My Circumcision Story

Thanks for all this advice lads from last year! I am having my operation tomorrow.

A lot of stuff is going through my head! I am sh1tting a brick!

I'm wondering if the stitches burst. When is it a normal occurrence? should it happen at all?

Will I be able to walk normally? Can I go from 2 miles walks?

Will I be able to do housework?

I took time off work until Monday week the 30th! Is this enough time. I was only told to book off a week. But I guess the extra 2 days ain't gonna hurt.

Thanks for this!

In the end, I have avoided the housework. As I stayed with my parents like yourself.

I am going back to work on Monday and while I am looking forward to getting back I am fearing any heavy lifting. I read on the HSE website that you should avoid heavy lifting for 4 weeks. Which I thought was a very long time.

I had my surgery this day last week. I was kinda uncomfortable from day 3,4,5 as the head was very tender. I see that yesterday that the stitches are dissolving now. I thought I had an infection last Tuesday. But the doctor (Who was right) was happy enough that it wasn't infected and was just part of the healing process.

Hi Gael,

Oh it would be lifting weight. I intended to join a gym, but I am holding off on that for 5 weeks.. I work in a kitchen as a chef though, so I would be lifting things like bags of rubbish, pots, pans and stuff like that as well as sweeping and mopping! How long would you have to hold off on lifting such? The doctor/nurses told me not to lift heavy things. Although I assumed that would only be for the 7 days which I'd be off..

What are the implications of lifting stuff anyway?? I never heard of this before..

Thanks for the reply.

Hi Gael,

Thanks for your advice!

I checked the HSE website again and I misunderstood. It actually states to avoid sex for 4 weeks, it states that it usually takes at least 10 days to heal. So that 2 weeks would make sense! It doesn't actually mention lifting weights.. Although as a precaution I could take it easy for the next 4 days. That will be 2 weeks.

I have to clean surfaces with a disinfectant for worktops and tables. Then for walls, I use a degreaser and the floor requires a floor cleaner. All the cleaners are diluted so it should be fine I'd say. Thanks again!

Yeah, I'll see how I am on week 3!

Yeah, I am back now and things are grand really! I ett caught lifting the odd heavy thing. But I am trying to remain mindful of this. That sense though about the blood flow to the brain though..

Apologies, you asked this question earlier and I missed it! Nope no problem at all with constipation.. I had problems peeing for the few hours after the surgery due to the block (is what the nurse called it) and then it was fine the following day. I was grand the following day like I wasn't even tired or anything. I was very mobile too, although I continued to wear the circulation stockings until day 5.

I don't have a medical card. Although I went through the public system. Prior to Covid starting the GP that sent my referral to the hospital. Said it would be a few months. Then Covid hot and I was waiting a year.. All done now though. I'd ask the doctor to see what they say anyway. As it's looking like things are improving in terms of Covid and the cancelling of appointments.

Hey guys, so I’ve been following this thread for years now. Been meaning to get this procedure done for a long time, was ready to rock with it just pre-lockdown and then it fell outta view as the pandemic hit.

Well finally I had my procedure done yesterday and reckoned since this space was so good and such a comfort to me I reckoned with my recovery time over the next few days and weeks I would use the time to share back.

My situation: I’m 40, have had phimosis as long as I can remember, it’s never been a real issue for me confidence wise or sexually, I’m a happy, well rounded guy, easy going and tally on through. However always had pangs of ‘must get this looked at’ but then would move on and not think again of it and then months later think the same and so on.

I’ve always known it was an issue since I was around 22 or so. Over the years I’ve tried expanding techniques and I tried adjustable phimosis rings when I was around 26 and creams. This is where you place a ring in your tight foreskin, leave it there and let the skin try and naturally expand. Accompanied with a steroid cream overtime it would naturally widen itself….however it could take months or even a year. Anyways in a nutshell for me…..this didn’t work!

