Doctors and circumcision

Guys. Based on a discussion elsewhere, I'm curious about your experience with doctors and circumcision. This is a simple poll directed to guys who are uncircumcised or got circumcised at an age when they understood what was happening and why (not infant).

1. Are you circumcised now? At what age? For medical necessity, religion or aesthetics? What area of the world?

2. If you're not circumcised, has a doctor ever recommended circumcision? Why? Has a doctor ever commented directly to you about your intact status? About what year? About how old was the doctor?

Feel free to tell your story.

Here in Argentina, and in Latin Countries in general, circumcision is not mandatory, actually it's not a common thing. Only jewish people are circumcised and that's mostly for religion matters. I myself have Paraphimosis, meaning that my foreskin retracts pretty well when my penis is soft but when erected the retracted prepuce forms a ring around the glans which makes sexual intercourse a bit uncomfortable sometimes, specially afterwards, because the head of my junk gets reddish and kinda burns a bit. Only one of the doctors that I've seen suggested me to practice a "half circumcision" meaning to make 2 small cuts along the side of my foreskin, to stretch it and make a few stitches after that. That's a procedure I've never heard of because I only know Circumcision itself and manually foreskin stretching procedure (in various sesions with the doctor) Anyway, so far I'm trying some cream on my glans to avoid the swelling and let's say it's not that bad. What I know for sure that I don't want a Circumcision at all, so it's absolutely out of my plans! Cheers!

I was employed by a large industrial firm that had their own in-house doctor in the 1980's. I was age 31. I received a call one day from the nurse that the doctor needed to speak with me. Time for my annual physical. The doctor was probably in his 70's. I didn't particularly like the doctor but he out ranked me so I had to comply. The physical included a genital exam during which the doctor skinned my foreskin back. The good doctor commented that my foreskin was somewhat tight and needed to be circumcised. He would do the circumcision himself so that there would be no cost to me. He would even sign for a week off with sick pay. I objected. The good doctor emphasized that my foreskin needed to be removed as he out ranked me and was responsible for my health and well being. Finally I pulled my pants up and walked out of his office. The following year I refused to have my annual physical. My boss wrote me up for my refusal. My employment ended shortly there after.

The good doctor commented that my foreskin was somewhat tight and needed to be circumcised. He would do the circumcision himself so that there would be no cost to me. He would even sign for a week off with sick pay. I objected. The good doctor emphasized that my foreskin needed to be removed as he out ranked me and was responsible for my health and well being. Finally I pulled my pants up and walked out of his office. The following year I refused to have my annual physical. My boss wrote me up for my refusal. My employment ended shortly there after.

I hope you sued the hell out of both doctor and your boss ... whatever in the world does circumcision have to do with an ability to perform a job properly? What kind of job would even have a bearing on being in either condition? Maybe, just maybe being a male stripper perhaps ... and even then (this is meant as comic relief btw, not to be taken seriously).

If this wasn't rank discrimination then I surely don't know what is ...

I am in the US, and was circumcised at birth. My father was circumcised, but my grandfather was not, so I guess my brother and I were because of my father.

I was born in the 50s in the US. My family is Jewish so all the males are circumcised ritually, not medically.

When I lived in the Bible belt and I was considering having a child, I was struggling with what to do with a son (I'm not religious). Should he look like dad or his peers? Fortunately, we had a girl.

Hi Agracier, Thanks for your comments. In the final analysis circumcision had nothing to do with the situation. The "good" doctor was using this to be intimidating. When I hired in 8 years prior to this, the "good" doctor was the one that conducted my pre-employment physical. This included a genital exam and retraction of my foreskin. Nothing was said about me being not circumcised at that time. However, I suspect that he documented my non-circumcised status in his records (for possible later use?). His number one responsibility was to the company - not to the health and well being of me. I didn't like my boss, he didn't like me. Time to get rid of Wayne. Sue the "good" doctor, my boss, and/or the company, it is my word against theirs and they hold all the records.

