This situation leads to any amount of unspoken confusion which added to the effects of over a century of anti and pro circumcision fanatics, has left our culture with a legacy of rumours and red herrings. However, none of the following describes or analyses the uncomfortable feeling I used to get in my stomach when I first started thinking about this subject. My belief and to some extent my experience is that, not all, but many other people, have very similar feelings about this subject. The lack of clarity which exists in the terminology, and the lack of terminology to describe the conditions is one of the clearest signs of the taboos regarding male circumcision and foreskin conditions. Naming a thing is a clear sign of cultural recognition.
Medical attention is concentrated on infections in the genital area.
BXO and balanitis, which refer to the same infection. Very often literature on male sexuality and parent care either ignore the subject or simply condemn circumcision - reflecting how the question over routine circumcision dominates the questioning on foreskin conditions. The explanations of the conditions are fully inadequate for parents or any individual who has them. I have never come across a method for parents to check for these conditions. This is all very appropriate for taboos.