Re-adhesions for intact?

[Mister.Barbecue]

I talked to a mother and she told me that her son was retractable at age 2. He regularly retracted, apparently, until he got an infection a couple years later.

After he got an infection, he had a "topical" [I assume she meant antibiotic] administered. Mother said her son didn't want to touch it anymore after the infection incident.

Much later, during an examination, a doctor told her that she must make sure that her son retracts regularly to avoid re-adhesions. Doctor observed the skin was "very tight" and that doc could see that he hadn't been retracting. She said that the doctor told her if he didn't retract regularly, the boy would have to be circumcised.
I told her this sounded unusual, because re-adhesions are associated with circumcised children, not intact children.
The mother had the impression that once foreskin retracts, all boys must learn to keep retracting semi-regularly to keep it from re-attaching. Doctor advised retraction every time he used the bathroom.

Questions:
1) Can premature retraction cause re-adhesions? If so, how are they dealth with?
2) Is regulary retraction ever necessary?

[admin]

Questions:
1) Can premature retraction cause re-adhesions? If so, how are they dealth with?
2) Is regulary retraction ever necessary?

Forcible retraction can definitely injure the glans and skin and cause skin bridges to form if the skin is never manipulated after that.

[peterpink]

In the parts of the world where circumcision is rare, no one retracts a boy's foreskin except the boy himself when he is old enough. The experience you report sounds like a case of poor medical and parental practice. In the 19th century and even up to the First World War the medical profession in the English speaking countries advised foreskin retraction immediately after birth. They were so afraid that irritations under the foreskin would lead to the baby masturbating resulting in sex crimes and insanity later one. At birth the glans and the foreskin are fused together and trying to separate them causes pain and rips tissues which grow back together permanently. Forced retraction was the cause of many penile problems, particularly infections from of the raw tissues and the tissues repair by growing together forming true adhesions and skin bridges which have to be surgically tidied up. This was common in entire families due to grandmothers etc teaching forced retraction to their daughters and daughter-in-laws. Parents and nurses were instructed to keep retracting for a week or two after birth to discourage the formation of induced adhesions. Most English speaking countries dropped forced retraction by 1950. Unfortunately American doctors still advise forced retraction which almost inevitably results in later circumcision and a fee. The best advice is to clean only what you can see. In 2005 Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff studied 4000 young men and reported that the mean age of first foreskin retraction is 10.4 years. (Thorvaldsen, M.A., Meyhoff H., ‘Patologisk eller fysiologisk fimose?’, Ugeskr Læger 2005; 167(17): 1858-62) Being in Danish, this paper appears to be completely unknown to the American medical community.

[z726]

The natural separation of the foreskin from the glans is actually caused by keratinization of the epithelium of the glans, which creates a physical barrier between both tissue surfaces. They shouldn't be able to adhere to each other as long as the foreskin hasn't been forcibly retracted before this keratinization is allowed to occur.

My guess is that the doctor assumes there's no difference between the glans of an intact penis and one from which the foreskin has been forcibly retracted. During circumcision, the skin is often torn from the surface of the glans. Because when it happens the surfaces have not begun to keratinize, they can re-adhere if they come into contact with each other before healing.

The kid's mother may find this information useful:
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/info/retraction.html

The mechanism of separation has been known for quite a while. Here's a study from as far back as 1933, which describes the keratinization process. Note that it has a bit of incorrect information at the beginning about retraction being "customary":
http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/deibert/

[Mister.Barbecue]

Forcible retraction can definitely injure the glans and skin and cause skin bridges to form if the skin is never manipulated after that.

OK, but what's the treatment for that? Keep retracting, or else? Or just let it be until it separates again on its own?

[Mister.Barbecue]

The mechanism of separation has been known for quite a while. Here's a study from as far back as 1933, which describes the keratinization process. Note that it has a bit of incorrect information at the beginning about retraction being "customary":
http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/deibert/

Thanks!

[uncut_guy]

The mother had the impression that once foreskin retracts, all boys must learn to keep retracting semi-regularly to keep it from re-attaching. Doctor advised retraction every time he used the bathroom.

Questions:
1) Can premature retraction cause re-adhesions? If so, how are they dealth with?
2) Is regulary retraction ever necessary?

Tights up a little after just a few days or feels that way

But it does have a different level of sensitivity .



I think my may have been prematurely retracted . I do not have any skin bridges
but I do have way more then normal amount of keratinization and a scar on the left side were the glans meets the inner foreskin.