Aftercare diagrams
This is the typical appearance of a healing circumcision for a newborn.
There should be 3 ‘zones’
The head
The collar
The shaft
In the above diagram you can see that you can clearly see the entire head, including the underside of the head, and there is also a clear collar all the way round
In this diagram you can see three areas where the collar has started to overlap the edge of the head
This is called a mucosal adhesion and will resolve spontaneously over time
You can always call me if you are not sure and I can manually peel off the collar from the head to give a better appearance in the short term if you wish
In this diagram you can see two areas where the shaft skin has reached to the head and there is no collar
This is called a skin bridge and if left will result in fusion of the shaft skin to the head which will not look very good.
If you start to see the shaft skin touching the head in this way, (after the first few days), you should gently pull the shaft skin away from the head and apply vaseline to the head to prevent sticking.
If you are unable to separate the shaft skin from the head, you should call me so that I can rectify this appearance (the sooner the better)
This diagram shows the appearance with marked swelling of the collar
In this diagram the swelling is all the way round, but may also affect only one side at a time
Although in the short term, this appearance can look disconcerting, the swelling usually settles and may result in some ‘bagginess’ of the skin underneath the head which will usually stretch out as the penis length grows. If you are not sure, let me know.
It is far more common for there to be more swelling on the underside if the penis compared to the top side
This final diagram shows a combination of different common concerns.
The blue arrows show a skin bridge where the shaft skin has attached to the back of the head. You should try to pull the shaft skin away from the head and apply vaseline to stop it sticking. If you can’t separate the skin from the head, you should call me
The purple arrow shows a ‘bulging’ collar on the underside. this is not a problem and will settle with time
The red arrow points to a skin tag or lump that frequently arises as a result of the position of the clamp used for the circumcision. The skin in this location has been squashed and forms a small tag. Usually this will flatten with time but may take months or years to smoothe out. If you are at all concerned, or if it particularly prominent, please contact me.