These are just some handy tips from what I have been through and I thought to share them as many have helped me and gave me advice. It’s a long read but hopefully it’s helpful. There can be a lot of uncertainty and impatience over the first 10 days or so but it’s really helpful to find someone to talk to and to occupy your mind with other things and to engage in other tasks so that you’re not thinking about the healing too much. Let your body do it’s work.
Reason for circumcision: Phimosis
• I managed to retract the foreskin behind the glans when flaccid with stretching exercises
• However, I am unable to do so when erect and have had a few incidences with paraphimosis
• Thought of just doing the procedure to avoid that altogether
I am currently 3.5 weeks post-op. I had the procedure done privately in the UK via the sleeve resection method (low and loose) under local anaesthesia as a day procedure. Had my frenulum removed. The stitch used was Vicryl Rapide (dissolvable) (loses all its tensile strength by Day 14). For me, 1 stitch was used in a continuous manner using the sub-cuticular method around the girth of the penis.
Preparation
• Pre-procedure consult with surgeon – going through the type of cut (low vs high, tight vs loose)
• 2-3 days before, do a full shave of the groin area as it helps the surgeon to work around the area during the procedure and helps to reduce the risk of infection during early days of recovery
• Consider transportation – how you will get home and how long too
• Pack/ wear moderately fitting briefs/boxers on the day
o May want to count if you have enough briefs/boxers yourself
o I read that the microfiber boxers from Primark is pretty good
o I was also told that the Artibetter re-usable net pants (from Amazon) is a good substitute for boxers/ briefs –credits to Arclight1979
• Bring some paracetamol and ibuprofen with you if the surgeon has instructed you to do so or just in case
• For me, I live alone so I bought some extra dressings beforehand just in case I might be too uncomfortable to go out over the next week – some surgeons might say to just air it after the operation so it depends as mine told me to dress it
o I asked the surgeon what he used for dressing and bought them accordingly on Amazon
o I bought Smith&nephew Jelonet JEL10E 10x10cm (20 of them), STERILE non-woven swabs 10x10cm (50 of them), Crepe bandages (Crepe cotton bandages 5x4.5cm) (30 of them), Namvo Elastic Bandage Clips, Vaseline (2 tubs of 150mL), Nursing bandage scissors (the angulated one)
o Box of Q-tips
o Some Elastoplast tape and a tub of Sudocrem as a standby from Boots
On the day
• Take a good shower before
• Moderately fitting boxers/brief
• Follow through the procedure with the surgeon
o The most uncomfortable part of the procedure was when the surgeon cleaned my glans with the sterilising solution and the local injections apart from that everything was okay. The local did start to wear out for me during some points of the procedure so tell the surgeon early so that they can inject more. Do not wait until the pain gets too sharp.
o From going on to off the couch in the procedure room – I spent 1h20mins
• Try and take a pee after to see if everything is okay
• If you’re awake – you might be able to ask the surgeon to show you the stitch sites (most of the bleeding post-op are from those areas so at least you will not be shocked)
• Go home safe
• If done under local, it covers your pain for around 6hrs
• I took Ibuprofen and Paracetamol before the procedure and also when I was home – did not feel much pain post-op (just some discomfort but bearable on the whole)
I could not shower until 48hrs post-op so that was difficult
The 1-2nd week was difficult because I just got impatient with the healing and the hassle of dressing my wound and seeing it every time I dress. I did not want to go out of my house too early into the recovery as well to help with the healing process so there was a lot of boredom. I found sitting a little annoying, had to keep readjusting my position so I just laid in my bed or stood up most of the time. I would sit for short periods of time. Was able to do my own cooking and some light household chores from Day 1.
Was lucky that my glans were not too sensitive as I was used to light touch from daily cleaning in the shower. After maybe 4-5 days, a tough layer will start to cover your glans. I’d say to leave it alone and do not pick on it. I was able to wear my light fabric pyjama pants around but there was still that toe curling feeling.
The first day I went out was on Day 7 (Day 1 being the day of circumcision). Was walking quite awkwardly because of the dressing and also the fear that it will fall out but it did not. Was only out for 4hrs.
Went out again briefly on Day 9 for a meal with friends and then Day 14. Had my review on Day 14 and I had to take a 1.5hr train ride to and fro the clinic – had no issues by then.
From days 16-24 – my parents were around and I was bringing them places so a lot of walking was involved but no big issues too. Only annoying thing was spontaneous erections when walking sometimes so I had to stop/ slow down to become flaccid again.
Bleeding/ Discharge
There should not be any active bleeding. Staining on the dressing is expected – I think usually due to the night/ morning erections. Most of the bleeds are from the underside, frenulum area and I read that that was the case for most guys too.
By day 17, the bleeding was very minimal, again just mostly on the underside.
Had some yellowish crust over the 1st-2nd week – it’s usually just lymph/plasma from the wound due to the swelling. Only if it gets really swollen/painful/ foul-smelling/ green or white purulent discharge that it might be an infection.
