Retraction & Phimosis

[13788]

Decent: Wasn't sure whether to start a new thread - or continue from the circumcision one which mentioned this - but it isn't really a circumcision issue.

Amongst those of you who are uncut - have you had problems with retraction? I do, and I'm not sure whether it's phimosis or not. I guess it is to a degree. I have read however that this can be overcome though gentle and repeated stretching to allow full retraction. Has anyone done it ?

It isn't really causing me any problems so I'm not too concerned - but it sort of makes me wonder - and additionally I wonder if my experiences would be different if it did slip back over the rim.

As for the hygeine issue which cut blokes seem to be obsessed with. I don't recall ever having smegma at all, nor have I ever had any infection problems. I tend to just fill up my cup and slosh it about.

 

[jonb]

I've never had any problems with it. Most phimosis diagnoses are bunk.

 

[13788]

BiteSize: I sympathise: until I was fifteen I couldn't draw back my foreskin (and nor could anyone else, try as they might). I remember the night when, under the continuous assault of thrice-nightly masturbation, my prepuce finally gave up the fight. I was away from home on a sail training camp and on the second wank of the night when it popped. A little blood and a zinging pain but it was worth it because -- hey, presto -- my foreskin had retracted beyond the rim and I had a helmet, just like all the other boys. It's resisted containment ever since.

I don't know how old you are but suggest that for the sake of hygiene (though you say that's not an issue) and to greatly increase your pleasure potential you work at exposing your glans. Try inserting a lubed finger beneath your foreskin and running it around the glans. Stop when it hurts - pain will make you tense and is, after all, an indicator of injury - but my guess is you'll get to like it.

In retrospect I wonder if I should have been circumsized, but I'm glad I'm not. All's well that ends well.

 

[benderten2001]

[quote author=jonb link=board=health;num=1046202262;start=0#1 date=02/25/03 at 16:37:32]

"... Most phimosis diagnoses are bunk."

[/quote]

jonb,

I would easily agree with that statement on the premise that it can be a quick excuse to promptly order a circumcision.  That scenario probably has happened in many a doc's office, too.  

However, you and I would be well advised to not be too quick to judge.

Mind you,  I am not an advocate of circumcision unless it is the man's decision for himself (at a responsible age when he can think it through) and, in the case of a medical necessity.

Working in a medical clinic setting (and I shared this story in an earlier post long ago) I did witness the need for a man (late-thirties) to have a phimosis situation attended to by a surgical procedure. We had no choice but refer him to a urologist for help. VERY tight, totally unretractable foreskins DO occur and they can strangle the glans (penis head) to where circulation is totally impaired and the man faces amputation (yes, worst case scenario, of course--it's rare).  That was the case of this married man with children who had (somehow) tolerated phimosis all his life to the point he HAD to do something. He was absolutely miserable and uncomfortable.  His penis was beginning to discolor!
He was on the verge of infection as well. I didn't see this patient personally, of course.  But, the male physicians certainly remarked over the severity of this situation among themselves when they met in my office to have me call the urologist for the referral....."worst they had EVER seen" they said.  "He was about to lose his dick"

What I learned from this however, is that to correct phimosis,  a man needn't have a complete circumcision but instead a procedure called a  "dorsal slit" whereby the foreskin is cut just enough to allow it to retract...the man for the most part remains intact at least from a visible standpoint.  And, of course, he's left much more comfortable and more easily functional.

 

[13788]

bigmike11: Hey benderten, the condition you're talking about is paraphimosis which is not exactly the same as phimosis. Paraphimosis is when the foreskin gets trapped behind the head of the penis and can't be pulled forward. Obviously this is bad for all the reasons that you mention...

As for phimosis, I don't think it's a problem unless you have trouble pissing or it interferes with sex. If you have a foreskin that you can't retract and it is causing problems, there is a cream you can get that will eventually allow you to retract your foreskin.

