I am a 40 years old male. I am married with two children. I thought I had a perfectly functioning penis! Foreskin on my penis does not retract. I thought all these years that you needed to undergo a surgeon’s knife and circumcise your penis to expose the head on your penis. I am not sure how serious my problem is. As I said I have never been able to retract or reveal the head on my penis. I can remember that only once during sex I had foreskin on my penis got stretched right back; it was quite an uncomfortable feeling. Normally I use some some of lubricant during sex to make it comfortable.

After reading forums here and on the web I have become more curious. I am not sure as to how bad my frenulum problem. It does not look anything like this as shown below:

http://www.phimosis-circumcision.com/frenulum/frenuloplasty/frenulum_breve.html#start

I don’t believe that my penis head is pulled down as shown here in these pictures.

I can stretch the skin on my penis all the way back in flaccid. I think I can also pull it back when erect but rather uncomfortable as mentioned earlier. When I do this I can see the skin on the underside of my penis head. The problem seem to be extra long skin on the penis and tightness of the foreskin preventing it to retract naturally.

My other problem seem to be Phimosis. Opening is very tight I can not get a finger in the hole. I don’t know where to start? Should I try stretching excercices? What method should I use for stretching? Can my frenulum problem be solved with stretching? Will I require frenuloplasty? Frenuloplasty is my last option.

You have some contradictory sentences. Does the foreskin retract or not? If it does, and you can get it back over the head, why wouldn't a finger fit?

What I meant was that the foreskin is very tight, yet I can pull it back with some effort but it will not pull back easily.

These are images of my penis:

In the second picture, it appears there is sufficient room to insert your fingers, at least the two little fingers. Try getting them inside to be able to pull the opening apart gently.

You can also do this: to lengthen the frenulum, although it looks pretty much normal in the picture. However, if it is restricting retraction, lengthening it might suit you better.

If you have a big challenge with getting the little fingers inside, try a device as a dilator. It should be made of a smooth, rigid material which can be cleaned. Use a lubricant to insert it, and if necessary, use tape to secure it into position. Check it frequently for any problems with pressure points. Such a device could be a cap from a ball point pen.

I will try those stretching excercises but am I suffering from frenulum breve? I am concerned witht the foreskin attached to glans under the penis. I don't know whether stretching will help, is this normal?

There is nothing wrong with the attachment. Stretching will help to lengthen the frenulum if you think you needs more mobility in retraction. Use the exercise illustrated in the picture I posted. Then, when you can grasp both ends in order to apply tension, start doing that.

Right, well, nice little camera the IXUS series - my daughter has one (or possibly two) and they certainly give good pictures as those are - hopefully they will stay put on that site for other people's future reference.

Good, well you definitely do not have a short frænulum - I am sorry to say it, but the site you cited is pretty much a "fetish" site for surgery and the information is very misleading at best. I might add that in the picture on that site demonstrating the glans being pulled down, the foreskin is being pulled back quite firmly to cause the effect.

In your case however, there is clearly no "bowstring", so you simply don't have a significant problem there. If you feel it to be a bit tight there, then perhaps you might do the stretches, but it's not the major problem.

Which is - that your foreskin is as you say, circumferentially tight. You can call that "phimosis" if you wish, but doing so tends to go with the mindset that it is a major problem and indeed, a medical problem. It certainly isn't. It almost works perfectly, you merely need to stretch it to achieve perhaps two steps. The first, is to have it slip back easily and comfortably; the second is optional; to have is slip back by itself on erection.

What you really want to be able to do to achieve this, is to do this manoeuvre. If you can get two little finger tips in to start, you "have it licked"; if not, then one large finger.

It should not take very long to loosen things, but you will then need to work on it for a few weeks at least, to ensure it stays stretched to the degree you want which it will, if you keep going for a while. It may take a little skill to get that finger or fingers in - note that you do not want to have an erection to start as that will make it a little more difficult.

Thank you Paul. I intend to leave the pictures there, I am sure there are many others who have similar problem to mine.

I am relieved to hear that I do not have a short frænulum, I wanted to avoid surgery.

Now getting to my 'phimosis' problem. As I mentioned it is very difficult to get two fingers in there. How do I stretch with one finger?

I am also a little confused about your comments

"It almost works perfectly, you merely need to stretch it to achieve perhaps two steps. The first, is to have it slip back easily and comfortably; the second is optional; to have is slip back by itself on erection."

My ultimate goal is to have it slip back by itself on erection. Will this be achieved by doing the 'Frener Ridged Band Stretch' here;

http://pages.suddenlink.net/manual_methods/phimosis.html

as suggested by you or by some other method?

That stretch will accomplish almost everything you want. The key to success will be your diligence and persistance coupled with gentleness. Do it regularly, often and without pain.

