‘Circumcision’ is an operation that has been performed by doctors for many centuries. Certain religions have always thought it best to circumcise boys, but there are also medical reasons for it.
Sometimes, the ‘foreskin’ – or bit of skin at the end of the penis – doesn’t work properly. You should be able to pull it backwards. If you can’t, it can be hard to clean, and may even get infected. So ‘circumcision’ removes the skin to keep you healthy.
There is another operation, called ‘prepuceplasty’, which tries to make the ‘foreskin’ work better rather than remove it. Your doctor can decide which is best, and for both operations you’ll only need to be in hospital for a day.
You will have a ‘ general anaesthetic’ during the operation, so won’t feel a thing. When you wake up, you’ll have some small stitches – but these will disappear after a couple of weeks. In that time, it might be easier to wear baggier trousers, avoid exercise like PE and bike riding, and take a few pain-killing tablets.
Both these operations are very common, and it’s really rare for anything bad to happen afterwards: a few people get an infection or a bit of bleeding, but this is easily fixed by your doctor.
