Im an uncircumcised 20 year-old, and i have a problem that i just cant figure out. My foreskin wont retract beyond 1/4th the length of the glans - whether erect or flaccid. While i can urinate and masturbate to ejaculation fine, i guess i dont do it the usual way - i stroke forwards instead of backwards. I have also seen (removed) and can still feel hard smegma deposits at the base of the glans. While i have only attempted sex twice (with condoms on both occassion) penetration was possible but was uncomfortable and i had to stop midway before picking up pace - embarassing.

Now online research tells me its either phimosis or frenulum breve. A doctor (sexologist) i went to last week said its a scar or bridge formed when my foreskin was caught in the zipper years ago (but i dont believe its that, because that was a minor accident and at that time i was about 10-12 years old and the doctors didnt see a major problem) and has prescribed stretching backwards when erect with a lubricant.

I have noticed that the band below or the frenulum is attached about a centimetre below the urethral opening on the glans - is this normal or is this whats holding the foreskin back? Im going to go in for a second opinion, but this is proving very expensive and im not sure what doctor i need - skin specialist, sexologist, urologist??

Any help or inputs would be appreciated!
Thank you for the great forum!

The problem here is in the question. Does it really matter? Your foreskin won't retract. Therefore, the opening needs to be enlarged. That mandates stretching exercises. If the frenulum is also tight, it can be treated as you learn about it.

Meanwhile, forget getting more opinions and wasting money. Get your fingers busy doing the job.

Yes, it does sound like phimosis, "frænulum breve", or something else.

For the first two, you do not need to distinguish - locate one of the frequent descriptions we give here for exercises to deal with each condition, and begin both. That's easy! (Well, easy enough, but as someone has most astutely observed, requires the dedication of a serious attitude.)

You may need to go and do some research on what a "frænulum" actually is. Unfortunately, you will find some rather perverse and subversive sites - though the mere fact that you use the term "Frænulum Breve" suggests you have encountered one or more already!

To assess the possibility of adhesions, the exercise is (in the shower or backyard,) hold your foreskin closed at the tip and pee into it, being prepared to stop as it stretches into a "balloon". Allowing for a slight pucker corresponding to the frænulum underneath, it should adopt a spherical form completely concealing your glans. If it does otherwise, then there may be an adhesion present requiring the attention of a caring and adept doctor to separate in his consulting room. I tend to think that none of the three sorts of "specialists" you cite are particularly suited to this (though the sex therapist would arguably be the closest); I would be thinking more of a competent General Practitioner/ Family Physician.

I'm not sure that "stroking forwards" isn't the usual way for intact men just as it is for the circumcised. If you still have smegma calculi (hard deposits) you may not have been masturbating enough! And if you have no difficulty masturbating but experience discomfort attempting intercourse (with a condom as you certainly should), I have to suspect you are doing something badly wrong such as imitating a porn actor and/ or not understanding lubrication.

Thanks for the response guys...so far i have been (not too diligently) doing the stretch the doctor advised - pull the foreskin as much back as it will go. He said if this doesnt work, the only solution is a circumcision which obviously im against.
I can easily source betamethasone valerate 0.05 or 0.1 (GSK Betnovate i believe) over the counter here in Mumbai India and use it in conjunction with the frenulum stretch ("bottom pull") and the foreskin stretches ("outward-tug" and "internal-push-with-fingers"). Im only unsure of how much dedication and regularity i can do this with, and when/where exactly the cream must be applied..

The deal with the Smegma deposits is that they're at the base of the glans, almost behind it, so even with masturbation the glans is at a higher (??) level which stops them from moving outwards. And since i can only retract about 1/3rd the length of the glans, they just collect.

Im gonna do that test for adhesions and post back. I wish i had found this website sooner, and i also wish i could get in touch with my fellow countryman who posted here http://www.network54.com/Forum/244184/thread/1240334360/last-1241355257/Phimosis+treatment+with+excess+foreskin) because my problem seems very similar.
Please let me know if theres any way i can help you guys out with the site - im also open to emailing pictures using which you can not only help me know if im on the right track but they can help out others see the before/after scenarios.

Thank you both Paul and Jim!

Let's start off with forgetting what the doctor said. You came here for advice, right? You've read other accounts in which men have made progress, right? We've talked about smegma and decided it's harmless, right? What's with the hesitation. If you are truly concerned about this condition to the degree that you'd write to us, where is your determination to get it done? You don't need anything but your fingers. The betamethasone is just a crutch, but you're not crippled except by lack of faith in your ability to make this work. Belief is where this all needs to begin. You don't need the doctor, the medicine or your countryman. I sensed in your first post the lack of belief, a desire to find sympathy rather than answers. It's now time to cut to the chase and do it.

