7th Week Post Circumcision

Hello, and today marks the complete 7th week following my adult circumcision procedure, 49 full days have gone by.

Al though my healing process has been slow thus far (in terms of swelling & frenulum), this past week has been the best yet. I feel my penis becoming more and more normal, pain is a distant memory, and I can get erections throughout the day normally which feel great. Having the head exposed also produces erotic and pleasurable feelings I have never been able to experience when it was hyper sensitive and always trapped behind the dreaded foreskin. I can only imagine how good oral sex and regular sex will be, and I will experience this very soon.

Symptoms this past week:
- Erections come normally and feel great; masturbation is very pleasurable and is producing intense orgasms
- Swelling is unfortunately still there, but it is gradually subsiding
- The swollen ring has become much more soft and stretchable
- The frenulum area is about 95% healed, there is just a small area of white-ish skin in the process of being fully generated and cornified

Here are some pictures:

You can compere these to how my penis looked before circumcision. One thing I'd like to mention is that my length is not 100% back yet. The swelling is still preventing my penis to be 100% normally figured. It is about 1 inch shorter, but thicker than it usually is. Honestly I wouldn't mind if it remained 1 inch shorter because having the head painlessly exposed, and the look & functionality are already MUCH better than before I was circumcised in my opinion.

I'd also like to specifically respond to a comment I received last night which I thought described exactly how I felt before I took the plunge:

"Thanks for continuing to update. Im interested in how this works out. I have same problem where the foreskin does not normally go back and I can only get it back if i force it and even then its pretty hard. And for the last year ive been dealing with this white stuff that smells really bad and is almost always there under the foreskin. It looked the same as your before your cut. Feel kind of insecure about it and wonder if women think its weird or are turned off by the look. Even taking a piss now is getting to be messy because i guess the skin is stretching and putting the tip at a weird shape to it sprays like a broken faucet sometimes. So all that makes me consider getting circumcised.

Thats how i found this blog. But from pictures you show and things that are happening to you I just dont think i could do it. I couldnt bare to see it all swolen and cut like that. I get anxiety pretty easily and i think i would trip out if i saw that. I dont do well with anything medical at all. Dont like to see doctors, dont like to hear descriptions of illnesses, dont like to see anything that looks like an injury.. So its either deal with that for what looks like 4 months or so, or deal with these problems forever. Im also really worried about the way it will look after. Ive seen some gruesome pictures on google that totally scared me away from the idea. But im trying to follow your experience and see if its worth doing it in the end. Im only 26 now. But man that looks like so much to go through."

- Anonymous, 26 years old

My Response:

Dear Anonymous,

What your describing are all feelings & symptoms I once felt before I decided to get cut. I pickled over these thoughts for 6 years, waited, and watched my life go by with a lacking sex life, which also causes a lack of self confidence and a reduced quality of life in general. Yes, women do not like this, and you shouldn't either. I understand the anxiety and fear you have of going through with this, but it's extremely important and it can only make your penis better, not worst.

Yes, the first week or two are rather uncomfortable. I'd recommend taking a week off work, seeing a specialist whom you feel comfortable with (a genital reconstructive surgeon, plastic surgeon, or a urologist who routinely performs circumcision with aesthetic concerns in mind). But really, they weren't that bad. You'll be knocked up on pain killers the majority of the first week and the procedure itself is painless and simple. You don't even have to look, and your penis will be in a bandage for up to a week.

I do read back on my posts and I recall how I felt and what was going through my head. Back then, I couldn't locate a single person on the web who documented their post experience with pictures and comments describing what I was going through. That caused more anxiety and made me feel hopeless and terrible. However, if you look at my other comments, as well as my voting poll, more than half the people out there go thru something very similar as I did. I consider my recovery to be worst than most people, and my poll does indicate that. But even then, after a few weeks pain was at 0% and the pain that was there was minimal and more discomforting than real pain. For the past 2-3 weeks, things are surely getting better as the pictures speak for themselves. My urologist told me to expect swelling to go away in 3 months based on my progress. Even though swelling is still there, I feel as if I can have sex now but I will be careful and wait.

To sum this up, yes, if you are going through what you described, do NOT wait any longer and get it done. Just do your homework and be mentally as well as physically prepared. I'm already really regretting not getting this done in my early 20's when I first became aware of my problem. I hope you take the plunge, and if you do, comment somewhere on the web or create a blog if you can. This will help a lot of other people in similar situations. Stay tuned for me documenting my complete recovery.

6th & 5th Week Post Circumcision

So it is now completely 6 weeks after my adult circumcision. I apologize to blog followers for not posting last week, I was out on vacation all week. The healing at this point of course has made an active normal life fully possible (minus the sex).

Swelling Persists

Unfortunately, I'm still swollen and the ring is there. The pictures & symptoms below describe my experience for the past week up til the complete 6th week. The 5th, things slightly improved from the 4th, but not very much, and the progress is very slight now onto the 6th week as well.

Symptoms:

- Ring is swollen, but the ring is much more elastic now and it can be stretched easily by manual force whereas before it was very tight

*there's a small black scab on the ring. I masturbated a little harder than I should have and it tore that area a bit. Because of that, that small flesh wound kept generating white tissue for up to a week until it scabbed. I'd highly advise being extremely careful masturbating.

- Swelling underneath the frenulum area on the under side of the penis is still there. The white tissue is also still there but it has definitely reduced and looks like it should completely go away in a week

- Penis head seems to be about 80% keratanized. I can touch it and let ti rub against any type of underwear, fabric and it feels absolutely fine. What a feeling this is, I never thought this was possible when I had an extremely sensitive head pre-circumcision.

