7 Facts About Hypospadias Repair Which Everyone Needs to Know

1. Hypospadias is relatively common

Most people assume that any birth anomaly is worrisome and uncommon. However, hypospadias is relatively benign and common. It’s estimated to occur in 1 out of around 125 male births. As such it’s close to a one in one hundred chance, or 1%. This might seem uncommon at first glance. But it drives home how treatable the condition actually is.

2. Hypospadias is highly treatable

If 1% of the male population is born with the condition than why isn’t it discussed more often? The answer is that most men who were born with hypospadias aren’t even aware of the fact. It’s almost always fully treatable. Combined with how early it can be taken care of most men won’t even know they had it.

3. Hypospadias has nearly no impact on one’s adult life after treatment

Parents are often highly concerned about the toll hypospadias might take on their son’s future. And in particular while they celebrate a birth they might wonder about the reproductive health of their progeny. Thankfully the answer is that hypospadias has no impact on reproductive health. A boy who’s born with hypospadias will have no additional trouble having children of his own one day.

4. It’s treatable at very young ages

People seldom think of surgery for babies. And it’s true that many types of surgery are best avoided until a child grows older. Thankfully hypospadias is easily treated even at a very young age.

5. There are benefits from taking care of it at a young age

Not only can one treat hypospadias at a young age, it’s usually best to aim for it. As previously noted it’s quite common for an adult man to be unaware of the fact that he suffered from hypospadias when younger. This is due to the fact that most hypospadias cases are treated during infancy. This allows the child to have everything taken care of at a young enough age that he won’t have any memory of the procedure.

6. It’s nearly 100% treatable at any age

One shouldn’t worry if it’s not treated until adulthood though. Adult hypospadias repair is often easier than when a child is at the toddler stage. The main reason is that in adult hypospadias repair the patient understands that it’s not a risky surgery. They know it’s a simple procedure and not anything worth worrying about. This is similar to the overall lack of concern an infant brings to the table.

The old saying that there’s nothing to fear but fear itself comes to mind when thinking about hypospadias repair. It’s a fairly minor form of surgery which is often done in a single visit. Even in cases when a second visit is needed the overall duration will usually be fairly short. Likewise, what’s actually involved from the perspective of a patient will be fairly minor as well.

7. People shouldn’t worry about passing it on to their children

One concern specific to adults is how it might impact their own children. People often have a lot of concerns about passing anything on to their children. Parents, even potential parents, re understandably concerned about the well being of their children. And if someone knows that he had hypospadias than he might worry about passing it on.

The first thing to keep in mind is that its almost always easily treated. By definition, it’s a fairly simple structural issue that’s easily repaired. But one should also keep in mind that the underlying cause isn’t really known. It’s most likely a result of many different developmental factors working in conjunction. Just because one had it as a baby doesn’t mean that his own children will too.