Photo: Erin McPhee
When Catherine Groves?* four-year-old son, Will*, started complaining that it hurt when he went pee, she did what any sensible mom would do?she had her husband go into the bathroom to have a look. After gently pulling back Will?s foreskin, Dad saw that his penis looked red and inflamed, so he took him to a walk-in clinic.
It turns out Will had a minor infection that was easily treated with an antifungal hydrocortisone-cream. The doctor visit also revealed that Will?s foreskin had separated from his penis?up until that point, Groves wasn?t sure if it had yet. ?We hadn?t really been checking,? she says.
This was Groves? (and her son?s) uncomfortable introduction to foreskin care. ?It?s not that it?s a really complicated thing, but if you?ve never dealt with it, you don?t know what to do,? says Groves, adding that her husband is circumcised, so, like her, he?s a stranger to caring for foreskin. Indeed, the loose skin that covers and protects the head of the penis can cause parents a lot of anxiety, says Peter Metcalfe, a paediatric urologist at Stollery Children?s Hospital in Edmonton. They worry about retraction, proper cleaning and whether they?re doing the right things, he says. Part of the problem is a knowledge gap. More and more parents are choosing to leave their boys? foreskin alone?in 1970s Canada, an estimated 48 percent of boys were circumcised; today, the rate has dropped to 32 percent and will likely keep heading south. But if dad is circumcised...