For me, my foreskin doesn't retract at all. I've never pulled my foreskin back more than a tiny little bit and I've never had any problems. It's easy for me to keep it clean by pulling my foreskin forward and "filling my cup" like you say. I'm happy with it even though I've had doctors offer me the cream to stretch my foreskin or even that I needed to be circumcised! Never in a million years will I let them circumcise me.

My foreskin works fine for me during sex (the bottom line, really... if it works without problems, don't mess with it) and I've found many sexual partners actually turned on by the fact that my foreskin doesn't retract at all! You'd be surprised at how big of a turn on it can be for some people But then again many of them are attracted to my uncut dick in the first place...

Of course your mileage may vary Let us know how it turns out

 

[benderten2001]

[quote author=bigmike11 link=board=health;num=1046202262;start=0#4 date=02/26/03 at 04:39:13]

"Hey benderten, the condition you're talking about is paraphimosis which is not exactly the same as phimosis. Paraphimosis is when the foreskin gets trapped behind the head of the penis and can't be pulled forward. Obviously this is bad for all the reasons that you mention..."

[/quote]


bigmike11,

Thanks for your correction and qualification!

When the snowstorm ends here and I can return to my office, I'm going to look up YOUR term just to see if YOU'RE correct!!! -- Just kidding.

BTW, the MD notes I had to work with on that patient's referral only listed "phimosis"...It makes sense there would be various presentations of that condition (as the patient probably learned when he went to the specialist); hence the fancy prefixes and the like. --Thanks, again, for your info!

Also, just wanted to agree pretty much overall, too with your views on "foreskin" and the related subject of circumcision and the matter of "cut versus uncut".

As to cut, I wish I hadn't been. There are many men like me, however who don't mind their circumcision one bit nor do they give it one thought. Mind you, I don't lose sleep over it --or, lose in "other" of life's experiences because of it! but, I do regret my circumcision nonetheless (and have since childhood).
I suppose I should be thankful, though. --Mine left hardly any scarring, no discoloration, etc. Turned out perfectly, really. (Some do not. It angers me for the men who live with that scarring and mutilation)

I really deem circumcision to be an individual choice whereby the man is allowed to decide for himself when HE is ready (and not have the decision made for him by another, particularly when at a very young age.)

Quite obviously, information and personal experiences noted throughout this board (like yours!) tell us that foreskins (and even some phimosis-type situations) can be "lived-with" quite normally and quite healthfully with no really severe, (negative) impact on sexual function and pleasure.

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[13788]

bigmike11: [quote author=benderten2001 link=board=health;num=1046202262;start=0#5 date=02/27/03 at 12:34:37]
Quite obviously, information and personal experiences noted throughout this board (like yours!) tell us that foreskins (and even some phimosis-type situations) can be "lived-with" quite normally and quite healthfully with no really severe, (negative) impact on sexual function and pleasure.

Thanks for sharing with us.[/quote]

Benderten, no problem. That's what I like about this board -- the sharing of experiences. I'm glad I discovered it.

And to Decent: I've never been able to retract my foreskin and it feels great. If you have no problem pissing or having sex, then it's only a problem for doctors who want to make money. Some guys just don't have retractable foreskin. Your tight foreskin is just fine the way it is.

 

[jonb]

So, just out of curiosity, how do you wash it?

 

[13788]

bigmike11: [quote author=jonb link=board=health;num=1046202262;start=0#7 date=02/28/03 at 06:37:35]So, just out of curiosity, how do you wash it?[/quote]

job, I wash under my foreskin by pulling it forward and filling it up with water then swishing it around inside. I've never had a problem with infections at all

 

[jonb]

Thanks. Though I can pull mine back, there's always the chance that my son won't be able to. (I don't have a son right now, but...)

 

[13788]

Decent: Thanks for your messages bigmike. I was worried that people might not understand the filling the cup analogy - but obviously you did. I had visions of people thinking that I actually fill a mug.

Anyway - it hasn't caused me any problems so far - I was just concerned by the fact that I can't do it. I can get about half way when erect, and all the way when flaccid - but I think I would risk paraphimosis or chopping the head off if I let myslef get erect with the foreskin retracted.

