didn't make it to the urologist's office. Next year????

The doctor clearly has a personal issue with circumcision. Sort of like my (American) father who kept warning me of never-ending infections galore followed by an inevitable penectomy - though he didn't use that word. It was more in the lines of amputation when he was not too worked up about it or else 'cut the whole thing off' when he got going ... even when I was a young teenager I knew he was full of it, even though he kept at his apocalyptic warnings until I was married at 25.

He then comments "You're not circumcised - why not?" The doctor grasps my penis and begins to retract my foreskin. He comments to me and the nurse taking notes "you have a phimosis - your foreskin should not be this tight". " You are not going to like my recommendation but you need to get circumcised - see an urologist TOMORROW!" "It is not as painful as you may think but you definitely need to get your foreskin removed - not two days from now but tomorrow - I want you in an urologists office in the morning!" I get dressed and the nurse hands me a note: "Circumcision - Urologist, Scrotal cyst - excision". I thanked the nurse for the note.

The doctor had caught me off guard with his recommendation for circumcision of my foreskin. On my way home I am thinking "do I have cancer of my foreskin? The doctor did not comment about that - just to get my foreskin circumcised". Now I am confused. "Tomorrow" came and went and I didn't make it to the urologist's office. Next year????

@uncutforeskin He is just being a bully and he trying to force his like of circumcision on you, just ignore him.

I remember some comments from my paediatrician in my youth age, when he was uncontent about my tight foreskin and light phimosis, when he tried to persuade my mom that I should have a circumcision.

I'm not circumcised and I've had several doctors comment about it during exams. Usually it's something like, "I see you're not circumcised, I'll be retracting your foreskin so I can examine you."

However I was once examined by a woman surgeon because of an early hernia that my PCP wanted to have a surgeon look at. She was an eastern European woman, perhaps in her early thirties. She was a no nonsense, somewhat abrupt person who didn't seem to be the least bit aware of her patients embarrassment when she examined them.

She came into the exam room with her nurse and without so much as a hello she told me to stand up and lift my gown. She took a seat in front of me and without even putting on gloves she reached right over and roughly stuck her finger into my inguinal canal and told me to cough. After checking both sides she remarked hat she was not impressed with my hernia and that I should simply keep track of it for changes.

As I lowered my gown she said, "Wait! Why aren't you circumcised?" Then before I could lower my gown she took hold of my penis and abruptly pulled my foreskin back. I was shocked and rather embarrassed. She pulled my foreskin back and forth a few times and then told me that my foreskin was too tight and that I needed to be circumcised.

I told her that I wasn't having any problems, but she went though a list of all the reasons why I should be circumcised all the while continuing to examine my foreskin.

When she was finally finished she allowed me to lower my gown and asked when I'd like to schedule the operation.

I was really surprised by the entire experience. I told her I'd let her know and never got back to her. I'm not sure if she was just anti-foreskin or if she was disappointed that she wasn't going to do a hernia operation on me.

She was an eastern European woman, perhaps in her early thirties. She was a no nonsense, somewhat abrupt person who didn't seem to be the least bit aware of her patients embarrassment when she examined them.

asked when I'd like to schedule the operation.

Any idea of which country in East Europe? There are at least 10 in the EU alone that I can immediately come up with and 4 or 5 outside and all can be vastly different from each other in regards to customs and social axioms.

She sounds rather pushy ... I wonder why seeing or hearing about someone not being cut brings that out in some people? Bad manners if you ask me. Or maybe she was from a former predominantly Islamic Soviet republic? That is at least a partial excuse ... 😃

She was rather pushy. I don't really know where exactly she was from. I sort of felt she might be Ukrainian, but I have no real basis for knowing that.

The impression she gave me made me feel a little like she resented that I had a foreskin and she wanted to be the one who would cut me. That's simply my impression. As I said, it might just have been that she was looking for some income.

The impression she gave me made me feel a little like she resented that I had a foreskin and she wanted to be the one who would cut me. That's simply my impression. As I said, it might just have been that she was looking for some income.

Resentment and on the make for an extra buck ... that does indeed translate into pushy ... ha ha

The impression she gave me made me feel a little like she resented that I had a foreskin and she wanted to be the one who would cut me.

Justins, your profile includes the fact that you are a health care professional, but did not state in what capacity. Had you already become a health care professional at the time of the encounter with this Eastern European doctor, and, if so, was she aware of your professional status? It seems very pushy that she would strongly suggest circumcision to another health care professional.

I'm a Physician Assistant, a PA. I work in a practice and I'm on the faculty of a couple of medical schools where I teach physical exam skills. When I go for my own exams I generally don't mention that I'm involved in medicine. I think it changes the dynamic and I find it interesting to see how a 'layman' patient gets treated. Having taught several generations of doctors the techniques for performing a comprehensive and compassionate exam, I find it interesting to see how other medical practitioners work.

When my long time GP retired for health reasons I came under another male doctor in the practice.

At the first exam with him he gave me a complete physical.

During the genital exam he asked me at what age I was circumcised. I told him nine.

He then asked if I was circumcised for religious reasons or was it done out of the country.

I asked him why?

He said nothing was wrong but he didn't see many free hand circumcisions in someone my age. Usually they used a clamp.

This was the only time my circumcision ever came up.

I love when this occurs during my exams and more often than not it does actually happen despite my ftequent changing of physicians and nurse practitioners (whic by the way once i find the one i will certainly stop the revolving door and stick with her forever, just like how i am living my dating/romantic life).. While different ways of their initiating the conversation of me being uncircumcised and the potential necessesity of circumcision for my penis and if not then at least the option of it for me, is apprrciated there are definitely ways of her saying as much which can be very erotic...And have been.. But with that said i still prefer something new rather than somethong ive already heard before no matter the content. The best way i can relate it is even though i.have always known i always always always prefer the woman to retract or at least attempt to retract my foreskin, and for whatever reason that is exactly what has happened in all of my vastly numerous exams,.it just so happened that my second to last exam which actually was fairly recent i finally got this doctor who for whatever.reason said "oh, o.k., i see that you were never circumcised. can you pull back that foreskin for me?" and i never in a million years thought that experience would ever be as hot as it was

Never had a comment, but remember the doctor doing something with my foreskin when I was a tiny lad. I think he was doing something to loosen it up since I never had trouble retracting.

I'm a Physician Assistant, a PA. I work in a practice and I'm on the faculty of a couple of medical schools where I teach physical exam skills.

Have you had opportunities to perform genital examinations on uncircumcised men? How have you dealt with those penises and do you make a comment?

In the school medical i had age 5, after my mother informed the medics i had recently been circumcised, my underpants were swiftly removed to the medics comment "that's good, boys should be circumcised" and after a thorough examination "satisfactory"

as I am in GB where regular examinations are not done, I did not have another medical,

but a visit to my GP when I was in my 20's my doctor whom was by then semi retired was leafing through my notes, (that dates it and me)

and remarked "ahh yes we had you circumcised, we must check on that sometime" sadly that exam never happened

As an uncircumcised boy growing up in an area with an incredibly high circ rate, my foreskin seemed to be the focus of every yearly physical. Every year, my pediatrician (a woman who I don't think had ever seen an uncircumcised penis before) would pull it back and forth multiple before telling my mom to have me circumcised. Does anyone have any similar experiences?