Circumcision and Penile Anesthesia: Not Before but After

As a doctor doing physical exams hundreds of times a circumcised penis does not look like a normal one; the skin looks leathery and it is no surprise that victims complain that the sensitivity is decreased or even lost.

The GOMCO is used to circumcise males.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Exactly why Tim King posted his article about Penile Mutilation, December 26, 2009 in Salem-News.com I have no idea^[1]. It brought on a tsunami of responses which really staggered me.

I thought I should enter the fray from the “other side” of the scalpel – Circumcision by an Intern, Dec. 30, 2009^[2]. I did do one circ while I was an intern and I was castigated by a reader for doing so. An intern mostly does what his mentor suggests. They do not ORDER.

Disregarding a mentor can get one thrown out of the program. It almost happened when I diagnosed a “left sided appendix”. It does happen!

At any rate there was so much kafuffle that I figured I’d better check it out on my computer: CIRCUMCISION itself had 703 posts and 4,680,000 hits. HOLY MOSES. The posts were from the merely weird to almost Ph.D. thesis. Even about a bunch of female circs which it isn’t.

Punching up Circumcision by an Intern, my own article, brought about 733 posts, mostly not about me, and 53,000 hits. A person can get a real medical sociology education reading these.

One of the most striking education events to me was that some men complained of penile anesthesia post circumcision, to the statement that sexual intercourse was no longer a pleasure – a bitter pill. In my article, I brought up the concept of “intelligent design” which has been poopooed a lot. If it’s covered, leave it covered.

As a doctor doing physical exams hundreds of times, a circumcised penis does not look like a normal one. In fact the skin looks leathery and it is no surprise from victims' complaints that the sensitivity is decreased or even lost.

This brought complaints from both males and females in that the male had to work harder (pardon the pun) to get stimulation for orgasm. I can understand how this could be a problem for females also.

The reasons FOR circumcision are all over the ball park from cleanliness to prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) with results from pro to con to we don’t know.

There appear to be some societies in which circumcision is a RITE OF PASSAGE from boyhood to manhood – NO ANESTHESIA and a dull knife (I shudder). If a boy could tolerate this he could probably tolerate any other kind of pain or tribulation.

This isn’t the end of it (not another pun) but with 4,680,000 visits to this subject, it is topical and interesting.

DOWN WITH THE GOMCO

^[1] Dec-26-2009: America: Land of the Mutilated Penis - Tim King Salem-News.com

^[2] Dec-30-2009: Circumcision by an Intern - Dr. Phil Leveque Salem-News.com

*********************************************

Dr. Phillip Leveque has degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and minors in physiology and biochemistry. He was a Professor of Pharmacology, employed by the University of London for 2 years, during which time he trained the first doctors in Tanzania. After training doctors, he became an Osteopathic Physician, as well as a Forensic Toxicologist.