I don't know whether cut guys appreciate this - but I consider touching my glans in a similar way to touching my eyeball. Best avoided unless you become used to it. Too sensitive otherwise.

 

[benderten2001]

[quote author=Decent link=board=health;num=1046202262;start=0#10 date=02/28/03 at 16:49:49]

"...I don't know whether cut guys appreciate this - but I consider touching my glans in a similar way to touching my eyeball.  Best avoided unless you become used to it.  Too sensitive otherwise.


[/quote]

Decent,

I don't think we do! --at least many of us, that is.

It's been said that through the course of time, those of us who are "cut" (circumcised) do indeed loose much of the super-sensitivity in the glans. For one thing, the cut man's glans stays "dry" with no moisture constantly around it (as is the case having a foreskin). I once read somewhere that the cut man's glans can become as "tough as elbow skin". That's an exageration of course...it's really not THAT bad and my glans is still sensitive to a great degree...but, more or less confined though to certain particular areas only and not overall. I am fairly sensitive on the underside and near the "fork" area of the two "lobes" of the glans...and I have no frenelum (flap of skin that connects the foreskin underneath to the glans tip near the urethral opening)----that's supposed to be super sensitive for a man and mine, like other cut guys, is GONE. Seems I have occasions when erect, the glans sensitivity can increase, then wane abit, and increase again. Of course, full engorgement of the glans for me typically occurs just before orgasm....really, really enlarges by that point and it makes sense it would certainly THEN be more sensitive...almost ticklish-like to touch...But, I still have to doubt it's anything like an uncut one would be...I can only imagine. :-/

I doubt if many of us cut men really CAN appreciate the SUPER sensitivity that the glans (originally) was supposed to have had.

--It still infuriates me when I think about it, too.

 

[txquis]

i'm cut, and...no i don't think i knew how sensitive the glans is for those who are uncut.
In my case,
the head of my dick is very sensitive...not like the desriptions of the intact guys...but...

Of course, i know some cut guys who don't have any sensitivity in the head of their cock at all.  Maybe it is kind of like nipples...you are either "wired" or not...??

 

[13788]

bigmike11: I also have a very sensitive head. It's almost painful to touch... some guys like sticking their fingers under my foreskin and playing around, and I hate that as it's so intense it's almost painful. Another reason I'm not unhappy that my foreskin doesn't retract... I can't imagine having my cockhead bare... too sensitive!

 

[txquis]

Wow...i am learning a lot.

Do all uncut guys have this super sensitivity in the glans, and want to keep it covered?

i guess playing with my cut dickhead feels
like an uncut guy playing with his covered one...yeah..uh...did that make sense?

 

[13788]

bigmike11: [quote author=txquis link=board=health;num=1046202262;start=0#14 date=02/28/03 at 19:54:28]Wow...i am learning a lot.

Do all uncut guys have this super sensitivity in the glans, and want to keep it covered?
[/quote]

Well it's hard to measure sensitivity, but most of the uncircumcised guys I know have very sensitive cock heads the way I do. I know that I've had circumcised men play with my cock and really manhandle it, shove things in my foreskin, really play rough with it, and it gets painful... many of them just don't know how to handle uncircumcised dicks!

Now of course sometimes pain can be very pleasurable

 

[jonb]

Well, I'm very sensitive, but it doesn't really hurt per se. I still prefer keeping it covered; I don't want to get a boner when I can't use it.

 

[13788]

Decent: I guess the person able to give the most objective view would be a guy who was uncut for a long while and then was cut later and has been so for another long while - maybe they could say whether they lost any sensitivity.

Or... perhaps those guys who are uncut, but only partially covered could comment on whether they have more sensitivity on the unexposed part of the glans ?

 

[jameskprior]

yup, I think a guy who can't retract at all and has a tiny foreskin hole is lucky...those are about the sexiest cocks around!