male symbol (7308 bytes, transparent background) Skin Bridges in the
Circumcised Male



UTC



Skin Bridges form when, during the healing process after circumcision, one or more unwanted webs of tissue develop joining the coronal rim of the glans to the circumcision scar. Rare, they are easily corrected by minor surgery.

In the newly circumcised infant, child or adult, skin bridge formation can be avoided by ensuring that the wound is kept away from the corona of the glans during healing. This is easily accomplished if the circumcision has removed sufficient foreskin to provide for a moderate to tight circumcision. If a looser style has been chosen, daily intervention must take place to ensure that the wound is not coming into contact with the glans. This can be accomplished by keeping the circumcision wound covered, or by means of the application of medical grade white petroleum jelly. Do not substitute brown (industrial) petroleum jelly, which is carcinogenic.

Circumcisions performed using either the Hollister Plastibell device (widely used in the USA) or one of the more modern clip-&-wear clamps ensure that skin bridges do not form. The bell or clamp stays in place until the wound is sufficiently sealed by scab formation to prevent skin bridge formation. Details of these devices appear in CIRCLIST’s Instruments & Techniques section, which you can access using the navigation bar below.

Here are some illustrations of uncorrected skin bridges on males circumcised in infancy:

skinbridge1.jpg (47611 bytes) skinbridge2.jpg (65142 bytes)

skinbridge3.jpg (60526 bytes)




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