Of course life moves on, I travelled etc and didn’t think again. I didn’t mind so much, me and my ‘Poloneck Forey’ were buddies LOL and sexual partners even liked it (my phimosis is pretty tight so the lads that have my condition, you must admit it appears to add that few extra centimetres too hahaha 🤣)

So alls good however as I reached my mid 30s I thought maybe I should get this seen to? More out of curiosity, did I want to ALWAYS have this tight foreskin? Sex wasn’t painful or anything but I did think as I was getting older sensitivity was becoming an issue, it’s always lacked a good deal of sensitivity as glans are covered but it seemed to be numbing more. Trust me I’d mastered a good old ‘pulling technique’ to make the most of it so I was as happy as a clam. But I reckoned no harm in getting it seen to. 

But where the feck do you start? I didn’t wanna rock up at the docs and proclaim my phimosis, also because I wasn’t sure a general GP would really get it and reckoned he’d just refer me to a urologist anyways. So I started researching, looking up all urologists in Ireland and cross referencing them with Google searches of comments on what they’ve done etc and looking here too. Found one. Wasn’t sure they’d take me without referral but emailed them directly and BOOM got an appointment within weeks. What I thought would be a very difficult task wasn’t.

Also this forum helped even more so, I’ve never seen a cock like mine and to know there’s TONS of us normalised it even more and helped build up the courage. I mean getting your lad half cut off ain’t easy psychologically, so the thoughts of it were hard to take consider. 

FIRST CONSULTATION: Bricking it, facing facts, the time has come but wow the consultation was EASY PEASY! Feckin hell I was fretting about this for months. Rocking in, taking your cock out to the doc, he’d probably inspect it with tweezers, might even get the shearers out - I had overthought the whole situation. Let’s be honest I was also afraid of a stiffy should be have touched it and was already pre-living this embarrassing situation.

But NOPE - went in, took it out, he asked me to pull back the foreskin, seen it was tight phimosis, diagnosed me with one look, told me we’d circumcise and sent me out to book the appointment. The consultation literally took 5mins! I’ve waited longer for a pint!!!!!! Most normal thing to the doc.

And there it was, after years of thinking and then forgetting and then fretting and worrying and forgetting again. In one foul swoop it was going to happen.

Oops sorry for the novel, I reckoned the back story might be of help. Didn’t expect to write so much but incase some of you were feeling the same. I’ll take a break for a bit and will come back soon with the procedure which happened yesterday. The Poloneck is finally off the cock - wow 😬😬😬

To be continued…….

THE RECOVERY: Day One

Not much pain at all so far. I’m one day into recovery and nothing. I’m on pain killers which is clearly taking off the edge. The little soldier is bandaged up like how you’d see a broken thumb bandaged up. Looks odd but looks safe and comfortable. Walking is wonky right away and stairs are tough. I’m walking like a Wild West Cowboy. Came home and went straight to bed. Had to lie flat on my back all night….and then the interesting bit.

Yup, the boyo came up for air in the middle of the night (you know what I mean guys) and WOW that was about the toughest bit yet. It wasn’t excruciatingly sore but just tingley and awkward. I thought the stitches were gonna burst so I stayed awake since 5am so it wouldn’t happen again. With the erection the bandage became loose and slid off the penis a bit so I just remained still all morning so it wouldn’t rip off. You’re advised to let it come off itself in its own time. But to aid it I just popped some Vaseline at the base of the bandage and popped it back in the undies.

Got bored during the morning and decided I’d do some work on the laptop in bed. Distracted and working away I left it for ages and then decided I’d check in on him and then VOILA bandage was completely off, I didn’t even notice it coming off and there was my circumcised cock right there!!!!!! That’s when I realised the skin still came over the head a little and I must say so far it looks incredible! I’ve never seen the head and it looks as normal as can be. My stitches are rolled in under the head and the loose skin covers them for now. I guess when erect this skin will stretch and the stitches  will be revealed. I pulled back the loose skin gently and yes there the stitches are, all red, some blood but not as horrifying as I’d imagine it to be. It looks pretty damn neat to be honest.