- Full erections don't hurt as much. Being fully erect also feels great and having having the keratanized head exposed is great. I will take pictures of my erect state shortly.

- Light masturbation is now possible without pain, but still need to be careful and use a lot of mental stimulation

Urologist Commentary

So I visited my urologist before I went on vacation. Regarding my swelling, he indicated this is mild lymphedema and can continue for up to 3-5 months, but based on my progress he said it should be completely gone by 3 months. This is terrible news, but I'm half way there and I have to live with it. Being able to masturbate also makes it bearable.

I also needed to figure out if the white stuff on my penis and tiny flesh wound on the ring would be unsafe to get exposed to ocean/pool water. He said the ocean is filled with bacteria and it is highly recommended to avoid taking that chance. He also explained a lot of pools contain bacteria and that can cause a risk as well that I should probably avoid. Because of this, I unfortunately had to avoid entering water in a tropical place thru out the week. However, I accidentally fell into the ocean off a jet ski and soaked myself completely. It's been 5 days since, no signs of infection at all. I did apply anti biotic cream daily to the area after that, which could have helped. (I also tried looking for water proof underwear but such a thing does not exist).

4 weeks Post Circumcision

So it's been exactly 4 weeks, and I am approaching a full month in a few days.

Updates from last week:

• Incision line healed
• Virtually pain free, al though head is still a little tender


• Swelling still exists, it slightly went down from last week
• Morning erections aren't really bothersome anymore, I can sleep through it now for the most part

• Frenulum area is still regenerating tissue, some white tissue is still there

Masturbating while Swollen Post Circumcision

When I masturbate and extend to full length, it feels really tight. This is probably from the swelling. Also, when I ejaculate like that, it kind of hurts and it pumps a blank first, then shoots the rest out in several squirts. All the remaining semen takes a few minutes to ooze out as my erection fades.

The swollen ring's tissue also kind of ripped from stretching and/or masturbating, it is scabbing up and/or leaking a little lymph as well.

Note: I was also under extreme stress this past week (unrelated to circumcision reasons) nearly everyday. I have heard stress is detrimental to healling so I'm sure because of this it has slowed my healing over the past week, which is a pity. However, this week and the next should be fine and the stress should be gone now. I hear exercise also promotes blood flow, could help with swelling, and facilitate a quicker healing process. I have resumed exercising just a few days ago

3 1/2 Weeks Post Circumcision - Masturbating After Circumcision

Great news on this update.

I am now completely pain free. I can move around freely with no discomfort at all and I resumed exercising again. I can wear my normal underwear now if I want and it feels absolutely fine. The smell is also gone.

The last few stitches finally came out over the past couple of days with some manual force. After taking salt water baths, I used tiny scissors to cut the ends of the stitches and pulled them out. The first try it hurt and the stitches weren't budging, but after cutting some of it with the scissors and trying again the next day, it worked.

Because the stitches are out, morning erections are no longer painful at all and that is a HUGE relief. The incision line is now also completely healed and looks pretty good. No ugly scar, just looks like a neat straight line going around. I

Masturbating After Circumcision

I was FINALLY able to masturbate this morning after the longest break in my life! I had to be very careful and stroked only the shaft. The shaft is very tight, so I used some baby oil to make it slippery so that I didn't have to use much force. Also, the swelling is still there and it pretty much looks the same as the 3rd week pictures.

I had to be careful and used a lot of mental stimulation with short gentle strokes with the baby oil, but it worked and ejaculating felt great! (but was messy..)It wasn't as great as others report, but it gave me a sneak preview of what's ahead. I'm really excited about that and I think I'm going to really enjoy my circumcised penis. No more tight foreskin constricting my erections and making sex difficult. I absolutely cannot wait.

Penis Seems Smaller in Length

Because of the swollen ring behind my penis head, my penis can't extend to its full length, so when erect its a bit shorter and thicker than usual. I'm sure once the swelling completely subsides it will return to normal length and girth. I got a moderate circumcision, not high (scar line is mid shaft), and not low (scar line is close to head). However, I have read some men that got high over zealous circumcisions, the surgeon ended up removing too much skin which can cause tight painful erections and shorten the length of the penis. Multiple surgeons I've e-mailed regarding this have also confirmed it can happen if you remove too much skin, but the anatomy of the penis itself (beneath the skin) stays the same length whether you are circumcised or not. You just need enough skin so that the penis can stretch out to your full length.

update after a couple of days
so actually, when I get really turned on, having a full blown erection is painful. It feels like the skin won't stretch enough to let me penis extend to its full length. This is scary, and I am hoping too much tissue was not removed. I am going to believe this is happening because of the swelling, and that it will go away once the swelling subsides.

Not 100% Healed Yet

So the underside of my penis where the frenulum used to connect to the crevice in the head, tissue is still regenerating in certain places and is yet to scab. It has improved significantly over the past few days. No pain or discharge being left on my undergarments though. I think this should go away within a week. I just hope the swelling subsides more quickly, but I do see tiny improvements as the day goes by and I can see it going completely away soon enough. I think the erections are forcing that swollen ring to stretch out, or at least I hope so.

All in all, I am much more healed vs. last week or the week before. I can freely walk around 100% pain free, the wound is 90% healed, I can masturbate now, exercise, no more painful erections, and the swelling is slowly but surely improving. That's the only problem left now and I hope the swelling starts to subside much more rapidly.