Hi,

Could anyone offer any advice as to what to do with having complete adhesion of the foreskin to the base of the glans, which prevents full retraction of the foreskin past the glans. Also, is a "(tight) ring" normal in the foreskin? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Have you done the balloon test by pinching off the end of the foreskin and peeing into it? If it doesn't balloon uniformly well beyond the rim of the glans, then you do indeed have an adhesion.

If that is so, you'll need to work on peeling it off the glans. With time and gentle effort, it should eventually let go.

A tight ring is normal if you are three or four years old. Otherwise, it should be loose enough to allow retraction without much effort and without pain.

I have not done the balloon test yet, but I'm unable to to retract beyond the rim of the glans and it looks as if the skin is fused to the rim or just above it.

If I begin forcing it off the glans, will bleeding occur or should it be a smooth separation? I ask this because it looks as if some parts of it or more fused than others.

As for the ring, is it still suppose to be there even if I am 20 years old and slightly prevents retraction during erection, which may also be affected by the adhesion?

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

You've had plenty of time to do the test, but even so, it really does sound as if you have adhesions. At the age of 20, it's pretty unusual.

Bleeding could occur, but if you're really gentle and patient, you may not have any. At the end of your foreskin is a little muscle which belongs there. It's designed to expand and contract in response to needs of function and temperature. This the area which needs to be stretched. I don't see a direct relationship between the frenar band and the adhesions, but they are a product of your not doing anything about them ealier in life, so in that respect, they are loosely related.

Don't be afraid to start on this project. Just take your time and be gentle.

Actually, I think you need to work on the tight "ring" first by the method frequently described here, using a couple of fingers inside with your foreskin pulled forward away from the glans (to allow the space to get the finger tips inside).

When you have that loosened, you can properly assess and attend as necessary to any matter of adhesions.

The "balloon test" indicates whether there are adhesions or not. If you can feel parts of the glans behind the edge of the balloon, then that will indicate adhesions.

You probably need to stretch the frænulum as well. Just read back (deeply) through the forum here to understand exactly what is involved.

Thanks for the responses.

I've attempted the balloon test and it does seem that there is adhesion. I've attempted peeling some of the adhesion apart but it's caused bleeding, but I guess I must be more gentle with it.

I've read the threads regarding the stretching techniques, thus, I will begin with performing them and report back later on them.

A worry I have about the adhesion is that some of the skin does not seem fully formed as to be fused to the glans instead. Any advice on this matter please?

Thanks again for your help.

Has your attempt at peeling made any progress in releasing the adhesion?

Unfortunately, there has not been much improvement. I'll keep on with the pulling and peeling though. It must be so form of late development after reading through many threads. Thanks for the advice again.

Actually, what I am suggesting is that the adhesion as such - if it is only at the corona - the rim at the back of the glans - should not be too much of a worry.

Hitherto, you have not been pulling at the adhesion simply because - you couldn't! If your foreskin will not pull back easily, there is no tension on the adhesion to separate it. If you stretch the tight ring that has prevented the foreskin pulling back, then whatever else you do - sexual activity including masturbation, and simply making a point of pulling it back fully whenever you pee - will be pulling the adhesion apart and it may simply free itself over a period of time - as would be the normal process in childhood.

There is a "rule" regarding separating an adhesion if it causes any bleeding - having done so you must make sure by regular separation, that it does not re-attach as if it does so it will tend to heal more firmly. This is why I give the advice above - it is better that separation occurs by regular activity in tiny stages.

It is remotely possible that some degree of inflammation has occurred earlier at the normal time of separation and that the adhesion has re-formed as a more permanent attachment, perhaps because such inflammation caused one to at least temporarily, stop the manipulation that is normally responsible for achieving separation.

It is common if not universal in young boys for the foreskin to separate before the opening of the foreskin is large enough to permit retraction. This results in spontaneous "ballooning" of the foreskin on urination (which is sadly often used by ignorant or mendacious doctors as a basis for recommending circumcision), but in fact the ballooning itself (and particularly if deliberately enhanced), as well as the playful stretching of the foreskin to extreme length by the child, actually facilitates the separation and is therefore, entirely desirable.

In fact, inflammation and/ or infection are quite unlikely in the presence of a tight foreskin since the tightness obstructs anything getting into the preputial space and urine regularly flushes out anything that does. The main bugbear in this case is actually the use of soap (and even worse, detergent such as "bubble bath") which can insinuate itself into this space and persist to cause irritation.

I trust that you are actually comparing the appearance of your corona to pictures of normal penes such as those on foreskin.org. My strict suggestion is - deal with the tight foreskin (and frænulum) first, and then you may be in a better position to sort out any adhesions. And if you are separating adhesions and causing trauma, it might be useful to have some Zinc and Castor Oil (with no perfumes, no "extras", no popular brand names, no "hype") to apply to raw areas to soothe, protect and avoid re-attachment.

Thank you for your response and advice. After reading this, I think it is best for me to worry less about the adhesion now and more so on the tight ring and extremely short or absent fraenulum. Could you offer some advice as to how to better stretch the fraenulum because I'm finding it extremely difficult to apply proper tension to it? Thanks again for all your guys help.

I'd post a picture, but the link to the site is broken this morning, so I'll describe it for you.

You simply take hold of your foreskin on the bottom side and pull it away from your body. There is nothing more complicated than that. Hold the stretch for several minutes (five if you can). Repeat this a second time during the day. In addition, each time, after you pee, grasp it again and briefly pull it forward as privacy allows.

I've seen the picture as you've described on this forum, but when I do it, I'm unable to feel substantial tension in the right place. Am I doing something wrong or is it suppose to be like this? I feel as if I'm elongating the foreskin further because the tension I feel runs along the penis towards the base rather than the fraenulum area. Thanks again for all your guys help.

If you're doing what the picture illustrates, you're doing it right. You could try grasping the penile shaft skin to immobilize it while you pull on the end. See if that puts the tension in the correct spot. You won't have to encourage much growth here, so I don't think you need to worry about creating a longer foreskin.

In fact, if you feel you are stretching the foreskin, you are doing it right, because the frænulum is after all nothing more nor less than one particular part of the foreskin and elongating this part is exactly what you want to do.

The only thing you need to check on, is that the point you grip (as in the picture, but only requiring one hand) is the point where the frænulum "ends" in the foreskin.
Now the other end of the frænulum is (quite firmly) attached to the penis - just under the urethral meatus (the "pee hole"). If you feel the stretch on this part, it does not matter because - contrary to all the optimistic claims you might find on the Internet - the body of the penis will simply not stretch to any significant degree. That you feel this stretch is simply saying that - you feel it! So there is really little point in trying to "immobilise" it.

There is no reason to think that it would matter which stretch you do first, but as the frænulum stretch is the more tedious and the one which will probably have to be done for a longer time, we generally advise that you treat it with priority.

Sorry for posting again so quickly, but I forgot to ask if it's better to do the fraenulum stretch before or after the stretching the ring for the best results. Thanks again.

I don't think it really matters, but you may get a better "warm-up" by doing the frenulum stretch first.