So far all pretty good. I’m expecting the pain to come, some say after three days and yes the head is VERY sensitive to touch but they say that’ll ease. I’m walking around a little but not much. I work a very active job both daily and at night and need to be back in action in full glory in a week, well at least not walking wonky anyways, no one needs to know anything else.

So here I am, halfway through day one of recovery and so far so good. I’ll keep posting as the days go.

Apologies they’re long posts but I know these progress posts helped me a lot and if this can help one person back that’s awesome.

Has anybody else had any issues contacting the clinic in Malahide? I'm trying to arrange a follow-up, I got an email response about a month ago and I haven't been able to get a response since. There were no issues previously and everything has been friendly.

Silicone scar gel topically and serrapeptase internally.

I did it through stretching and hydrocortisone cream.

It was a fairly long process, but not too bad overall.

My foreskin was really tight when i started (so i could just about see the slit when it was flaccid), and now it will pull back all the way, even fully erect. I must admit that the first time i pulled it back, it felt kind of frightening. I had a penis for about 25 years at that stage, and for the latter half of those had given it a lot of attention, but i had never seen the glans before and for some bizarre reason it felt kind of scary. But i got over that.

So what i did:

At night, pull back the foreskin as far as it goes. Apply a tiny amount of 1% hydrocortisone cream (available from pharmacy over the counter) on the part that seems to be tight.

During other parts of the day, like when you go to the bathroom etc., pull back the foreskin as far as it goes comfortably, and then pull it back a bit more. It should be a bit sore, but not a really sharp pain like it will tear. So you have to try to get the balance right, between being brave enough to have some pain, and not going so far that you tear the skin (as that will cause it to be tighter).

Only use the hydrocortisone for about 1 week at a time (max 2 weeks), as it thins the skin and will eventually cause it to feel sore. Keep doing the stretching every day (even the weeks that you are cycling off the hydrocortisone cream). The more often you stretch, the quicker you will have results.

Like i say, i was an extreme case in terms of tightness, and now it is totally fine.

Happy to answer any questions.

Got the full circ done last week in Malahide. Have to say, the op itself was a breeze. Done under local anesthetic, hardly even felt the sedative at the start.

First time I had to pee afterwards was a horrible experience but that's really been the worst of it so far. No real pain afterwards, and so far the swelling hasn't been too bad either. Odd moments of discomfort at times, but the recovery is going much better than I thought it would. Main thing is constantly waking up during the night when the stitches get a bit stretched.

Also, for anyone who does get it done privately and insurance isn't an option, you can claim part of it back in tax.

Hi all, I really hope someone sees this within maybe the next 24 hours or so.

How soon can you get your circumcision done?

I've been really thinking about it lately can't stand all these foreskin issues anymore but I don't want to be waiting months or anything to get it done.

I'd rather just get it done within the next 2 or 3 weeks honestly. Is this possible? Haven't been to GP yet, not sure if I even need to so any advice on this would be much appreciated.

Almost a month since my fren op now and no sign of the dissolvable stitches going away.

If this was After hours, you would definitely be asked to explain the misadventure......

It is not unusual to panic a bit after a major decision, especially when the immediate results are not what you expected. It might be worth reflecting on your thought processes on this. It seems that you made the decision based on strong feelings and maybe left your logical mind out of the decision making process. Now you have very strong feelings of regret about the decision. But is this equally based on feelings and leaving logic outside the door? As your doctor said, immediately after an operation is not a time to take a decision on the success of the operation. Look at the reports of people on this thread. It can take weeks and months to get to a stable state where everything is functioning as it should. Try to reassure yourself that it was not a terrible decision you took. Millions of people all over the world are circumcised and their penis functions perfectly well.

You were unhappy with things before the operation and you are unhappy now. Consider if there is something behind this unhappiness. It might be worth seeing a counsellor to talk through your strong feelings on this. Either way, be patient, follow best advice regarding post-operation care and give yourself time to get used to the new form of your penis before making any rash decisions.