Bandage and bleeding after circumcision?

[lukepark97]

Hi, I'm a 23 yo male from Singapore who just did my circumcision surgery on 31st Aug (4 days ago). As I stupidly went to take out my bandage on the first day because I wanted to keep the area clean, i started bleeding quite alot and so I had to go back to the A&E to have it cleaned up and re-bandaged on the 2nd day.

However, now that I'm on my 4th day, I was wondering when would be a good time to remove my bandage? I'm really scared that once I remove it the bleeding would start again? (since it happened the previous time i removed it, this is like ptsd) and what should i do if it really starts bleeding again?

fyi the bandage currently is stained with a bit of blood so idk if i should remove them to prevent infection?

Thanks for all the help!

[S2BC]

I hope they put some non-adhesive material between the incision line and bandage. Do you have stitches there? Or glue? If you are not on oral antibiotics, I think it's time to remove old bandage, before you'll get infection.

You can wet it with a homemade saline (boiled tap water and 0,9% table salt.) Shower is easier way to moist the bandage and wait before it loosen. Next time you can spread petroleum jelly to bandage or direct to incision line or use strips of paraffin gauze between wound and bandage. They both help unwrap the dressing, cause bandage won't stuck in scab and dried wound discharge.

[lukepark97 in reply to S2BC]

I am on oral antibiotics! A variety of medicine meant to stop swelling and painkillers etc.

I could see my stitches clearly when I removed my bandage on the first night (bad decision).

So are you saying that I should be removing this bandage asap? I'm afraid that it will start bleeding again though!

[S2BC in reply to lukepark97]

Yes, I think so, but not in a hurry. If you are already traumatized maybe you can ask help for local health care provider. We Finns are self-autonomous in every way. Culture is different.

[lukepark97 in reply to S2BC]

Hahaha nice, I heard the Finnish healthcare system is super great too! I can't bear to touch the area again, sigh

[MtBlanco]

Did the doctor ask you to come for pressure bandage removal? Better ask your doctor.

I got circ last month, the doctor asked me to come on third day for checking and pressure bandage removal. The pressure bandage was removed, and I was told to wrap the penis using non pressure bandage. On 7th day I was advised to remove the bandage entirely.

My pressure bandage also got blood stain. It didnt cause any hygiene issue, bcs I kept it dry.

[lukepark97 in reply to MtBlanco]

Nope the doctor was quite bad in giving post-care instructions. He literally just came in to check if I was bleeding immediately post-op and left afterwards. When I went to the A&E 2 days ago to bandage again (and cos I was panicking I didn't know what was normal and what was not), the doctor on duty said the surgery was done well and bandaged it up again.

Yeah, my bandage is also dry but its stained with blood! I think it has stop because I compared the state of the bandage today and yesterday and there wasn't much difference!

My doctor didn't schedule any follow-up appointments. Is that normal?

[MtBlanco in reply to lukepark97]

I guess post op care differs by clinic/ hospital and country. I'm from Indonesia, and the doc make sure I come back for check ups.

Why don't you give the AE a call and ask about it?

I've also read some posts in this forum regarding self bandage removal. S2BC's reply might help your case

[lukepark97 in reply to MtBlanco]

I think I will call the hotline tomorrow! Regarding post-op care and appointments. Thank you so much!

May I ask how long did you take to heal? What was your healing process like?

[MtBlanco in reply to lukepark97]

Anytime, mate.

Mines using gun stapler method, and the recovery is similar to this healthunlocked.com/mensheal...

I took painkiller and antibiotics for 1 week. Once the pressure bandage was removed, I apply saline water compress on the scarline 3-4x a day, each 5 mins. Followed by povidone iodine compress 2x a day, each 5 mins. Let it dry, apply petro jelly, then wrap using fresh bandage.

I'm on week 3 and staples are falling off. The glan also became less sensitive once the swelling subsided.

Good luck. Don't feel bad to keep bugging the AE

[lukepark97 in reply to MtBlanco]

Hahaha thanks for the tips! I guess the thing for me is that, we are charged everytime we go to the A&E, so it will be hella expensive if I keep going back there for bandaging and redressing purposes. I guess I will call the department tomorrow and ask them about when I should remove the bandage and if so, how I should do it. And what should I do after that!

