I was circumcised on February 11 of this year for the same reasons you've posted. I had a severe case of phimosis and after many years of attempting various different methods of stretching, none of them worked.
Here's how the recovery period worked for me:
Days 1, 2, and 3: On the couch, wearing only briefs packed with gauze pads (there WILL be oozing and bleeding; they need to be switched out every few hours), and continually keeping an ice pack on my groin area. I switched it out every 30-45 minutes with a fresh one. The longer you keep the ice packs on the area, the shorter time period it will take to heal, and the quicker the swelling will go away. Night time erections hurt terribly, and I was woken up by them at least once a night. I have no suggestions on how to prevent this, but I can assure you that a previous posters' suggestion of making sure you empty your bladder prior to going to bed does NOT work, at least not for me.
Week 1 (Days 4-7): I returned to work, but walked somewhat slower (still sore, but bearable). 6 days post-op, I thought I had an infection and went back to my urologist. He was very surprised to see my progress. At 6 days, he said I was where he'd expected me to be at 2.5 weeks! I was happy about that. The stitches itched like hell, but I used an alcohol prep pad to dab at them when they were bothering me. Worked like a charm. Still a bit oozing/bleeding, but it was 95% stopped by day 5. Just a few little dots of blood here and there. Bruising was significantly reduced as well.
Week 2 (Days 8-14): Stitches started dissolving. Still sore, but MUCH more bearable. Soreness was reduced and by day 10, I was no longer packing my underwear with gauze pads. Incision point was scabbing over and ITCHED. Anti-itch remedies work great, but I used alchol prep pads. Burns a bit, but gets rid of the itch quickly. By day 14, the stitches were dissolving at a rapid rate. Not a moment too soon, as they were getting caught on my underwear and would STING at times. Nighttime erections still hurt, but not as bad. Healing is visibly happening at a much more rapid rate. I did masturbate on day 14, but it was VERY carefully, and with a LOT of lube, and I avoided disturbing the incision point as much as I could. This is completely against recommendations, but I really couldn't stand it any longer. :redface:
Week 3 (Days 15-21): No more oozing or bleeding at all. I could achieve an erection and it wouldn't be so painful that I wanted to cry. It was sore, but definitely bearable. By day 20, almost all of the stitches were dissolved. I had a few holdovers that were irritating. By day 21, I took a sterile pair of surgical scissors and removed the last 3 stitches. By this point, the incision area was all but healed up, so the stitches were doing nothing but irritating me.
Week 4 (Days 22-28) : All healed up. Follow up appointment with Urologist on day 28 (had to reschedule, but I don't think it's a big deal). Successfully masturbated with the assistance of a LOT of lube. I still have a little discomfort with erections, but the incision point is still a little swollen, which will go down in time. I've been told by many different guys that have had this procedure done as adults that the incision point will change steadily over the next year or so. We shall see.
That leads us up to today. The skin is very loose when flaccid, but when I'm erect, the skin becomes VERY tight on my shaft. I cannot masturbate without lube, and I'm fine with that because I LOVE the way my cock looks erect. :biggrin1:
In short: the first week post-op was hell, ESPECIALLY the first 3 days. After that, it was mainly annoying. The soreness will continue for a few weeks, but I found it to be very tolerable, much more tolerable than I was led to believe. I only took 3 Vicodin (pain killer) total, and each of those were during the first three days. As a previous poster said, I highly recommend that you wear some very supportive underwear during the first week or two. The less movement you have during the initial recovery period, the less uncomfortable you'll be. I had some supportive athletic briefs that I wore, and that's the main reason I was able to work during the first week after my circumcision.
PM me if you have any questions.