By the way, that site you referred to is run by a fanatic who believes that all men should be circumcised. It would be best if you no longer visited it, because everything he teaches is wrong. There was a forum attached to that site at one time, and Paul and I pretty much changed the climate of things there while the thing ran without supervision. Then a young Englishman came along and somehow committed mutiny, taking control from the owner, and subsequently running us off. Ironically, even he eventually had to admit that stretching is a viable option to cutting. I'd like to claim that Paul and I changed the tide of things, but we really only brought forward truthful information which has been known in more foreskin friendly countries all along. It's nothing more than that which all physicians actually know about, but because of training, prejudices, expediency and profits, they choose to ignore.

Is there any other way I can upload the pictures again directly so they don't get deleted?

Try to find a hosting site which doesn't restrict such pictures.

I think we may be confusing you about one website and another.

The "male-initiation.net" and "phimosis-circumcision.com" sites are operated by people who are a little "off" in their sexuality or understanding of same; and we were not referring to photobucket.com or Doug's informational site - they are OK as long as the respective hosts do not get fussy about "modesty". Your photos are probably safe in a "private" folder.

The problem with retracting your foreskin over an erection is that an erection and particularly the glans when erected, is not really that rigid and simply is not firm enough to stretch with any degree of promptness. This is not to be confused with the fact that the foreskin is in many fellows, stretched over a period of years in childhood and puberty, by nocturnal erections which last significant periods of time, even if relatively "soft".

I think you should have noted by now that your glans is made of different material to the corpora cavernosae; the main erectile bodies in the penis. It is in fact, part/ an extension of the softer corpus spongiosum (hence the name) which surrounds the urethra (urine pipe) along the underside and which is in fact responsible for squeezing out the semen in powerful spurts at ejaculation.

It seems to us as Jim has said that if you can pull your foreskin back over your glens when erect, even with difficulty, then you should be able to get two little fingertips in, though it is rather tricky do do so with only two hands. Much of the "trick" is to pull the foreskin forward first, "on the stretch" while you introduce each finger - thus the problem having only two hands!

I reiterate that stretching the tight "frænar band" is the way to achieve the two progressive steps I described.

Of course, you could use a device such as the GFS. This should be quite effective for the purpose you wish, albeit - it costs a little money!

The problem is that I can not pull foresking when erect, it does hurt a lot. I will follow the procedure Paul mentioned here:

'Much of the "trick" is to pull the foreskin forward first, "on the stretch" while you introduce each finger - thus the problem having only two hands!".

I also read it somewhere that you can make you own device like GFS made out of 35mm camera roll. Can someone explain it in more details?

If you can't get your two little fingers inside, the film can won't fit either. Try the one I illustrated. Here it is again:



This whole thing is really rather simple, so don't try to complicate it. By doing what the pictures shows, you'll gain the girth necessary to allow your fingers to be inserted. Then you can really gain.

Oops!

Looks like you encountered the "Photobucket problem" - the images were still there when I read your comment, but have now been censored by the prudes at that site. Ah well, it's just as well, we wouldn't want any American children knowing about genitals, would we?

Previous problems have been due to Photobucket posting random "recent submissions" on its main page for publicity, but I didn't think that was supposed to happen with "private" galleries as you made yours. I am wondering whether this is the problem, or someone is trying to "white-ant" this forum by making complaints to image hosting sites when photos are shown here.

The fellow posting as "desesperate man" or "sensi glans" seems to have found more success lodging pictures on ImageCave. If he had saved yours, he could have added them to his "phimosis" folio which would be very appropriate. Perhaps he might care to contact me about it and Jim could perhaps re-link the pictures into this thread if that was arranged.

Hi group! I haven't save dennis pictures so I cant ad it to my imagecave but I will give paul the password so he can take this profile and add pictures he wants to help other folk with same probleme!!

I am having trouble getting two fingers in and stretching. I am not sure whether I am going deep enough.

I am thinking of alternative methods.

Can this work, stretch the skin back when flaccid and then having and erection to stretch the skin? Will it work the same way as stretching with your fingers?

The glans has no ability to apply additional tension, so it's usefullness in stretching is limited. With your fingers, you can apply sufficient tension while also preventing damage by applying too much. Regardless how hard you think your penis gets, it isn't enough.

Won't your little fingers both fit? The glans is surely bigger and it fits. Otherwise, try the device idea I gave you.

I am having difficulty with finger stretching and also because of time constraints.

I have read somewhere here that you can stretch the foreskin by inserting some sort of pen tops and PVC piping! Can these sore of objects work and faster? It sounds like a good if it will work because you could use this at night time and stretch for 7-8 hours compare to 20-40 minutes of finger stretching.
How wide and long these objects should be? Should one side be closed and other one open? What side should face glans?

Now you're thinking. Yes, they work, and they work efficiently and effectively.

You'll be the judge of size and shape. In fact, you can be the manufacturer as well. Find a hobby store which sells a moldable plastic, and use that product to make your own devices. This is a product used frequently by circumcised men who are resoring their foreskins.

