In male human anatomy, the foreskin (1) is a generally retractable double-layered fold of skin and mucous membrane that covers the glans penis (3) and protects the urinary meatus (2) when the penis is not erect.

The outside of the foreskin is a continuation of the skin on the shaft of the penis, but the inner foreskin is a mucous membrane (5) like the inside of the eyelid or the mouth. The mucocutaneous zone occurs where the outer and inner foreskin meet. Like the eyelid, the foreskin is free to move after it separates from the glans, usually by puberty. Smooth muscle fibers keep it close to the glans but make it highly elastic.  The foreskin is attached to the glans with a frenulum (4), which helps return the foreskin over the glans. At the end of the foreskin, there is a band of tissue called the ridged band, (6) which, according to some researchers, contains nerve endings called Meissner’s corpuscles. According to a study by Sorrells et al. (2007), the five most sensitive areas of the penis are on the foreskin.

Like the penis itself, foreskins come in all shapes and sizes.

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Some doctors and researchers believe there are medical and practical reasons to circumcise men.

From MedicalDude.com

Gay Men Undergoing Circumcision Would Have Limited

Impact On Preventing HIV

Adult circumcision has been proposed as a possible HIV prevention strategy for gay men, but a new study by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health presented at the XVIII International AIDS Conference suggests it would have a very small effect on reducing HIV incidence in the United States.

Circumcision is thought to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by removing cells in the foreskin that are most susceptible to infection by the virus. Clinical trials conducted in Africa have found it reduces the risk of HIV in heterosexual men, yet there is little evidence that it can reduce transmission among American gay men.

The study was based on surveys of 521 gay and bisexual men in San Francisco. Findings indicated that 115 men (21 percent) were HIV-positive and 327 (63 percent) had been circumcised. Of the remaining 69 men (13 percent), only three (0.5 percent) said they would be willing to participate in a clinical trial of circumcision and HIV prevention, and only four (0.7 percent) were willing to get circumcised if it was proven safe and effective in preventing HIV.

The researchers extrapolated these findings to the entire gay and bisexual male population of San Francisco, an estimated 65,700 people, and determined that only 500 men would potentially benefit from circumcision.

“Circumcision in the U.S. already is very common, making it applicable to a limited number of men as a potential HIV prevention strategy in adulthood,” said Chongyi Wei, Dr.P.H., study author and post-doctoral associate, Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health. “Our study indicates that any potential benefit may likely be too small to justify implementing circumcision programs as an intervention for HIV prevention.”

Study co-authors include H. Fisher Raymond, M.P.H., Willi McFarland, M.D., Ph.D., Susan Buchbinder, M.D., and Jonathan Fuchs, M.D., all of the San Francisco Department of Health. The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Circumcised vs. uncircumcised penis: The reasons

(An unbiased overview)

Getting circumcised (circumcision) is a procedure in which the foreskin of the penis is removed. The procedure is usually performed due to various religious and traditional beliefs and it is therefore largely performed very early in childhood, or only a few days after the birth of a child. It rarely happens that the procedure is performed on an adult man.

The main reason for circumcision in different cultures is that natural genitals are considered unaesthetic and unclean, which also dictates circumcision for women in certain African cultures. The second reason for circumcision is the result of health problems. Namely, some people have problems with moving the foreskin of the penis backwards, as it causes them great pain. By removing the foreskin the pain disappears.

Circumcised vs. uncircumcised penis: The benefits

Similar to numerous Africans, many women believe the penis which is not circumcised is unclean and unattractive, and they therefore rather decide to have sexual intercourse with the man who has a circumcised penis. By such thinking, few women are aware of the consequences of circumcision for them. Namely, it decreases sexual sensation in both partners, which can also have an effect on sexual pleasure. The foreskin of the male sexual organ is erogenous tissue which, among other things, increases sexual sensation of the penis during intercourse and, in addition, it serves as protection against external factors. There are various nerve endings intertwined in the head of the penis. Constant exposure of the head of the penis in circumcised men gradually causes the organ to be less sensitive to touch.