It sounds as if you are getting the message, as you evidently have done the necessary reading here. That is indeed, the first step. As Jim points out in no uncertain terms, the next step is to implement the set of exercises we describe, with sufficient diligence to make them work.

Clearly the doctor you consulted does not really understand the situation. If you have found the necessary information here, it seems pretty pointless randomly searching the other doctors in your locality in the fond expectation of finding a doctor who knows better.

Now I am quite sure that betamethasone (ointment preferred - you have read that before, haven't you?) is helpful. Something worries me however about the unusually ready availability of it there in Mumbai, and I will explain what it is.

We know that India (and China close behind) is the largest world source of counterfeit pharmaceuticals. The counterfeiting process includes both the preparation itself whether pills, ointment, syrup or whatever, and the packaging, so something labelled "GSK Betnovate" when sourced from or in India may well not be manufactured by Glaxo Smith Kline. Some counterfeit products actually contain the pharmaceuticals advertised, though not necessarily in the labelled strength; apparently counterfeits may be ordered perfectly readily with the specification of anywhere between 100% and 0% of the active ingredient.

I find it particularly difficult to imagine that the ethics of the counterfeit manufacturers would preclude selling such inferior or even hazardous products to their fellow countrymen, so though you say you can easily source something which you believe to be betamethasone of a nominal strength "over the counter", if you were to do so I could not be sure what it was nor could I necessarily believe that using it was responsible for your subsequent success or failure to achieve what you want!

So, what you do in this regard is clearly at your own risk. If you proceed with the stretching and achieve the goal, then we know - and you certainly do, that it was simply your efforts that obtained the result. If you really have difficulty despite accurately performing the appropriate "exercises", then you may benefit from the pharmaceutical.

We await your results from the "balloon test" (and in fact, a picture of that in progress, and of the "fingers inside" exercise, lodged on a reliable repository, would be particularly useful "props").

I have started the fren. stretch and i can feel the "tension" it creates for about 5-10 minutes after i stop - i hope this is a good sign, it is motivating me to go further! Assuming the betamethasone valerate is genuine (i dont know why people generalize about India - we have a lot of reputed pharmacies selling counterfeit-protected medications - india isnt really a village you know!) where should it go exactly - id love to speed things along.
Also, i have a similar problem that others here have faced - i have some loose foreskin ahead of the tight ring, so i cant really reach the ring. That is a sticking point i have to find my way past...fingers crossed.

PS - Paul - Do check your email for the images.

Now, we can get somewhere with this. Yes, the feeling you get is good. You should also soon find that the skin will yield more easily. As you progress, you'll naturally come to a plateau at which you won't move forward. Continue to apply tension daily as the new cells form. Once the growth process is complete, you'll move forward again.

Can you get a finger inside of the opening? Trying lubing it and inserting it to feel where the ring is.

Hi once again, guys.

Its been about 3 weeks since ive been doing the frenulum stretch almost daily - i still havent been able to insert my little finger inside. After the first few initial days when i would feel a certain "pull" sensation after the stretch, i havent seen ANY progress. I dont see a change in my situation in terms of the amount of glans exposed. I havent used the Betamethasone yet...have i not been stretching often enough? How long should i spend daily on the frenulum stretch and how can i "graduate" to stretching the ring if i cant even reach it!

PS - Paul i tried to email you the balloon pictures but they bounced back. Maybe you can drop me a line at my email and i will reply to that.


Thanks for the help guys!

As to my e-mail address, I fear that I have note been able to access it for some time and haven't organised myself to check up on whether the account is functional still. I will try and do so. Unfortunately my time to post here (that is, to carefully compose the posts) is quite limited, and if I write a detailed and what I consider to be adequate and wholly accurate response to (any) one post, it may be a while before I can write another with the same detail - and I see little point in not providing enough detail to avoid any possible confusion.

What I think you need to be doing at this point, is certainly continuing to stretch your frænulum, but in the process see if you can include the "open the gunny sack" manoeuvre that Jim frequently illustrates and doing that, get your (little) finger down the "funnel" so that whilst you have the other hand pulling the frænulum and lower foreskin away from the penis, your finger can pass down that funnel to find and get into the tight part.

If you do not put your foreskin on the stretch, it will indeed be very difficult to navigate the "channel". If as you described, you can see your glans, even just part of it, then you can almost certainly get your finger into the narrow part, but you will not be able to do this while you are trying to pull the foreskin back. Is that the actual problem?