Ask the Doctor: Why does my circumcision scar itch?

I am a 40-year-old who got circumcised one and a half months ago. However, when erect, I tip of the penis becomes numb with little or no feelings. The scar is also itchy. Will this feeling change? Joseph Mukama

Dear Joseph,

Circumcision is a surgery to remove the foreskin that covers and protects the tip of the penis.

In Uganda, male circumcision has traditionally been done culturally, for religious reasons, as a personal preference or for medical reasons including the removal of a tight foreskin that cannot be pulled back over the head of the penis (phimosis), and for prevention of some STDs such as HIV where it is packaged alongside the famed ABC in prevention of HIV.

Circumcision is thought to reduce penile sensitivity by the removal of the foreskin which has many sensitivity nerves and the additional hardening of the formerly soft forehead of the penis by a protein (keratinisation) increases the loss of sensitivity.

Reduction of the sensitivity could be one reason why your penile head feels numb now but with time you will get used to this and not feel the numbness.

It is normal for circumcision scars just like any other scars to get itchy as they heal. And here applying petroleum jelly or a cool compression on the scar may reduce the itching.

Can I have children after a vasectomy?

Doctor, I am a 65-year-old man who has sired 12 children! I did a vasectomy in 2006 in the US. Now for reasons I will not tell you or the public, I want to have more children. Is it possible? A.K.N 

Dear A.K.N,

A vasectomy whereby the tubes that bring sperms from the testes to the penis are cut or blocked. Though called a permanent method of family planning, can be reversed.  So the semen a man produces during a sexual act can have sperms again and be able to cause pregnancy again.

There may be no guarantee that the reversal will always be successful. 

However, if the vasectomy or the reversal itself are done by a good surgeon, the reversal may be successful.

That said, other factors determining the reversal success include the age or ability of the woman to get pregnant, the age of the man and whether there were fertility issues before the vasectomy was done, among other reasons. 

In case there is failure of the reversal as indicated by failure to make a fertile woman pregnant, other fertility methods including sperm aspiration prior to In Vitro fertilization, can be done to help cause pregnancy. 

Your kind of question might indicate that you either were not properly counselled before or after the vasectomy was done or you may have got issues requiring a vasectomy reversal to get more children.

At 18 years since vasectomy was done, a successful reversal is still possible. You require seeing your doctor, or better still a urologist and your sexual partner, has to be checked by a gynaecologist to make sure she is fertile as well before you embark on making you fertile.