Post-circumcision Care

[en123456]

On Wednesday I had an op to remove a patch of pre-cancerous cells from the head of my penis and was circumcised as the foreskin was damaged by bxo. The circumcision is really low, and my fremulum was removed too as it was badly damaged and really painful.

I wondered if there's any post-op care guidance out there - the hospital didn't say anything specifically. So far it seems fine, I haven't got any pain at all. It's just starting to bruise up, little swollen but presumably that's to be expected.

One odd thing is that when flaccid the skin still covers the glans. One reason they gave for the circumcision was to stop the skin folding over when flaccid to prevent a damp environment that fungal infections like, and to keep the glans dry. Is there something I should be doing to encourage it to stay retracted?

Also, erections - despite being nearly 50, it seems I get a lot of spontaneous erections, especially my sleep. That's current uncomfortable enough to wake me up. Don't think there's much I can do to stop them, just wanted to know if it's doing any damage?

Any pointers very much appreciated.

[Hidden]

Sorry to hear about you needing an operation you’d otherwise likely not choose, however I’m sure it’ll work out for you.

You should keep your penis pointing upwards as much as possible to help drain any fluid build up and minimise swelling.

Personally I’d keep the remaining skin retracted at least until healed then decide whether to keep it there or roll it forward, acorn vs. mushroom. Your doctor has a good point though, keeping it dry helps prevent fungal outbreaks.

Without going to the extreme of adopting a foetal position if you at least bring your knees upwards whilst laying on your side in bed, that should provide some ‘slack’ should you have a nocturnal erection. You should be OK and avoid damage. Some say taking Sudafed helps prevent erections but this is anecdotal and I’ve no idea of its efficacy.

[en123456 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, it will be good to get the all clear from the biopsy, but otherwise feels positive.

This is probably a dumb question, but on keeping the skin retracted: I'd imagined that the op would just remove skin so that flaccid the skin would just come up to just under the head and that was it. But it does seems like there's too much skin left for that. So your're saying I need to keep pulling that back below the head? How do I keep it like that? It just goes back into place? And I don't get acorn vs mushroom.

Pre-circumcision the foreskin was really long so never had an option of keeping it retracted, so it's a whole new world if there's now a choice?!

[Hidden in reply to en123456]

I’d have thought the same with regard to expected outcome, I assume you’re a grower in common with majority. Maybe swelling is keeping you covered for the moment?

Acorn is where there’s a cuff covering the rim of the glans and mushroom is where the glans is exposed fully.

[en123456 in reply to Hidden]

Yes, grows a lot, only maybe 3-4 inches flaccid. The swelling does seem to be starting to go down compared to even yesterday, so hopefully it will drop neatly into place.

I get the acorn/mushroom now thanks for explaining. so yes mushroom to dry things out.

So how would I keep it retracted?

thanks

[MrMac99]

Hi Man. You could still have some swelling this is causing the skin to roll up hopefully it will subside, you would need to have your glans exposed after having BXO to keep it dry. as we get older we can also have some pubic fat building up which can be a problem sometimes. If you keep your knees forward in a fetal position when you're asleep this should help with your night-time erections.

[en123456 in reply to MrMac99]

Ok thanks. Pubic fat build up? what does that mean?

[MrMac99 in reply to en123456]

As we get older in some men fat can build up in the pubic area this is generally between your genitals and your waistline. In your case though it is quite common to have swelling on the shaft of the penis after a circumcision this can cause it to roll over the glans.

[en123456 in reply to MrMac99]

ah, no in that case I don't think I've got public fat. hopefully just swelling

[anon10000]

Did they have to shave skin off your glans? i had circumcision for exact same reason except they butchered my penis cutting chunks off the glans and I was left with bad scarring, only advice I can give you is salt water washes after 1week seemed to help me, the erections cant be helped but got much less painful after around 11 days.

[en123456 in reply to anon10000]

Yeah, the pre-cancerous cells they shaved a layer at at time till they got to normal cells. So the glans is pretty hacked about, but the guy next to me was having his glans removed completely, so counting myself lucky. Bit of scaring vs cancer is a no brainer for me. I know it's going to look weird but so what, just makes it unique. Hope your's worked out ok + will try salt baths next week.

[Elsewheree]

Hey dude, just make sure the wound is clean and well-dried after washing. As for the erections they are painful but they introduce fresh blood to the area which is actually good for the healing. Even with sedatives I still had them during the night, I’d recommend doing what you can to reduce the swelling (ibuprofen and a well insulated ice pack). The painful erections should only be painful for the first week or so before they get a lot better.

Best of luck

[TheBoys]

Difficult to stop night time erections..i read once how many we have and was surprised....in fact these days it feels am erect for hours.

Try these one...

If you have a sofa/couch/settee. Lay on the floor with your legs up on the chair...

Try it.

Get some sudafed nasal spray - the ephedrine causes dilation in blooy vessel (provided you can take it)

Get some instant ice packs

Wear very loose clothing

[pentire2]

Ice packs or a packet of frozen peas wrapped in a clean t shirt is very soothing and I found sorted any unwanted hard-on in the healing phase.

It's not easy to judge the final tightness until it's all healed up. I'd hope in your case the surgeon has understood the medical need for quite a tight circ to cure the BXO. Best of luck for recovery. Salt baths are good during this time with quality sea salt acting as bath crystals.