Hi all - I know, I know, this guy again. To be honest, writing these posts like a diary is becoming a therapeutic crutch as I recover, and hopefully it helps some others out there hearing from someone still in the early days of healing.
I'll start with a declarative statement - I think I'm healing slower than others on this forum, maybe faster than some, but what I keep telling myself is that I'm healing at my pace and that's all that matters. I can't speed it up, I just have to take each day as it comes and enjoy the improvements when they become apparent.
I hit rock bottom this week - had a day where the whole thing, the operation, the early days, the feeling I wasn't healing as fast as I'd like, just a load of emotion hit me like a tonne of bricks. And wouldn't you know it but a load of you guys were there to help pick me back up. I needed to hit bottom this week because in the days following my whole mental state has completely changed. I'm healing, there are definite improvements and each week it's getting easier to get back to feeling normal. I'm a ways of feeling 100%, but I'm getting there - physically and mentally. Two weeks ago, wearing underwear and walking were still big asks, but now I can do both. Two weeks ago, I couldn't stop fiddling and inspecting my chap, but now I'm just leaving him be. Two weeks ago, I didn't feel right in my head and heart, but now I'm feeling more like myself again just dealing with healing and new sensations in my pants. It's incremental improvement, and that's fine by me.
Here's what I'm dealing with now at week 7:
- Swelling - There's still swelling around the frenulum, but it's definitely going down and taking inflammation on the scar line in that area down with it. It's uncomfortable at times, but getting better nearly daily. During the day, my chap is relatively shrivelled up in my pants, but when I get home from work around 6pm he just swells up and my balls get super saggy and bounce him around when I sit down and get back up. So, I'm basically in a cycle right now of kind of normal during the day and saggy and swollen in the evenings. But, that's an improvement from swollen and saggy all day.
- Head Sensitivity - I feel quite lucky that my phimosis only really affected me when erect during my life, because I could roll back my foreskin trouble-free when flaccid to clean, which means that my head sensitivity isn't as much of an issue. Over the past 7 weeks it has reduced massively and I only really need to put a bit of coconut oil to stop it from sticking to my pants. When I was circed, I also had 2 preputial adhesions - skin bridged, quite dense - released from the right side of my chap's head. At first there were two big scabs on my head, but those have since fallen off and I'm left with lovely smooth scars... however, they are quite sensitive if they rub on the inside of my pants... not in a bad way, I have to think unsexy thoughts to keep myself calm. LOL. Very rarely now am I finding the need to use a swab and vaseline to give my head a break, which is showing that sensitivity is continuing to reduce at a good pace.
- Scar Line - The scar line is settling down and all stitch ends on the surface have gone. Coconut oil is keeping the scar nice and moisturised and I think it's bringing down the two small areas where I had a bit of sensitive swelling. Overall, the scar feels more supple that it did, and boners are not feeling like they stretch the scar as much as when I was just using vaseline. The coconut oil has also helped clean up the scar line, I put it on after my shower in the morning and over the course of the day it seems as if it's lifted any dead skin out of creases in the scar leaving a nice pink and clean looking scar. The scar does get a bit irritated by my pubes on my balls - I have been trimming them, but am going to let them grow out and soften up to hopefully reduce that irritation. Again, the coconut oil seems to do a good job of reducing that irritation by softening the hairs anyway, so it shouldn't be too much of a chore to wait out the prickles.
- Walking, Joggers & Underwear - These go hand in hand. Wearing tight microfibre briefs stops my chap rubbing about during the day. Soft cargo pocket joggers reduce trouser seam friction, take pressure of the head of my johnson and also look relatively smart so I don't feel self-conscious at work. Walking is becoming more normal, some leg muscles are feeling tired and worn, but after nearly two months of waddling around it's to be expected. I'm feeling like I'm walking far more upright these days and less stooped. I was undoubtedly walking like that to guard my delicate pee-pee, but I feel far less guarded these days, which is helping to walk more normally. These three are all linked, I can't recommend microfibre briefs and joggers enough to anyone wondering what to do - here's a link to the joggers amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CK4RX7XW?... and here's a link to the briefs amazon.co.uk/dp/B07J5CWZ6G?.... For the briefs, I wear a size L during the day, I also have some M size ones if I feel I need a bit more support that day (depends on how I feel in the morning).
So, that's where I am. I don't know how long it will be until I feel closer to 100%, but I'm in a frame of mind where it's all progressing at my pace and that's what I have to deal with. I'd be keen to know if others felt the same at 7 weeks, just to get an idea of where I am.
And, as others have done for me, if anyone has any questions or just wants to blow off some steam (because it does no good to let all the anxiety build up) then please get in touch.
Tom.
Progression 8 weeks post op (done on 10/14)
5 weeks today update...
2 yrs since circumcision 
Tight foreskin after 5 weeks of circumcision
