Standard ED treatments include prescription medications, vacuum pumps, implants, and surgery, but many men prefer natural options that are less invasive and offer more control. The male circumcision debate is a hot topic that brings up very emotional discussions. There is no one answer and not every man wants to be circumcised. Some people think it’s painful and doesn’t look very nice, while others see it as a rite of passage, just like a female circumcision. Even though circumcision is highly controversial, some men are choosing circumcision anyway and others are very much opposed to it.
A medical school classmate of mine was circumcised. He is still a little uncomfortable with the whole thing but we talked about it afterwards, and he decided it was probably a good thing for him. His experience did help him to rethink the whole circumcision process. Many men have to undergo pain, and if it is mild, most men tend to accept it and even enjoy it. Many of them even love it. The choice is theirs and they have to be comfortable with that decision.
What about the medical side of the issue? Is there an appropriate medical procedure that can be performed to cure phimosis? Dr. John S. Meyer MD, FACS: I’ve never heard of such a procedure. I’ve never seen it discussed in the medical literature. I can’t find any references supporting that kind of procedure, other than what one can read on the Internet, and I wouldn’t want to be the first person to say it because it is a controversial topic, and there may be reasons that it should be performed. There’s a lot of support that it’s important to let your prepuce develop naturally and that there are many things you can do to make it happen, and if there’s something that will work for you to make the situation better, go for it. On the other hand, if it seems like something that is going to make your foreskin easier to retract, there’s nothing wrong with doing it. For the other person, there might be an unproven medical procedure that can be performed for them to stop their foreskin from retracting, such as electrosurgery. However, you have to be absolutely sure that the procedure will be painless. As I’m sure you’re well aware, it’s not always painless. For many men, the circumcision procedure is painful and uncomfortable. To have an uncomfortable procedure performed is not a good thing. That’s why, from time to time, I’ve been very explicit that I strongly recommend that everyone avoid circumcision.
The only other thing I want to point out is that the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t recommend that babies be circumcised. In fact, if the AAP were alive today, they’d probably be recommending electrosurgery as the procedure of choice for all newborn boys. So why are you doing it?
Korona: I’ll tell you why I’m doing it, and then I’ll give you a little background about myself. I was born in the US. My mom immigrated to the States from Lithuania when I was five years old. The first thing that the US is known for, if you talk about the first countries to be colonized by the US, was Lithuania. And for us, the first country was Lithuania. My mom got her start as a nurse practitioner in Atlanta and then she went to New York City.