Researches, which included adult men who were circumcised after starting with their sexual life, showed that sexual sensation of a number of the men dramatically reduced during intercourse in comparison to the sexual intercourse prior to circumcision.

Circumcised vs. uncircumcised penis: The risks

However, circumcision can also be dangerous. In African cultures, young boys are circumcised without any anesthetic and sterile surgical instruments, which many times leads to infections and death as well. Unfortunately, a number of circumcisions end by removing too much foreskin. It is difficult to determine whether too much foreskin has been removed in a young boy, because the result is usually evident only after he grows up. Thus later in life a number of men have painful erections, which are the consequence of removing too much tissue.

On the other hand, circumcision also has positive effects. Many experts claim that circumcision reduces the possibility of penile cancer. The possibility of urinary tract infections is also reduced. As already mentioned, the head of a circumcised penis is less sensitive, and touching during stimulation therefore has to be heavier. Researches showed that circumcised men are thus sexually “wilder”, compared to men who are not circumcised, which is evident in masturbation, oral intercourse as well as anal intercourse.

In many cultures, circumcision is not obligatory. It is considered a decision which is made by an individual. Experts however advise that, if there is no medical reason for it, you do not go through wit it. In any case, the decision is up to you.

The various stages of retraction:

See a retracting foreskin here.

One woman’s point of view:

The Foreskin is one of the most exemplar battlefields in the fight between culture and nature. With the pseudo argument of “cleanliness” (health) and man-made standards of what a cock should look like, generations of men got circumcised.  Almost comparable to the neat English gardens, in which trees loose much of the qualities which make a tree to a tree. Personally I enjoy sex with an uncut guy very much because of the “non-cleanliness”. If we decide to sleep with someone, don’t we want to taste, feel and smell this person in the most intimate, “natural” way?  Circularizing in this context feels for me like getting “less” of the person, like getting denied a crucial little bit of the other.

From one man’s point of view:

At birth I was cut and as I think about it I wish that my parents didn’t make that decision because it wasn’t their right to do that to my body. If there was anyway to have my foreskin back I would be a happier man, but there’s no way to change that mishap.

Some men are even trying to restore their foreskins:

See RestoringForeskin.Org

Here’s one way:

Pull out the end of your foreskin over the head, away from your body,with a three finger grip. First finger in the foreskin opening and the side of the thumb on the top surface of the foreskin and second finger on the bottom side. This gives you a firm three finger grip on the end of the foreskin.

Using the other hand you wrap as many fingers as you can circumferentially around the foreskin “tube” but above the head. Now squeeze your grip closed about the foreskin tube. If you don’t have much foreskin length you might be able to grip around the circumference with only one finger. As your foreskin lengthens you will add fingers.

The grip stretches the “double skin tube” of foreskin between the end of the foreskin (on which you have a firm grip) and the head of the penis. I hold this for like 6 seconds.

You’re going to feel some discomfort, a mild burning, as your foreskin is stressed to the max stimulating mitosis and causing your skin growth. This method does not pull on your nut sack like some tugging methods so more force is applied to the skin you want to grow.

Do at least one set of 7 squeezes ( 6 second squeezes). Do 3 sets if you have the time. I do this a few times a day. Like after I take a leak. Once you get the hang of it you can adjust the grip to focus on top, bottom, inner or outer foreskin.

Also switch your hands to get even skin growth. This method tends to lengthen and narrow the foreskin tube. Squeeze-stretching a few times per day gives your developing foreskin a daily workout that feels equal to tugging 24/7 without causing skin damage that inevitably requires recuperation periods. You will get your life back because this method requires no gear and little time. Think of it as a daily routine, like brushing your teeth or working out, and the frustration of restoring will diminish.

I developed this method after I had hit a “Plateau” with tape tugging. No matter what I did and how much force I used I couldn’t get a functional foreskin. The squeeze stretch manual method will deliver around 3/16″ of foreskin a month. This method is as discreet as possible. No one need know. I found that restoration is something that is better not shared with anybody.

If you have yours, would you want to lose it?

If you don’t have yours, do you wish you did?

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1. Circumcision