@ uncutforeskin...Quote--"It is my word against theirs and they hold all the records"...Actually Companies in this situation can be forced to deliver ALL employee records to a court by way of Subpoena...Failure to do so on court directive results in several additional charges being laid over & above original complaint...Such as...1) Obstruction by omission..2) Failure to comply with Magistrates standing order..3) Attempt to pervert the course of justice-- Bloody serious that one !!...the relative fines (if proven guilty) heavy duty & substantial....Resulting in punitive damages awarded in addition to suitable compensation....End result being said Company's workplace practices scrutinized or subject to further investigation.....Let alone media coverage just to drive the point home...

I wholeheartedly agree with agracier's comment.

Ive been cut since birth. My doctor has not talked to me about circumcision, as he really doesnt have to..

In the final analysis circumcision had nothing to do with the situation. The "good" doctor was using this to be intimidating. .

I wonder if legally speaking, this wouldn't make possible charges against the doctor even more serious. Let's first suppose that he truly did believe circumcision to be a favorable medical procedure that contributed to your general health and well-being. Trying to force it upon someone unwilling could be construed as being overzealous by conviction of being in the right. It's not ethical perhaps, but not very condemnable in essence.

But secondly, in another supposition (which seems to be the case as you describe it) if the doctor used the issue of circumcision to intimidate you - well in my very amateur legal opinion, that's a whole different can of worms. A much more serious one, since intimidation by threatening to perform a bodily modification on an employee against their will is something employers are not allowed to do. A sympathetic judge and jury might even consider it to be a threat of physical violence. Serious stuff if you ask me ...

Compare it to an employer insisting their employees be tattooed or that female employees have their nipples pierced ...

All that said, as you say, it was word against word ... but hearing about such instances does get my blood boiling. It's just another instance of employer intimidation that goes unpunished.

I'm uncut and I think most of my colleagues are cut (many are muslim and cut for religious reasons plus we share hotel rooms /visit hotel gyms a lot when working away so I can't help noticing). We all get called in for routine check ups with the US company doctor and I seem to get called in more often than usual despite being fit and healthy. I always get a detailed exam of my foreskin and plenty of questions about any issues I have with it. I've never had any issues with tightness etc but he appears quite intriged by it..

I'm uncut and I think most of my colleagues are cut (many are muslim and cut for religious reasons plus we share hotel rooms /visit hotel gyms a lot when working away so I can't help noticing). We all get called in for routine check ups with the US company doctor and I seem to get called in more often than usual despite being fit and healthy. I always get a detailed exam of my foreskin and plenty of questions about any issues I have with it. I've never had any issues with tightness etc but he appears quite intriged by it..

How old is this doctor. If he's American and of a certain age range, a foreskin is an anomaly to him. I grew up in the age of circumcision. I'm frankly fascinated by an uncut penis. I like to explore and fantasize what this or that feels like.

We all get called in for routine check ups with the US company doctor and I seem to get called in more often than usual despite being fit and healthy. I always get a detailed exam of my foreskin and plenty of questions about any issues I have with it. I've never had any issues with tightness etc but he appears quite intriged by it..

From what I gather you're talking about an American doctor who works for the American company you're employed by in the UK? If not, then please disregard the following ...

But if so, then isn't it awfully presumptuous for a foreigner in your country to be trying to call the shots as it were? There seems to be something a bit sleazy in his interest if you ask me. Sort of like a 19th century colonist in some African colony being utterly intrigued by the local inhabitants custom of not covering their breasts.

Besides, how could a doctor not know that circumcision is not the standard in the country where he is employed? And that moreover it has no bearing on health issues? How can a doctor not know this? What bubble is he then living in?

From what I gather you're talking about an American doctor who works for the American company you're employed by in the UK? If not, then please disregard the following ...

But if so, then isn't it awfully presumptuous for a foreigner in your country to be trying to call the shots as it were? There seems to be something a bit sleazy in his interest if you ask me. Sort of like a 19th century colonist in some African colony being utterly intrigued by the local inhabitants custom of not covering their breasts.

Besides, how could a doctor not know that circumcision is not the standard in the country where he is employed? And that moreover it has no bearing on health issues? How can a doctor not know this? What bubble is he then living in?

The bubble of American arrogance.

Well, I worked for a big international American company for 5 years when I first graduated. The section where I was employed was staffed by a hodge-podge of nationalities from all over the place. Lots of Americans of course, especially the higher-ups ... ha ha... but also French, Belgians, Portuguese, Scandinavians, British etc. Nice guys now that I think back on it ...

