(1) Two letters to an anonymous donor, from a couple who are now both
deceased--both the donor and the couple are from the UK. (I have
photocopies of all of the following materials.)
Letter 1: The first letter, dated 27 May, 1987, was in response to a phone
call and letter from the anonymous donor, apparently in response to
some notice the couple made in a magazine. The husband (A.) reports
two cases of women whose hoods were removed, and then the wife (E.)
reports her own case (for a total of three such reports in the letter, the
third of which—E’s—is by far the most detailed).
Case 1: In the mid 1970’s “a married couple were [sic] both circumcised
by an interested doctor somewhere in the north of England.” A. reports,
“they were both extremely pleased with the results.”
Case 2: “A well built young woman” whose husband was circumcised,
suggested that “he should cut off her foreskin to match.” She consented
to this, claims to have “healed up in three or four days,” but after five
years claimed she did not have “much bias either way, bare or covered.”
She also claimed she was “a big girl everywhere,” and so A. opines that
perhaps her clitoris was “fairly prominent anyway.”
Case 3: E. (A.’s wife). E. says that prior to her hood removal, “I enjoyed
cuddling and all that went with it, but found myself reluctant to ‘let go’
in orgasm, and thought this may be due to inhibitions left over from the
controlled petting of my single days. With hindsight I think my foreskin
may have been to blame.” E. says she later noticed that in hot weather or
from frequent intercourse she would form smegma “which irritated my
vaginal lips and was very difficult to remove.” She and A. now noticed
that her hood was too tight to slide back, which she noticed “was both
uncomfortable, and a hygienic problem.” After working on the problem
for some time, “the skin loosened, but frequent attention was needed to
keep it really clean, and I still enjoyed orgasm but rarely.”
After “several children and twelve or fourteen years later (we had read
up on the subject in the meantime) I decided to do something about it,
and to get rid of the offending skin if at all possible.”
E. apparently had A. perform the surgery on her without anesthetic.
“The operation was done in stages, first the skin was cut down center
with blunt nosed scissors, and a dressing applied. This released the
clitoris from all restriction, and healed in a few days. The result was
electrifying as the organ was open to stimulation, and so easy to wash
fresh and clean. My orgasms improved immediately and were often
multiple. It was so sensitive that I would ‘come’ from the contact of
clothes when dressing, or even from leaning against the furniture. The
remains of the foreskin lay like two miniature lips each side of my
clitoris, and to improve the appearance I had them removed soon
afterwards.”
E. allows that “the actual operation was unpleasant” (as one might
imagine without anesthetic!), but she also says that it “was over very
quickly, and barely sore during healing which only took about four days,
and was even quicker when the remains of the skin was removed.”
Apparently, E.’s hood had been removed several years earlier. She
writes, “All this is history now, my orgasms are still good, cleansing the
vagina is simple as washing the hands, and I still get a Thrill [sic] from
leaning on the furniture.” E. concludes, “obviously it is not a ‘cure-all’
for every sexual difficulty, but I doubt if anyone would be worse off for
the operation as I had it. And many a lot better.”
Letter 2: The second letter, dated 26/6/1987, adds a few more details
about E.’s surgery.
“E.’s was a DIY [do-it-yourself] job, and not so difficult as it may
appear, the area should be first washed off with a mild antiseptic, and the
scissors sterilized. Sharp scissors will cut quickly and cleanly if the
blades are pressed together with the fingers during cutting. […] E.
remembers the pain as equivalent to that of cutting the hand when
opening a tin can.”
________________________________________
(2) Dr. Irene Anderson practiced surgery in Mexico until becoming ill
with cancer. Of her own hoodectomy, she wrote:
"I had it in November 1991. The reason was that I never had vaginal
orgasm, so I wanted to improve the sensitivity of my clitoris, releasing it
from the hood. The result is great."
Dr. Anderson has also performed the surgery on many women. Of the
surgeries she performed, she says:
"Regarding my patients, the success rate was very high. I had nearly one
hundred surgeries of that type, and only three patients were not satisfied
by the result. I recommend the procedure to every woman, especially
those who are not able to have vaginal orgasms."
________________________________________
(3) An account of a DYI hoodectomy
Preface by K. N. Wheeler
I often receive emailed queries or personal reports from women (and
occasionally men) who share with me some of their experiences or
observations on the topic of hoodectomy. In one instance, I received an
email from a woman who very much wanted to have the procedure, but
was unwilling to pay the prices charged by medical professionals. At
first, she considered asking someone at a body-piercing place to do it for
her, but then she decided to do it for herself on her own. The account
that follows explains how she did it. Please note: I do not recommend
using this method, and note also that in the report, this woman ended up
thinking she had not taken off as much of the hood as she would have
liked.
