Circumcision CAN'T be the only solution to phimosis, surely?

secretly_a_zombie · 2012-01-17T21:36:18+00:00

It depends on the severity of the phimosis but the foreskin is increadibly stretchy. There are people who had reacreated their foreskin after circumcision by stretching the skin manually and by applying weights. I could imagine the same principle could work for phimosis.

Here's one guy who seems to know what he's talking about.

i'll just put his two stretching techniques up for quick reddit reading (there's still some quick info worth checking out on his post):

"STRETCHING TECHNIQUE ONE If the foreskin is very tight the simplest method is to pull back on the skin (easiest with an erection) so that the opening feels tight without real pain. Hold that for a few minutes and repeat a few times. Do this a couple of times a day. Soaking in a warm bath will make the skin easier to stretch. If the opening becomes sore, or develops splits, stop and let things heal up. Going at it too fast will only slow things down in the end. Once the opening is big enough to just fit over the rim of the glans when erect the foreskin is at risk of getting stuck behind it. If this happens paraphimosis may develop. Stretching technique two avoids this risk."

"STRETCHING TECHNIQUE TWO You can either grab each side of the foreskin opening (with the foreskin forward) and gently pull on each side of the opening or, even better, insert the ends of two fingers, even the little fingers and pull them gently apart. Stretch the opening in this way until it feels uncomfortably stretched but not actually painful. Hold and repeat as for method one. Once again this is best done after soaking in a warm bath."

OThomson · 2012-01-17T21:04:16+00:00

It depends on severity, while i'm no doctor i would continue to inquire about Steroid cream, i'd also request to be referred to a specialist rather than consulting with a GP.

Celda · 2012-01-17T21:54:49+00:00

Steroid cream can work if it's not a severe case. You want to avoid circumcision if you can. Really, you have nothing to lose by trying creams.

ElektronikSupersonik · 2012-01-17T21:03:58+00:00

How old is he? I had phimosis until I was about 20 or so. It gradually stretched (from rougher masturbation mostly), and now functions normally.

wufoo2 · 2012-01-18T02:38:35+00:00

Relevant.

In short, phimosis can be fixed well short of circumcision. In fact, if it were me, I would rather have a non-retracting foreskin than no foreskin at all.

c0mputar · 2012-01-18T04:25:16+00:00

I couldn't even pull it over to the half way mark and it's fine now, stretch it more and more over time.

Shattershift · 2012-01-18T02:29:17+00:00

My little brother had phimosis, and he got it totally fixed easy with a steroid cream. It's a legit thing.

JeremiahMRA · 2012-01-18T07:17:21+00:00

It looks like Kanuk already gave some good advice, but I'll just add this:

Fuck no, it isn't the only solution. It's just the easiest solution for an asshole of a doctor who isn't willing to follow the rule "at first, do no harm". It's pretty fucking typical these days.

Pro-tip: there is usually a natural solution to such problems, as Kanuk outlines. Doctors don't earn the big bucks through natural solutions, so you won't see them promoted often.

nrfarley · 2012-01-18T00:09:13+00:00

I had severe phimosis as a kid. In those days in the UK circumcision wasn't considered unless there were special circumstances to justify it. As a teenager, masturbation didn't help because I had a tendency to stop before the pain got too intense. The cure was easy - when I became involved with a woman who had a high sex drive, she wanted sex often. At first it was painful for me, but after a few weeks of daily vigorous sex the pain lessened and then disappeared as my foreskin stretched. I think that it was the incentive to have sex with a real woman that proved to be more powerful than the temporary pain. No drugs or creams were necessary! Although I'm no doctor, I found that vaginal intercourse also seemed to have a healing effect on the inevitable cracks in the foreskin in the first few days - maybe the mixing of bodily fluids helped, but the cracks would disappear by the next day.

2012-01-21T09:25:51+00:00

Louis XVI of France had phimosis, so doctors simply made a small incision in the side of the foreskin to cut the frenar band, and he could retract his foreskin normally. It's far less invasive than full circumcision, if stretching regimens do not work.

typhonblue · 2012-01-17T21:17:43+00:00

Well you could also gradually stretch the foreskin through masturbation.

It'll just take more time and effort to get him ready for sex.

Imagine if we lived in a society that said to women who were having painful sex-- 'well, we'll just cut off all the dangly bits. That'll fix you right up! Then it'll be easy to penetrate you even when your arousal isn't high enough!'

OldWings · 2012-01-18T10:29:05+00:00

As a previous phimosis sufferer, here are my experiences: After initially seeing the GP, I tried the stretching business, but with difficulty and no results. When I returned to the GP, he referred me to the hospital, where I was told that circumcision was the answer - steroid creams were not mentioned once. So, I went along with it and am now circumcised - and am very happy with it. My foreskin was a source of pain and worry, and I've had no regrets at all so far about losing it. Although I'm also in the UK, I ended up having the operation done privately, so I can't speak for how well the NHS manages it I'm afraid.

pcarvious · 2012-01-18T11:41:40+00:00

There was an iama done on this board a while ago that might have more information. The young man was circumcised because of phimosis. I think he mentioned one other surgical option before getting the full circumcision.

throwjustthetipaway · 2012-06-07T17:40:02+00:00

Feel I gotta weigh in here. Throwaway account. Suffered for a long time from phimosis and what I later found out was frenulum breve as well. Nice combo eh? Put off doing anything about it until my mid thirties. Stretching and cream were no good and the dorsal slit is a bit of a clumsy approach in my opinion, in that it still leaves the constrictive harder skin and possible scar tissue. I didn't however want a full circumcision as I do agree with the collective opinion on Reddit that circumcision is a mostly unnecessary and invasive procedure. I explained this to the surgeon and he proposed what could, in barbering terms be described as 'not too much off'. Basically the restrictive end of the foreskin was removed and (necessary in my case) troublesome frenulum sorted out. I retained most of my foreskin meaning, I believe minor loss of sensitivity as, in sleep mode, the business end of my wang, so to speak, remains covered up, as before by my mostly still-in-tact foreskin. The tightness is gone and everything now works brilliantly! I wish I hadn't waited so long to address this. Anyway - my point is there are other surgical options than full circumcision that can alleviate phimosis. Just ask questions of the surgeon. And don't be like me kids and leave it so long to sort out. Life's short and sex is awesome!

ThePigman · 2012-01-18T01:13:59+00:00

Stuff the negatives of circumcision, if i had phimosis i wouldn't waste my time with creams, i'd get circumcised ASAP. In this case circumcision is by far the lesser of the two evils.

Title	Circumcision CAN'T be the only solution to phimosis, surely?
Author	Zakrah
Upvotes	9
Comments	19
Date	January 17, 2012 8:46 PM UTC (14 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/olbnv/circumcision_cant_be_the_only_solution_to/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/circumcision-cant-be-the-only-solution-to-phimosis.1029089 https://theredarchive.com/post/1029089

Comments