Anyway, I also got a thorough hiring exam, but the doctor never made any mention, comment or even eye-movement about my condition. And I never had any other physical in all those years aside from the first ... so no interest shown in me in that department ... now I almost feel let down ... ha ha

There are tons of Americans who don't think we're better than you. Many doctors in this country are different. Medical Deities. They act like their shit don't stink.

I have a friend who didn't get her son circumcised despite religious (Jewish) and cultural pressure. When he was an infant, a pediatrician tried to retract his foreskin. A bad thing as the foreskin is attached to the glans for the first years of life. She had to physically stop the doctor from hurting her son.

That's how clueless many doctors are about something that's natural but very unusual in their culture. I'm not defending the doctor Matt was talking about, but I understand his clueless curiosity.

1. I am not circumcised. My parents did not see the need. My father was uncircumcised, and neither were my brothers. If a boy is taught to practice proper penile hygiene, circumcision is usually unnecessary. This actually puts me in the minority in this country and among my age group.

2. While no doctor ever recommended circumcision, I did once seek a consult to have one done for purely hygienic reasons. I was attached to the Marine Corps, and intimate hygiene in the field can be difficult. The Navy urologist that I saw refused to do it, saying "If you can clean your face in the field, you can clean your penis."

I would guess the American doctor is in his mid 50s. He's not based in the UK (or the US) but where I'm working at the moment. US employees are the majority employed by my company here but he also sees a real mixture of nationalities. I'm fairly sure nearly all will be circumcised. I think it's just curiosity on his part but it does make me feel strange that a natural part of my body seems to be of such interest to him.

I was the only one of my brothers who was circumsized; in the early 40s, it was just coming into fashion to always circumsize a newborn male. Growing up, I noticed all of my friends were circumsized, but one, and that particular pal had been born at home, no doc standing by to do a snip job.

I am not circumcised anyway during puberty my doctor stigmatized this condition every time I had a physical. He explained potential complications of a non circumcised penis, such as posthitis, balanitis, phimosis and paraphimosis to my parents. He was explicit on what he eventually have to do on my penis. This resulted in a good justification for frequent and recurrent genital examinations. Painful treatments such as retractions, stretching and dilatation of the prepuce that I had to undergo to avoid what he prospected.

I am not circumcised anyway during puberty my doctor stigmatized this condition every time I had a physical. He explained potential complications of a non circumcised penis, such as posthitis, balanitis, phimosis and paraphimosis to my parents. He was explicit on what he eventually have to do on my penis. This resulted in a good justification for frequent and recurrent genital examinations. Painful treatments such as retractions, stretching and dilatation of the prepuce that I had to undergo to avoid what he prospected.

Of course that arrogant SOB knew so much more than a million years of natural selection.

I recently played with a real Doctor and he commented on circumcision. He stressed the importance of it not for religious reasons, but for medical reasons. He particularly commented on diseases that could be passed to women, but also indicated a man himself was more likely to pick up diseases. He clearly was pro circumcision.

I recently played with a real Doctor and he commented on circumcision. He stressed the importance of it not for religious reasons, but for medical reasons. He particularly commented on diseases that could be passed to women, but also indicated a man himself was more likely to pick up diseases. He clearly was pro circumcision.

Whenever I hear about studies that support this (or almost anything else) I always want to follow the $. It's easy to 'prove' almost anything. Who are you trying to satisfy (the group or person that's paying)?

My contention remains that the foreskin is there because natural selection caused it to be. There's functionality to the foreskin that contributed to the success of the human animal. Dismissing this is just arrogant.

I recently played with a real Doctor and he commented on circumcision. He stressed the importance of it not for religious reasons, but for medical reasons. He particularly commented on diseases that could be passed to women, but also indicated a man himself was more likely to pick up diseases. He clearly was pro circumcision.

I suppose an American doctor will only really know what he is taught in medical school and what remains ingrained from his socialization as a member of his cultural identity. And since those who teach him in medical school are also products of the same process, they too are, perhaps not intentionally, but probably subconsciously, also unable to understand how some ideas become ingrained despite a lack of scientific evidence. Circumcision and Americans seems to be one of those. For many groups in the population, circumcision is not even questioned as a standard - it is a given.

