Surgeons who work in areas where ritual circumcision is not available are sometimes asked to don rabbinical robes on the eight day to circumcise a Jewish baby, and they may have been impressed by the lack of distress as the baby sucks on a teat containing some brandy. There is however a big difference between these rites and routine circumcision of newborn boys. Too often this is seen as an uninteresting chore to be passed to inadequately trained junior staff, which evidently is not without risk. Haematogenous osteomyelitis and lung abscess have also been reported as complications. Furthermore, all babies who lose their foreskin lose the natural protection of the glans penis, which prevents it being burnt by ammoniacal urine on the wet nappy.
Meatal ulceration is a painful condition and meatal stenosis a serious one.
Presumably most Americans are satisfied with their present practice, and some justify it most forcefully. On the other hand, surgeons and urologists know that many men conceal a dirty mess beneath the foreskin and that in some the discomforts of phimosis make circumcision necessary, and that this is an embarassing and uncomfortable procedure in adult life. These problems can be forestalled. Examination of the penis, as well as the testes should be a standard part of school medical inspections. This would allow the few boys with true phimosis to be treated early, and at secondary school would provide an excellent opportunity to back up or amplify parental instruction in personal hygiene.