The size will be determined by the hole it is to dilate. Make it small enough to fit, but large enough to apply mild stress. The object must be smooth on all surfaces which will come in contact with any part of your penis. It should also be gently contoured to prevent pressure points from developing.

That being said, there is actually a quite clever device, commercially available, which might be your ticket. It uses an inflatable bladder which is inserted into the preputial cavity. I don't presently have the link, but we'll see that you get it.

Thanks Jim, are you referring to GFS device?

http://gfs.platigo.com/

I have heard that some people have real difficulty using this device. Does this work or is it just a gimmick? I know it costs around $100 which is not too bad. Are there any dangers of using this device? We all know that balloons can blow, don't want this to happen inside my penis!

Yes, that's it. The idea is sound. I suspect that they wouldn't be able to keep in business if someone didn't have success with it.

Dangers? Who knows? Wouldn't the possibility of rewards be worth the risk?

My impression is that the GFS device would be the best approach, and my only reservation is the expense.

I haven't actually looked it too closely - which is to say that I certainly haven't seen the genuine article, and I have not studied the instructions, which do not seem to appear on the website. I tried to ring them a while back, but may have another go tomorrow if I have a chance.

I presume a little lubricant would help its use, and I also presume it could be used for extended periods of time, though I don't think they necessarily intend that - probably recommend ten minutes or so at a "sitting".

The theory seems excellent - uniform pressure applied to the foreskin opening, and the ability to retain itself in place. The likelihood of the balloon bursting would not seem great, and (don't recall whether they advise the use of air or water) in fact, when a balloon bursts, it does not "explode" but simply retracts instantaneously around the previous contents, so is most unlikely to do any damage.

Hey! I mentioned the GFS earlier on (March 5 2008, 3:05 AM). There are also the bird bands, and the stretchers they use to stretch piercings, notably ear lobes. Which is always a good riposte to people who ignorantly claim "stretching doesn't work"!

The latter device has the right design - a form of "grommet" which has rims (like a car wheel) which stop it slipping out - or indeed, slipping in. Clearly you need these to be very smooth and fairly wide, to minimise the effect of rubbing on the glans. Although it makes them difficult to manipulate, you should probably also use them with a tiny bit of lubricant.

I am trying out a lid from a small body lotion bottle. It is wider than one finger but less than two fingers! I could not find a pen top this big. I believe it is about the right size to start off.

I just want to check the correct method of insertion. I only intend to use at night time when I am sleeping. I am using the closed side of the lid against glans and the open side with a hole and grooves inside facing away from glans. This method also helps with insertion. I seem to get it in with some effort but not impossible. I will try this for a week to see if it works. Hopefully I can get to put in two fingers in there to make it easier to stretch or make progress with a bigger body lotion cap!

Do I have to worry about any side effects or damage to glans here?

Many thanks to Paul B. and Jim for their help.

Have concern instead of worry. Sure, paying attention is part of the deal. Putting any foreign object next to the glans could cause temporary discomfort or bruising. My suggestion is to use it during waking hours. Put a pad of cotton between the object and the glans to cushion it.

You're breaking new ground here, so you will have to experiment until you find the right combination which works for you.

I think you have the right idea here regarding safety. Given that the closed side of the cap is quite flat, then it is not going to irritate your glans (and in which case, I would advise not using a cotton pad as this would be more irregular than the cap itself).

Give it an initial try during the daytime; if that causes no problems, you can try it overnight. You might have some problem if you roll over on your front and catch it.

The advantage of the tubular items (open both ends) is the ability to pee without removing it, particularly when at work (or in the middle of the night!).

I will give it a try for a week to see if the foreskin is stretching. I will be back with progress report.

It has been nearly a month now since I started the stretching exercises.

I stopped using the body lotion cap after two weeks as I was not seeing any benefits. I am placing more emphasis on stretching the skin with two fingers, now I start to understand that your fingers are the best tool you need for stretching!

Now I am able to get two fingers in without any difficulty and still have room for another one! One observation though the skin feels a lot tighter to stretch when my penis is slightly erect, I guess the skin is already stretched by glans in that position. When the penis is in flaccid position the skin feels a lot tighter as you finger are approaching the glans but very wide at the opening, is this normal or am I folding the tip of the foreskin inside? I hope my explanation makes some sort of sense.

I can feel the foreskin stretched a little when I clean it in the shower. I am also able to stretch it manually when erect without any problems but it still gets stuck behind the glans as it is not stretched enough as yet. Glands do feel very sensitive to touch when the skin is stretched back but this will be a problem for later.

I am stretching twice a day about 15-20 minutes. It is hard work and requires a lot of patience. Hopefully I will get to see good results in about a month or two.

Think about it. The space is already filled up with the glans, so there's less room for your fingers.

The sensivity issue will sort itself out with time. Enjoy it at play time!

Your effort will pay off very soon. You are to be commended for your diligence.