And yet, simple statistics of the world male population should show how little or no difference circumcision makes to general health. Aside from Muslims, Jews and certain groups in the US, the rest of the world - the clear majority - does not practice circumcision and moreover with apparently no ill effects to general health or reproductive capacity. It's a simple statistic, easy enough for grade school students to understand - should it be applied to other instances.

But circumcision has become something of a different order. Taken in the religious sense, it comes to mean an exclusivity and inclusion into a select group. And sometimes, from the stubbornness that American doctors keep on defending the practice, you'd wonder if there too, some form of exclusive thinking or exceptionalism is not part of the reason why circumcision is almost religiously embraced. It's certainly a way to set oneself apart from the rest of the world.

YES I am circumcised! For medical reasons since the age of 10!I think a big advantage, not only during al checkup!You got no problems about hygieny - you are always "clean" and the "sensation" remains the same!I can recomend that for any men!

and the "sensation" remains the same!I can recomend that for any men!

Sensitivity of the glans will virtually always diminish after circumcision. The foreskin otherwise protects the glans from undue contact with other things like cloth and garments and rubbing against thighs and the foreskin thus naturally preserves sensitivity to rubbing and manipulation of the glans.

Not only is this somewhat obvious, but it was also an explicitly touted factor of circumcision in previous times when it was practiced as a 'cure' for masturbation. it being thought that the diminished sensitivity and hence diminished pleasure resulting from circumcision would discourage naughty boys (and men or the mentally ill) from masturbating.

Moreover, there is a very simple way of verifying this diminished sensitivity, but it can only be experienced if one is circumcised. It consists of rolling back the foreskin and keeping it in this way for a period of several days or weeks. Because of frequent contact with clothes and garments, it will at first be extremely sensitive and uncomfortable, but after several days the discomfort/sensitivity will diminish. It can be a bit of a task to try this out on oneself, but as a way of being able to experience the difference firsthand personally, it is quite worthwhile. It also gives a somewhat better right to talk about the issue.

People who were circumcised at birth can of course never tell the difference. Those who have been circumcised later in life will be able to feel the difference.

Mark well, that sensitivity as such has nothing to do with pleasure. Circumcised sex can of course be just as pleasurable as uncircumcised sex. That is not the question or issue. But sensitivity of the glans is another matter.

YES I am circumcised! For medical reasons since the age of 10!I think a big advantage, not only during al checkup!You got no problems about hygieny - you are always "clean" and the "sensation" remains the same!I can recomend that for any men!

Sorry, a 10 year old can't compare pre- and post circumcision sensation. Puberty makes many things change. Also, circumcision usually involves removal of the most sensitive structure of the penis, the frenulum (under the head). Sensation can't be the same if the nerves are gone.

Gosh I didnt expect to find these questions here but its an interesting topic.

Am I circumcised. The answer is yes I am now. I was circumcised at 34 years of age. I had a very large foreskin which could have been reduced but I elected to have a complete circ.

I was one of the few guys at school not circed. But years later at the age of 34 I decided to get done. I had a few problems and so it was not entirely without a reason.

Do I regret getting circumcised. Thats probably irrelevant. Would I advocate guys go out and get circumcised. The answer is NO. It is as I said a very personal choice. Is there a right answer as to whats better. The answer to that question is NO. Is sex better with or without. I wont answer that because I dont want to start a long debate here from the anti-circ lobby and the pro-circ groups. Just remember its a persoanl thing. If you want to be circed then see the best doctor. If you like your foreskin then good. There is no right answer. Do I have any regrets. OK after having read my post and realising how evasive I have been then I will say I .....................

At the school, some boys were circumcised, and over several terms, more were circumcised. I happened to be at a ATC camp one summer when they did the boys in my class. so I missed it. The matron said it was preferred and more hygienic. (1960's) . More recently my friend's boy was circumcised, and the doctor said he liked to remove all of the sensitive skin and the frenulum so the boy would notice the difference and not have any loose skin. His reason was that parents would complain it didn't look completely smooth. it is probably better if you are having lots of sex, or other people are seeing you. Thankfully it heals up quickly. Its all fantasy and friction anyway.

. His reason was that parents would complain it didn't look completely smooth.

Ha ha ... that's a good one. As if the boy would be running around all day at home or at school with his penis on display for everyone to see. That's a pretty lame excuse ...