Post Ceremony Care

• Immediately after the circumcision, I will place a gauze around the incision site. This gauze helps prevent any bleeding. It is also saturated with an antibiotic ointment to prevent an infection.
• Keep your son snugly swaddled (especially his legs). The more he kicks his legs, the less comfortable he will be.
• Please allow this gauze to fall off by itself. It will typically fall off within a few hours to a couple of days. If it stays on past 2 days, please gently remove it from the penis. I will look at the circumcision a few minutes after the Bris. If it is not bleeding at that time, it is unlikely that it will. However, I would request that the parents look at the circumcision once an hour for 3 hours to check for bleeding. One or two drops of blood are fine, but any more than that should prompt you to either call me or your pediatrician. With each diaper change, please put a coating of Betadine Ointment on the diaper (in the area where the penis will rub against the diaper) or on the penis (after the gauze has fallen off) for one week so that the healing tissue will not stick to the diaper.
• With each (disposable) diaper change:
• Wash your hands thoroughly
• Squeeze some Betadine ointment on the center of a 3X3 inch sterile gauze pad (about the size of a quarter) and set aside.
• Remove the old diaper, clean any mess, Inspect the area for fresh blood, then drape the new 3X3-inch gauze square over the penis so that the mound of ointment covers the penis completely and put on a new disposable diaper.
• If the penis or surrounding area is badly stained with feces, remove the old 3X3-inch gauze square by gently peeling from bottom up. It is normal to find some blood stains with the first few changes, and the stains should progressively lighten with each o change. Please change the gauze as few times as possible within the first 24-hours. Pulling it off the penis could cause bleeding.
• Over the first 2 days, the penis will become mildly swollen, beefy red and will have a yellowish, wet looking scab (this is healing tissue). After 2 days, the swelling and redness should slowly diminish. If, instead, there is increased redness, increased swelling, or pus, please contact either myself or your pediatrician immediately. The whole healing process usually occurs over a one to two week period.
• If stool should get on the circumcision site, gently remove it with a wet clean wash cloth.
• It is important to push the skin down off the head of the penis if it has moved up a little to ensure it heals properly just behind the back rim of the head.
• DO NOT DO ANY PUSHING ON THE SKIN FOR THE FIRST TWO DAYS BECAUSE THE PENIS WILL BE SWOLLEN FROM THE SURGERY.