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Re: How do I go about treatment?

Written by Ivan at 24 Dec 2002 18:45:01:

As an answer to: How do I go about treatment? written by Steve at 24 Dec 2002 17:37:49:

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>I'm not sure what my condition is exactly, I just found out that phimosis existed today. I knew it wasn't normal, but I thought all uncircumcised guys were like me. I found out none of them were. So a friend mentioned phimosis to me, and I've been reading all about it. So anyway, when I'm flaccid I can retract all the way, and i looked at the inner side of the foreskin, but didn't see any rings. There were a few white bump dots. I also have white bumps on the bottom of my shaft and covering my scrotum as well. When I'm erect I can expose the head partially, but I never had the guts to try to pull the skin back all the way because it was pretty painful. After sex I'm usually a bit sore...So now that I've found it is treatable, I'd like to get treatment. I don't know how to go about finding a doctor in the area though...plus it's a bit embarassing.
>Thanks! -Steve

Your message is kind of confusing - you say that you knew your condition wasn't normal, but that you thought all the 'uncircumsized' guys (over 90% of the world are intact; 'intact' is a better term: 'uncircumsized' describes a circumcized man who has undone his circumcision by stretching the vestiges of foreskin to again have the proper covering for his glans) were like that. And of course if no other intact guys had this nonretractability, there would not be a name for it. Most guys can retract by puberty, but a few make it through puberty still unable to retract. The little bumps you describe all sound very normal: if anything is inflamed, swollen or stays painful get it checked by a GP. The soreness may be because your foreskin isn't sliding up and down during sex, but then many men have sex without retraction and don't get sore. I assume we are speaking of vaginal intercourse here - oral and handjobs shouldn't cause soreness, and it seems like anal with only partial retraction and no condom would almost have to cause soreness (you always should use a condom for anal - I'm just trying to figure out the situation here). Perhaps you are imitating the intercourse style of the circumsized: overly energetic and rough. An intact penis is sensitive and ought to be used more gently. To use a music analogy, intact is like a vibraphone or chimes, circumsized is a bass drum.

So if foreskin mobility is the only real problem you have, the fix is rather easy, especially since you can already retract when flaccid. Every time you have it out, gently grasp either side and pull outward, like you were opening a gunny sack. It should be a bit unconfortable but never painful. If you can get fingertips in (one from each hand to pull in opposite directions), the pulling will go easier and be more comfortable. Within a few weeks you should be able to pull the foreskin all the way down your shaft when erect, so that it lies flat. However, that is NOT the way to have it for sex: read Kristin O'Hare's book "Sex As Nature Intended It" to learn all about the importance of the skin moving during sex. You should find it inspirational. If you look down through the previous posts, you should find lots of material on stretching - just be careful, there are a few jokers who will try to mislead you: they want you to fail at it because they lacked either the patience or the brains to do what I have described, and they try to drag others down as well.


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