Thursday, November 11, 2021

Some Thoughts on the Healing Process

 I really try to avoid giving advice, but there are so many weird things circulating on social media that I feel compelled to clean up some points.

Please remember that I cannot give medical advice. Whatever I state below is in the hope that it will be helpful, but if in doubt seek professional medical help. Stuff that you read on the Internet if not a substitute for being examined and treated by an actual doctor.

Bruising and Swelling

It happens to most people. Usually they develop a few days post op, and may take several weeks to go go back to normal. So if after a circumcision the skin of your penis swells to some unbelievable size and looks like it has been in a bar fight that is something very common that happens to a lot of guys, and it will get better. It may look scary, but it will go away over time.

Glans Sensitivity

If your glans has never seen the light of the day it is going to be sensitive. Also there is a good chance that it is already irritated or inflamed, which need to clear up. The surgical process can also traumatize the skin surface. If you had any adhesions it may have been necessary to separate them either by blunt instruments (which still means peeling off layers of skin that were stuck together) or even worse require actual cutting (ouch!).

Just the disinfectants can sometimes burn the surface of even tougher skin, so that it peels off, just image what they would do to something delicate like your glans.

The glans needs to heal. I find it mind boggling that some guys can't wait for it to heal but try to rub it and do all sorts of things that hurt like hell the day after the surgery in the hope that it will somehow "toughen up" the glans. Really, the unbearable mind-numbing pain should be a good indicator that your are doing something to harm yourself. Let your glans heal in peace for at least a week before letting anything rub it.

If you have to wear clothing cover it in Vaseline, or some antibiotic ointment or whatever is used to cover wounds where you live and wrap it up in gauze (so that your underwear only rubs the gauze, not your glans).

It will get better, if you just let it heal in peace, and then handle it with care. Intentionally exposing yourself to a lot of pain is not the way to go. Torturing yourself is more likely to prolong the healing process than produce quick results.

Eventually the pain should subside and you will get used to things touching your glans to the point that it will feel completely normal.

Stitches

Most wounds need stitches for about the first 8-10 days, after that they are not really helping the healing process and eventually can cause problems.

https://youtu.be/ScwC7oSLtGM

Unfortunately absorbable stitches sometimes don't get absorbed in that time frame (it depends on a lot of factors, such as the quality of the suturing material and how your body reacts to it) in which case they should be taken out. You really should not need them after about 2 weeks, unless there is some complication. Some doctors don't like to take them out because they are worried that the wound edges may separate (which should not happen, but some people have no common sense and e.g. start to masturbate too early and may tear the cut line open). The problem is that if the stitches are left in too long that increases the chance that they will leave some scarring (railroad tracks).

Similarly stitches that are pulled too tight tend to cut into the skin and leave railroad track markings. This is not something that you can control, it depends on the skill of your doctor.

Minor Would Dehiscence

Minor wound dehiscence (separating of the wound edges) is fairly common, and it usually will not be resutured just left to heal by secondary intention. You can always ask your doctor what to do  if e.g. stitches break too early and the would is opening up, but typically it will just be left to heal naturally.

It usually leaves scar but the end result is not as bad as it looks when the wound starts to open up, and the resulting scar tends to be at least comfortable (not thick or painful).

It is a minor cosmetic problem, and if it happens to you you should not obsess about it. It is fairly common and fairly harmless.