Five Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Chordee Repair

Surgery is seldom something which people can face without any concern. There’s simply a natural inclination to experience concern about incisions into one’s body. To be sure, intellectually everyone knows that there’s usually not much to fear. Surgery is done to make people better, not worse. And modern techniques usually make it a relatively painless procedure. Part of the problem is that people approach surgery like a black box. Their fears keep them from looking at the situation too closely. And this is a shame because one often finds that there’s absolutely nothing to fear about the surgery. For example, consider someone getting chordee repair surgery. Five simple facts are all it takes to remove one’s fear of the procedure. Whether it’s for oneself or one’s child.

1. Hypospadias are a common problem which becomes worse with age

People are often concerned about bringing small children into surgery. The idea is that they’ll be able to handle it better as they grow older. But the difficulties in dealing with a medical condition often go up as one ages. And this is especially true for chordee due to something known as hypospadias. Hypospadias involve improper placement of the urine duct. This isn’t a big deal with babies since aiming urine isn’t much of a concern. But it’s obviously going to become worse for an older child. And even worse as adolescent approaches. This is one of the main reasons why chordee repair surgery is best done as soon as possible.

2. The exact causes are unknown

Many parents, quite unfairly, blame themselves for their children’s health problems. But the underlying cause of chordee still isn’t known. As such it’s important for parents to really take a moment to let that sink in. It’s not their fault. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just a medical problem which thankfully has a fairly simple and effective medical solution.

3. It’s usually diagnosed fairly early in life

Many health issues present since one’s birth will take a very long time to be diagnosed. But with chordee it’s usually diagnosed shortly after birth by a doctor. The main exception is if there’s no hypospadias. With chordee without hypospadias it’ll typically be parents who notice it first. And it will take a while after bringing their baby home. Thankfully this will almost always happen within a few months of a baby’s birth.

4. Reasons why it’s best to get the surgery early on

There’s multiple reasons why chordee repair surgery is usually scheduled for early on in a child’s life. But one of the most important is that it allows the child to grow up without ever having it impact their life. Chordee is surprisingly common. And there’s hundreds of thousands of people out there who were born with it without ever knowing. This is because the surgery is so fast and effective that parents often feel there’s no point in telling the child. It’s just something they experienced as a baby and forgot about.

5. Surgery can take place long before most people would assume

When people think of surgery they seldom imagine recipients who haven’t even learned how to walk yet. But that is actually quite common for birth defects. And as examined earlier, it’s best to treat chordee in infancy if possible. Not so much for physical need, but simply because it’ll be easier on the child as he grows up. In general one will typically schedule the surgery as early as six months of age. And the average is somewhere between six and eighteen months old.