If your child has scarring from an earlier injury, circumcision is needed. If no scarring is present, your child might be able to use a steroid cream or ointment to loosen the tight foreskin. Topical steroid for boys who have phimosis without scarring, a steroid cream or ointment applied directly to the foreskin often works well. Your doctor will show you how to apply the ointment to the tight skin. The ointment softens the foreskin when used every day for 4–8 weeks.
Circumcision sometimes treatment with a topical steroid does not work. In that case, the doctor may recommend circumcision. Circumcision is a surgical procedure to remove the foreskin.
For circumcision in young boys, a numbing medication (local anaesthetic) will be used on the penis to reduce pain. Older boys and men who need circumcision will be asleep (general anaesthesia) for the procedure. To remove the foreskin, the surgeon holds it with a grasper and cuts the skin away from the penis .The skin below the glans is stitched to the skin of the shaft to heal. The wound is covered with gauze treated with petroleum jelly or antibiotic ointment.
Circumcision is not a very painful procedure. Anaesthesia dulls pain during the surgery. Urination does not cause pain after surgery because the urethra (the tube that passes urine from the bladder) is not touched. Recovery from circumcision is usually quick. Very few patients have problems or side effects after circumcision. Light bleeding or discharge 2-3 days after surgery will stop on its own. Bruising or swelling of the penis skin can last for a few weeks. Treat with cold packs and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Sometimes not enough skin is removed, and another operation is needed. More serious problems like damage or major bleeding are very rare.