Circumcision
Q. When a circumcision is done, how long does it take to heal, and what cost is involved? Does the foreskin take long to remove also?
A. The cost for circumcision varies between offices. Our office charges 0 for the procedure. The total procedure (most doctors are using a local anesthetic shot at the base of the penis to numb up the area - I would ask about this) takes about 10 minutes. There are two techniques used. One is a plastibell that is left on the penis, and the other is to use a clamp and this aligns the skin so the foreskin can be cut away. The actual cutting takes only a minute or so. Most of the time is spent strapping the baby, cleaning the area, giving the anesthesia, aligning the equipment and holding the area after to slow down the bleeding. Babies heal very quickly, and we usually find it is completely healed in about a week. The penis will be very red and raw at the beginning, and then develop a yellow film. Then, the new skin will appear. Ask the doctor about what they prefer you to do in taking care of the area, as they can have different preferences.
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Christine Wood, MD
Click here to Ask Dr. Christine Wood questions about your baby's health
Dr. Christine Wood is a practicing pediatrician in Southern California. She attended the University of Detroit for her undergraduate degree in chemistry and received her medical degree from the University of Michigan. She completed her pediatric residency at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. She was Chief Resident there and then worked in the emergency room at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. After three years doing pediatric emergency room medicine she went into private practice. She received her lactation educator certification from the University of California, San Diego.
She is the author of "How to Get Kids to Eat Great and Love It," a book that addresses the issues of why and how to feed kids healthy. The book also covers information about environmental threats and the role of nutritional supplementation for children. She lives in Southern California with her husband and son.
Christine is also the cofounder of Call Your Ped.com a website designed to give concerned parents with non-emergency medical questions, solid, no-nonsense information that can give them information in deciding when to call the doctor and some home treatment advice. You can visit her website at http://www.callyourped.com
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