Bruising/ swelling
Bruising was mostly over the sites where I had my local and sort of along the shaft. These went away gradually over 2 weeks. But the bruises did not feel tender anymore from Day 4-5.
Position of penis
Initially, the surgeon told me to keep my penis facing upwards as it will help with the swelling. I did so for the first 48hrs. However afterwards I found that that was irritating the underside of my penis/ frenulum area so I just faced it down/ let it hang even when walking around.
Erections & pain/ discomfort
First night of sleeping was scary for me but the erections turned out to be bearable. Some tips I learnt from here was to sleep in a foetal position (knees curled up and bent and brought to chest) and to empty your bladder before sleeping. My erections always woke me up at 4am (I think that's when testosterone production starts to peak) so I just got up for a pee and tried to sleep again.
The feeling I had was like a tight band around the base of the glans (sort of like taking a thin string and tightening it around the penis which is literally what is happening with the stitches there). I feel like the discomfort I had with paraphimosis was worse than this.
The erections gradually got better – I was still woken up at 4am until around Day 10 and then I was able to sleep through it. Just try to resist the temptation to ‘flex’ the penis (sort of like what you do at the end of a pee) as that makes the discomfort worse. The erections will usually go down quite quickly because of the discomfort. By Day 8, I was sleeping normally on my back again.
Because the stitches that were used were Vicryl Rapide, they lose their tensile strength by Day 14 and half of their strength by Day 5 so your erections will feel less uncomfortable.
Only took 6 ibuprofen 400mg and 6 paracetamol 1000g. And they were taken over the first 3 days. The reason for taking them was just in case there was pain rather than taking them because there was pain.
Fusidic acid ointment
On Day 14, during my review, the surgeon offered a fusidic acid ointment prescription, perhaps because I seem too impatient with the healing. He said that it will help with the crusting and the inflammation (both an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory). I did not end up using it but could be something to ask for as a standby.
Peeing
Try to clean the urethra with toilet paper after peeing to prevent any urine from going on to the wound. If the penis is dressed then dress it in a way such that the urine would not get onto the dressing to prevent infections. I just pee-ed sitting down all the way and pointed my penis perpendicular to the toilet. Was pretty difficult in public toilets considering that the cubicles were always occupied but could be just my luck.
Dressing
This was the most annoying part of the post-op period. I changed my dressing 48hrs after the op. I showered twice during the first 48hrs by wrapping the dressing with cling film. I only washed my hair and face as it was getting too oily so I showered it weird positions to avoid water going to my groin area.
The first change, I just let my dressing soak under the shower and slowly unwrap the crepe bandage, followed by the swabs and then the inner jelonet layer. It will feel quite sensitive. I then dabbed the area dry with my towel just to get the visible water droplets off and then let the area air-dry for 10-20mins.
I changed my dressing every morning after my shower. You can do it whenever too but it will be good to time it with your showers.
Dressing preparation: Using the bandage scissors cut the jelonet pack (do not open it first) into 2 strips from the short edge (getting 2 strips of 5x10cm). Cut 1 swab into 2 halves. You may need to adjust the dimensions depending on your girth.
Using the Q-tip, apply Vaseline generously around the wound edges of the penis and really apply copiously to the frenulum and underside. If you apply it in sort of a light painting and twirling fashion, it will help to get the vaseline off the Q-tip. If touching the glans is too sensitive to manoeuvre around the penis, you can hold the glans from the sides with a piece of swab.
Open the jelonet and wrap 1 of the 5x10cm around the penis and the other too such that the girth of the penis is covered. Then do the same with the swab. While wrapping, make sure it is not too high that urine will get onto the dressing and not too low that it does not adequately cover the frenulum wound. Take the crepe bandage and wrap around the penis to secure the jelonet and swab inside. I try to apply some tension with every round I wrap. What I did was I would do my first 3 wraps focusing on securing the upper edges of the jelonet/ swab and then the next 5-6 wraps tightly around the base of the penis and then cut and bandage and securing it with the elastic bandage clip (i just took the clip out before I go into the shower each time so that I could re-use it). As the bleeding gets lighter, you can do fewer crepe bandage wraps.
After Day 15, I stopped using the jelonet and only kept the swab (using even thinner layers by separating 1 swab) and crepe bandage.
I was advised on Day 14, that I only needed to keep the swab and crepe bandage on at night to support my erections for the next 4 weeks but I just kept the dressings on during the day too as my stitches were still not out and I did not want to risk any wound irritation/ infection from open wounds.
With this way, quite a bit of the top of the glans will be exposed especially the front and top (urethra meatus) so it'll be good to apply some vaseline as you will notice that your underwear may stick to the meatus. If it's sensitive, you can cover the top with a swab like a cap (credits to arclight1979). However, the exposure can be helpful such that your glans can be accustomed to the material of your underwear. And longer exposure to the outside environment can help your glans to 'keratinise' (become less sensitive to all the friction)
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