Circumcision: for and against

The most common surgery performed on a penis is circumcision. Usually it is done to babies either for religious, hygienic or cultural reasons and normally done to adults for health reasons.

It used to be thought that a circumcised penis was healthier and cleaner that an uncircumcised penis. But these days, evidence shows that it is a totally unnecessary operation for the majority of males. Even so, in America, circumcision has become a fashion. More than 1.5million circumcisions are carried out each year for no other reason that some people believe it's better without than with.

The head of a penis which still has a foreskin is slightly more sensitive to touch than one which has had the foreskin removed.

Medical reasons for circumcision

Some men are occasionally circumcised because there's a medical reason for it. Usually this is because the foreskin doesn't fit the penis properly.

Phimosis is the name of the condition where the foreskin can't be pulled back properly over the glans at the head of your penis. This is either because there's an excess of foreskin or the foreskin is too tight. Having a foreskin that is too tight is a painful condition that can make having sex or masturbating very uncomfortable.

Paraphimosis is a condition where the foreskin is pulled back over the glans of the penis and then gets stuck. What this does is it causes the glans to swell and stop the foreskin from shifting back to its normal position.

In both cases, the sooner the condition is treated, the sooner your penis will work the way it should.

• The Circumcision Information and Resource Pages
• The Circumcision Resource Center

Other pages in this section
A few myths about your penis | A piercing experience | Anatomy of your penis (image) | Are my testicles normal? | Can I change the colour of my penis? | Can I get my penis enlarged? | Can I reduce the size of my testicles? | Can I straighten my bent penis? | Circumcision: for and against | Does a long tongue mean a short penis? | Does masturbation cause a bent penis? | How big should my penis be? | How can I get circumcised? | How can I stop having erections all the time? | How do I perform a testicular self examination? | How should I clean my penis? | Is it normal to have a downward sloping penis? | My glans become bright red when my penis is erect | The big issue of penis size | The shape of things to come | What are the bumps on my penis? | What can I eat to enlarge my penis? | What colour is my penis meant to be? | What colour is your penis? | What is a foreskin? | What size does your penis have to be to have sex? | Will a curved penis affect my ability to have sex? | Will my penis change size if I masturbate?