Schools will resume summer vacation in two months, and many parents have already begun arranging summer activities for their children. It turns out that the long summer vacation is also the peak season for parents to arrange for their sons to undergo circumcision. Is it true that "all boys should be circumcised? Is it better to be circumcised as early as possible?" A pediatric surgeon pointed out to dispel the myth, "Foreskin is not circumcised by one person, and there is no reason why circumcision is better if it is circumcised sooner. One of the key indicators of circumcision is whether there is inflammation."
According to the World Health Organization, circumcision can not only reduce the chance of urethritis infection, but also help reduce the risk of AIDS infection. However, unlike some religious countries, Hong Kong does not circumcise every male baby. A global overview of male circumcision published by the WHO in 2010 showed that only about 5 to 25% of boys in Hong Kong are circumcised.
"Should my son be circumcised?"
It has become a common question among parents.
Child Chengde, a specialist in pediatric surgery, said that if a boy's foreskin is too long and too narrow, and the penis is tightly bound so that the foreskin cannot be opened and cleaned, and the foreskin is often inflamed, it may cause pain when urinating, "shower pee", or even the penis will be swollen like a wave when urinating. In severe cases, the urine column becomes smaller, then he must seek medical advice to evaluate whether he needs to be circumcised.
There is no golden age for circumcision, and it can be done from newborns to adult men. However, Dr. Zhang said that parents are now generally very nervous about their children's studies. For circumcision, they have to take a week off from school, and then at least two to three weeks before swimming and other sports can be performed. Many parents are worried that circumcision after their son enters elementary school will affect the progress of extracurricular activities such as homework, tutoring, and swimming lessons, so they tend to get circumcision earlier. Summer vacations and long holidays have become popular days for circumcision.
Dr. Zhang said that some boys as young as two or three years old were extremely afraid of circumcision surgery. After the operation, they saw that their "little brothers" looked different, and they had a strange feeling of anesthesia. They insisted on holding back their urine, even if they had an urgent need to urinate. As a result, they had to insert a urinary catheter for him to urinate, which made him very hard.
She believes that circumcision will be better if the boy is at least four years old and can listen to the doctor's explanation without being overly frightened. However, if it is found that a boy has balanitis sicca obliterans and the foreskin has become fibrotic and scarred and hardened, the earlier the circumcision is better, the better. However, such cases are uncommon, occurring only once in every 300 to 1,000 people.
Zhang Chengde also said that if a boy has entered puberty and his penis has already developed, he will have an erection early in the morning. He is more likely to have minor complications such as wound rupture or bleeding after surgery, so he must be careful. The accumulation of pubic fat in some obese children affects the judgment of penis length and should not be cut off early.
吳瑞芬醫生 
劉家輝醫生