Parents face so many difficult decisions when it comes to having a child: decisions about nursing, sleep patterns, discipline, teaching methods and, in the case of boys, whether or not to circumcise. In addition to being the most common surgery for males in the U.S., circumcision has been practiced in various cultures for centuries. Yet when it comes to the health and best interest of your newborn, is circumcision the way to go?
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Dr. Schoen calls himself: "America's #1 Expert on Circumcision" on the title of his book. As such, and because of his "expert" status in writing this forum, he should clarify himself at least on his 0.2%-0.4% complication rate compared to just the 4% complication rate in hospitals discussed in the text by Schwartz and Cheny, "Pediatric Primary Care." I bought my copy at the UC San Francisco Medical School's bookstore. It must be on a bookshelf in his department because he is a professor there. At least Jake and Dr. Morris have the testicular fortitude to defended themselves and attempt to clarify.
It has been rumored that Dr. Schoen found Newton's lost equation.
- DevilDocRetired
August 17, 2008 4:51AM
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Local Foreskin Problems
- From Edgar J Schoen MD
By Edgar J. Schoen, MD - Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
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Needed circs?
The numbers here vary upon location and study. I have seen anywhere from 2-10%. And in the case of phimosis many cases can be resolved with stretching, no circ required. Part of the variance in the studies comes from if there is accurate care information given to the parents or child. Many parents think they must pull back their infant's foreskin to clean the area when this actually causes more damage then good, the skin separates naturally later. People can also be overzealous with the use of antibacterial soap, which if used to much on the genitals (of male or female) can actually cause problems as well.
People keep having problems because they keep using the same cleaning methods, perhaps even using them more frequently to try and get rid of the problem they are causing... and/or making worse, and then see circumcision as the only answer... after which they stop using the bad habits they were using because they think the circed penis is care free.
- jserral
August 7, 2008 4:02PM
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Dr. Scoen is the local foreskin problem
Dr. Schoen's logic goes like this: A body part will never cease to function normally or get infected if we just cut it off!
I suppose we should all be grateful to good doctor doesn't want to apply this logic to females, or to males with the exception of the foreskin.
Now, notice carefully his wording about how many intact males "will be circumcised later in life." Not "will need to be." Funny then, isn't it, that only one in 16,000 (less than one tenth of one tenth of once percent) of men ever need a circumcision later in life, in Finland. http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/virtual_journal/v1n2.html
What's so special about Finland? Nothing, except that doctors there don't demonize the foreskin, forcefully retract it causing damage, take any opportunity to cut it off, fail to employ conservative treatments, and spread misinformation to parents.
- GenitalIntegrityPolicy August 7, 2008 9:26PM
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Side: No
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Infections, Phimosis, etc.
It is a simple fact of biology that the infections males contract are the exact same infections females contract (at a 4X higher rate) and they are easily treatable with the same medications with an equal prognosis for successful treatment. Circumcision of either males or females to avoid these infections are an extreme intervention given the risk of death inherent in the procedure.
Phimosis: The incidence of phimosis is at most 1%. Of these cases, only 1% does not respond to non-invasive treatment at most. Evidence of this is exhibited by the lifetime circumcision rate among Swedish males of 1 in 18,000. For every non-surgically, non-treatable case of phimosis, 2.5 infants will die of their circumcisions.
It can not be concluded that circumcision will have an effect on psoriasis or eczema. There is simply no evidence of this.
- Frank OHara
August 8, 2008 5:22AM
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This is totally inaccurate
Schoen inaccurately claims that 7-10 percent of boys will need circumcision. This is a mis-statement. When the normal development of the prepuce is properly understood, inaccurate and incorrect diagnoses of "phimosis" end. When the prepuce is allowed to develop naturally, it spontaneously becomes retractable during puberty without surgical intervention.
- George
August 9, 2008 4:37PM
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Time to Update?
Dr. Schoen apparently attended medical school in the 1950s. It is completely normal, therefore, for Dr. Schoen to be well versed in 1950s medicine, when it was believed that lack of circumcision somehow caused penile cancer and that the foreskin should be cut off as quickly as possible to avoid penile cancer and everything else one could imagine.
Medical Science has moved on in a half-century and now there are many conservative treatments that take care of minor problems. We invite Dr. Schoen to see a recent discussion at:
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/DOC/statement07.html
- George
August 14, 2008 6:18AM
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by consent!
so let that percentage have it done at their own request later in life.. leave everyone else alone please.
- ukmarcus
August 15, 2008 9:32AM
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Get Real & Honest With The Facts
I want to echo what has been said in this string. A lot of "foreskin problems" are caused by ignorant doctors and well-meaning, but uninformed parents and caregivers who retract the foreskin early to clean the glans. The tearing of the natural adhesions and the prepuce itself are caused by this and can lead to infection. In European countries only a couple of percent have to be circumcised later in life. American doctors need to treat these rare conditions with today's recommendations, such as a steroid cream and gentle stretching of th foreskin opening. Like dozens of other maladies throughout the body, there are almost always safe, sinple and effective solutions to penis related problems. Please widen your view and take a few pages out of the successful medical treatments and precautions of most of the other industrialized countries of the world.
- msreason September 8, 2008 1:20PM
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only a couple of percent
Actually it's a lot lower than that. Some one has already commented that in Finland only about 1 in 16,000 males have to be circumcised later in life. In Europe only 1 in 1000's of males have to be circumcised later in life. In the U.S. estimates range from 1% all the way up to 10% of males 'having' to be circumcised later in life. In the U.S. when a male 'has' to be circumcised usually there is nothing wrong or if there is something wrong it could be fixed without circumcision. Most U.S. doctors don't know what they're doing when it comes to taking care of foreskins because U.S. medical schools don't teach how to take care of foreskins which is criminal in my opinion.
- Allen706
September 9, 2008 11:14AM
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