The report:
I circumcised myself this morning at about 4:00 a.m.! It went very well,
I think. I bought a new pair of good manicure scissors, Hibiclens,
povidone iodine, sterile cotton, gloves, and used a hemostat I still had
from my days as a paramedic. Cleaned the bedroom, fresh sheets and
towels dried on high in the dryer, etc. IOW as clean as I could make
things. Used some lidocaine gel called ELA-Max that was given to me
by a friend who does laser hair removal and electrolysis. Took a full
bath and total body scrub with Dial antibacterial soap. Cleaned my
pudenda with the Hibiclens, and then doused everything from my navel
straight through up the crack of my butt and down my inner thighs with
the povidone iodine. Took a hydrocodone left over from a dental
procedure. Numbed "the area" for a solid hour and a half with the
lidocaine jelly. Had all my tools sterilized and laid out on a paper towel
on my bed. Arranged lighting, mirrors, etc. More Hibiclens, more
povidone iodine. Inserted the hemostat 1/4 inch under the center of my
totally numb hood, applied maximum pressure, left it on for about a
minute. I felt NOTHING at all. Very carefully inserted the manicure
scissors about 1/4 inch and clipped the compressed tissue. Felt nothing.
No blood. Amazed. Cotton soaked with povidone iodine again.
Hemostat now down the left side from the incision down about 1/2 inch,
again a minute or so. Clipped. No pain, a little oozing of blood. I tried
then to do the right side, more difficult because I am right handed so
everything had to be grabbed "backwards." As I put the hemostat on I
realized it was not totally numb down toward the bottom, but close
enough. As a result, when I clipped it did bleed a little there, but nothing
remarkable. The pain was definitely endurable. I don't think I got it
totally symmetrical, but who has symmetrical genitalia anyway, huh? If
I need to, I can do more. Things are a bit swollen, but I can see my clit
for the first time. Have two tapering little strips of tissue about 3/16 x
1/2 inch. Next took one of those gel ice packs wrapped in paper towels
and held it to the remains of my now bleeding prepuce for about 5 or 10
minutes. It is done! I tried to err on the side of not enough, rather than
too much. I think it will be okay. I will call my OB/GYN when his
office opens and ask for antibiotics. I am so glad and relieved it was as
easy as it was. Need good care to prevent infection, that's all. It even
looks better too without all that extra tissue. This really makes me
aware of how much extra tissue I HAD!
I read about the clamping technique while researching how baby boys
are circumcised. I have just hairline cuts visible, so it seems to have
worked pretty well. I am still waiting for it to start to scab over. Did not
have to work today (one reason I decided to do it yesterday), so I am
sitting with my legs splayed out and a fan blowing on it to help it dry
out. I dabbed the povidone iodine on again early this afternoon and
provoked more bleeding, so it really needs to crust over. I haven't been
putting ice on it because I am trying to keep it dry, which is tough in that
area as you can imagine. By all means use my account on your website
to help others. May give someone like me courage to do it. The ELA-
Max was GREAT. I literally had no sensation. I left it on a good long
while, though, and reapplied it during that time, too. I wouldn't describe
the procedure as INCREDIBLY easy because it would have been better
if I had someone else to do the clamp and cut. Doing the right hand side
was very awkward, and I did not get quite as good result there, I fear. A
slightly jagged edge. If I get an infection, that will be where it starts,
since the tissue is more traumatized.
Update the following day:
This not painful, but I decided I want my OB/GYN to take a look at it
anyway because it is not scabbing, the cut edges are just turning whitish.
I think it is fine, but I want to be sure. I will have to wait for the swelling
to go down to evaluate how good of a job I did aesthetically, but I think
it is pretty good. I did put some ice on it after all.
Update four days after the surgery:
When I got there he (the OB/GYN) was in an emergency so they wanted
to reschedule or they left me the option of seeing the P.A. there. She
looked and said i had done a very good job, but that a white spot looked
like a possible pus pocket. She teased it up ith a Q-Tip and it was an
undercut on the somewhat jagged edge on the right side. She used a pair
of scissors and debrided it without an anesthetic! So I got a little taste of
what it would be like to do this without anesthetic, as some have. What
pain. She then told me again it looked very good and I should come
back and see the doctor in a month or so and see if he thought it should
be revised a bit or not. She did not seem to think so.
Update 15 days after the surgery:
It healed with a bit more skin left on it than I would have liked. The
very edge may still be a bit raised. Will see if he wants to revise or not.
I am just not sure the swelling has all gone down. May do more. Like I
said, I erred on the side of conservatism. It is not really so much more
exposed, just more "accessible." I like it.
Personal Reports Contributed to this Website
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