PediaCast 133 * Sex Education, Dry Drowning, Foreskin * 347-404-5437

Posted by Dr Mike on Sep 15 2008

2 Responses to “PediaCast 133 * Sex Education, Dry Drowning, Foreskin * 347-404-5437”

1. on 15 Sep 2008 at 10:32 pm 1 Ron Low said …

   
   

   I have some points to make about your great advice to Valerie about her son’s penis.

   You kept refering to her son’s foreskin but she obviously had him circumcised (leaving a scar which is why these adhesions are even an issue).

   Her doctor called the white stuff soap. If he or she is foreign s/he may indeed have meant to correctly identify it as smegma, since the word comes from the latin and greek words for soap.

   You identified the glans surface as skin, but it is mucous membrane like the inside of the lips.

   You said there is no agreement on the treatment of infants with adhesions, but there is unanimous agreement among the world’s national medical associations - NOT ONE endorses routine circumcision.

   While Valerie didn’t mention circumcision, if her son is in fact intact then her message should have caused alarm because of the way she describe looking under her son’s skin. ONLY THE OWNER should ever try to retract a foreskin. It is naturally fused to the glans and the skin gradually separates due to the child’s curious manipulations typically between ages 3 and 13. The RIGHT answer for caregivers is leave it alone, per the AAP. Wash only what you can see. Do nothing to the penis you wouldn’t do to eyelids. Sterile urine leaving the body flushes the space within the foreskin clean until the boy is old enough to gently rinse with clear water.

   I don’t think you mentioned girls have Smegma, too. All the body’s skin looses surface cells all the time. Anywhere they can’t get away, we get healthful smegma.

2. on 17 Sep 2008 at 1:37 pm 2 Adena said …

   
   

   Dr. Mike:
   I am a long-time listener and I usually agree with your evidence-based, knowledge-based approach to medical topics. However, I cannot agree with your approach to the sex education information you read during the podcast.

   If you had taken the time to research sexuality education, as was briefly mentioned in the Medical News today article, you would have discovered that abstinence only sex education programs show very little evidence of delaying onset of intercourse, while comprehensive sex education programs do show positive effects such as delayed onset of intercourse, increased contraceptive use, etc.

   Also, Barack Obama is NOT proposing inappropriate sex education for kindergardeners, but rather appropriate comprehensive sexuality education which includes appropriate content for children of all grade levels. As a former sex ed teacher, I can tell you that kids have questions, even at age 5, and it would be great if schools could lay the groundwork for addressing these questions.

   I recently was a guest speaker on Manic Mommies about this very topic. Please listen to MM episode 134 for more information about appropriate sex education.
   http://manicmommies.com/2008/09/mommy_where_do_babies_come_fro.html

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