Still a lot of foreskin (that seems to be sticking) after circumcision.

[PC9124]

Hi,

I am 33 years old and I had a circumcision performed by the NHS 4 days ago. I have a few questions as I am worried about the healing process and if it is normal and if others have shared the same experience.

Firstly, it seems that not enough foreskins has been taken off and the head of the penis is still partly hidden. I think this may be due to me being overweight, so the excess fat kind of buried/hides my penis.

Secondly, when I pull back (retract) the remaining foreskin, it hurts and stings a little and it almost feels like the skin is sticking to the head of my penis. I am worried about this becoming permanent so I am retracting it multiple times per day. Is this the correct thing to do?

I took the dressing/gauze from the penis about 2 hours after the operation and the nurse said this is fine. To be honest, I wasn't given a lot of advice about what to do after the circumcision. One nurse said I should not take baths (only showers) as it can increase the risk of infection, yet I have read multiple sources online that say it's fine to take a bath.

I am sure I am just overthinking the whole thing and it will heal normally, but having suffered from phimosis my whole life, I have never seen the head of my penis before and I am just worrying that I will need further surgery or something correcting in the future as it will not heal properly.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any help and advice! 😁

[Ridscott85]

I had mine on the NHS too and my foreskin partially covers the head (I would say about 60% is covered but my phimosis did not sound as bad as yours at all my foreskin was just tight but I could retract it before).

Me at your stage the foreskin felt incredible painful and I had the stinging sensation you describe and alsu there was a smell that made me think I had an infection. I rang my GP about this and ad a precaution put me on some antibiotics. The first 10 days is the worst but at the 2 week mark things imrpved so much that was not painful to retract so I would suggest seeing where you are at 14 days

My clean routine I had a shower in the morning just letting water on the head and at night I dipped in to a cup of saltwater for 3 minutes then dried and wrapped in a gauze with a loose bandage and then tight boxers and this helped massively with the pain of nightime erections

At three weeks tomorrow and I have no sensitivity and can pull back foreskin easy but have a ring of swollen skin between stitches and the head.. Still wear the gauze at night but can probably stop doing that now as erection do not hurt

Hope this helps

[Ridscott85 in reply to Ridscott85]

Also to add I did not retract multiple times a day I just left it as didn't want to disturb the stitches and healing process

[Norwich1 Moderator]

if in doubt, speak to your surgeon or GP.

[Trystem]

Hey. This sounds relatively normal with the sort of a "partial" circumcision you describe. It seems that one technique (which I experienced almost 3 weeks ago) is to effectively trim the end off the foreskin and then reattach it near the base of the head. Then the remaining foreskin can roll forwards over the head, providing partial coverage. Upon rolling back, the stitched area will sting, but this is much less noticeable for me after two weeks. Roll it back to gently wash in the shower once a day and soak in salt water once a day for a few minutes to help healing.

On of the benefits of this type of circumcision is that when rolled forwards the stitched area is protected, which helps keep the discomfort down during healing process.

[Sunking62 in reply to Trystem]

Wrong it will cause it to adhere, in you're case you were lucky it did not stick

[Sunking62]

Yes you're doing the right thing mine wanted to adhere I had slight bridging you keep retracting it and keep from it doing that I'm glad you noticed it you should be good by now