[Velcro93]

So definitely remove it gently after wetting it . S2BC is spot on . You have to remove it to prevent further infection . It's really sad that your doctor didn't give you any post op orders. I can understand your hesistance with removing the dressing . Do try after having sterile hands and plenty of clean gauze to wet the bandaging and remove it slowly with steady traction . If at any time you get bleeding , use a clean gauze to staunch the bleed for 10mins minimum before checking on it . It should subside. If you are hesitant about doing it by yourself , go to any hospitals ER and they can remove it for you there and then like K.K. or Mount Elizabeth hospital.

Bleeding is very common but in small amounts will be present up till 3 weeks or so . Since you had a bad experience , I would suggest you to get it removed with help by nurses etc. Also , Since you have bled quite Abit , you may still bleed for a few more days so don't worry about it. If you are unable to get good post op care from your doctor , you should consult another. Ideally the doctor should schedule 2 to 3 times of post op visits to ascertain healing , apposition and completion. Also , you might need to wear bandaging for a few more days in my opinion and change the dressing every 2-3 days.

All the best !

[lukepark97 in reply to Velcro93]

Hi! Are you from Singapore as well, since you mentioned KK and Mount E hospital? Yeah, I actually went to the A&E just 2 days ago to stop the bleeding and to bandage it up once again. The doctor on duty thoroughly cleaned it for me, and added some disinfectant solution as well. It was hella painful (felt like he was manually pulling out the stitches ouch).

He mentioned that the bandages would usually fall out by itself, but if it doesnt it should just stay there? I'm not sure what he was talking about, at that point I was quite numb from all the pain lol.

As I am now on my 3rd day of using this bandage, do you think I should continue on with this bandage? Or change it asap. My worry about bleeding starting again remains.

[Velcro93]

Have stayed there long enough to call it my second home 😊. So basically what happens is that every 2/3 days, bandages generally have to be replaced so that it doesn't become a nidus for bacteria and cause infection. I would suggest you go to the A/E and get redressing done with bandage at least for one more time for 3 days . Again , this should have been told to you by your doc. I would actually go out of my way and tell you to meet another Surgeon/Urologist and get it assessed which is the best so that you can follow up with him later. Most times it does not need bandaging or dressing for long. My dressing/bandaging was removed on Post Op Day 3 and I had no problems besides the occasional little amounts/drops of blood .If you are confident enough , you can remove it on your own and see like I told you above or else best to meet a doc or alternative get redressing done another time . All the best !

[lukepark97 in reply to Velcro93]

Ahhh, for me I removed on the first night, so I think that aggravated the wound and caused it to bleed excessively. The doctor at the A&E then proceeded to clean everything up, applied some disinfectant directly on the wound (I was squirming on the bed lol), and bandage everything up! But now there are blood stains again after bandaging it 2 nights ago so I'm not entirely sure if the bleeding stopped? Or if the bleeding occurred only at that time and now it's dried blood...

[Velcro93 in reply to lukepark97]

In my opinion best course of action would be to get it redressed at a A/E or even better meet with a urologist/surgeon . Btw povidine-iodine also stains reddish brown so it may just be that and not blood. Don't worry and do get a good doctor and get to follow ups. All the best !

[lukepark97 in reply to Velcro93]

Oh what are those iodine stains you mentioned? Why would they be there on the bandage?

[Velcro93 in reply to lukepark97]

Betadine or povidine-iodine is used to clean wounds and most commonly applied post op to keep the area antiseptic and clean. The stains may just be reddish brown like blood stains.

[lukepark97 in reply to Velcro93]

Ah that is most possible! My doctor went to apply some disinfectant solution to my wound during the A&E session. But it didnt apply until the next day?

[Velcro93 in reply to lukepark97]

It does stain after a while so it could be just that too . Becomes like reddish brown and then like orangish red .

[lukepark97 in reply to Velcro93]

Alright that just reassured me! Thank you so much!

[Hidden]

You can try contacting your surgeon or the surgeon’s secretary and seek advice there. Most surgery is followed by post-op checks.

[lukepark97 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah, I found it rather weird that the next follow up was one month later. The doctor at the A&E also seem quite surprised that there wasn't any immediate follow-up in the next few days of the op. Will call and check with them regarding that tomorrow!