Hi, and thanks for all the helpful information here at this forum.

A bit about me: I'm 22, and I found out around 3 years ago that my foreskin was a bit tighter than usual. I have enjoyed sex (usually) without much pain, so I don't think I'm a "worst case scenario". Anyway, after a few years on and off without great success with stretching, after buying Glansie (which didn't help me at all) I decided to try silicon ear tunnels, and I must say it has really made a difference. It's dirt cheap, and you can leave them in for long periods at a time.

I've now used the biggest ear tunnels in my pack (25mm) and it took me some time to find the best way to use the ear tunnels. In the pack I bought, I got two of each diameter. So I put one under my foreskin first, where I've cut it a bit so it's not too harsh on the frenulum. Then I put a second one in, which now keeps in place for as long as I want to. When I used the smaller ear tunnels, I used one at a time, but I found it difficult with the bigger ones to make them stay in place. Do you think I should look for even bigger ear tunnels when I feel that the 25mm's does not stretch? I'm kinda afraid of stretching the foreskin too much and the frenulum too little.

I have included some pictures, both with and without the ear tunnels. I must admit that I don't really know how much more I have to stretch. At the moment, I can easily retract when flaccid, and I'm getting quite far when erect.

When I pull my foreskin back, it kinda "rolls" around itself, as you can see in the pictures. Does this mean that I also have to stretch the frenulum alot more? (I also do the frenulum excercise described on this page) or is it a combination of both foreskin and frenulum stretching? I haven't seen much progress the 4 weeks I have done the frenulum excercise. Basically, I'm wondering if I'm anywhere near "like it's supposed to be"! I am very happy with the progress so far, and I thank you again for all the valuable information. If anyone has questions, particulary concerning ear tunnels, I'm here.

BTW: you can see some red spots, mainly on the underside of the penis. These comes from the ear tunnels (I took them out just before the pictures after having them there for several hours.) The spots have not been a problem for me, and they disappear quite quickly.

Also, the tip of my foreskin is without pigments, as you can see! I'm wondering whether this has any connection to this at all. Has been like that as long as I can remember, and the spots have never developed.

So, what should I do? Just continue what I have been doing?


I HAVE INCLUDED PENIS PICTURES BELOW ---- PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY THIS
I HAVE INCLUDED PENIS PICTURES BELOW ---- PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY THIS

















































PICTURES:
With ear tunnels:




retracting:








Since you often ask; I'm European, but currently living in the middle east - I guess circumcition is the only offer they have here! But that's not an option for me.




Thanks,
Martin

Those little skin tunnels have found a new use for sure, haven't they?

You definitely need some more work, so keep on stretching. I believe you need to work on the opening as well as the frenulum.

The pigmentation has nothing to do with this.

OK, on various of your points - and thank you for the pictures.

You clearly have a short frænulum, and will no doubt wish to stretch it a fair bit further. I suggest you should not be trying too hard to be "not too harsh on the frænulum" and should work progressively towards not "relieving" the inner tunnel but using it to stretch the frænulum. What you actually wish to do is to "mould" the frænulum into the inner surface of the foreskin so that it is just (or nearly) as long on the underneath as it is on the top. The flesh tunnel will in all likelihood do this job better than the exercises we cite (since it is in place far longer).

That said, you probably do want larger tunnels - they need to be sized to the dimension (or larger) of the shaft of your erect penis (or glans - whichever is larger - you can measure this with the foreskin covering as it is very thin). If you notch the tunnels for the frænulum, you can of course rotate them so that the notch is no longer aligned (and/ or have a few alternate notches of varying depths).

I suppose you could summarise it as - you almost always have to stretch both, and as far as possible. The frænulum is always more difficult, so needs the greater effort.

Pigmentation? Well, pigmentation has a lot to do with exposure and with skin turnover. I'll hazard a guess that your palms are much lighter in tone than elsewhere (skin grows faster than it pigments; your pigmentation is only light) and your lips are paler (mucous membrane). Ladies of similar ancestry will be similarly pink inside their labia - and speaking of them, why would you expect "sex" to be painful simply because you have a tight foreskin? And the funny question: How did you "discover" that your foreskin was "a bit tighter than usual" at the age of 19?

Circumcision is very popular in the Middle East.

Jim and Paul, thanks very much for your replies.

Paul:

I have done as you advised, and turned the tunnels around for greater stress on the frænulum. I'm about to order 30mm tunnels, but that's the biggest silicone tunnels I've found on eBay. Do you have any reccomendations to where I can find larger sizes/similar objects to use?

I'll do what it takes stretch my frænulum, and I'll keep you posted. This forum has been a great inspiration for me for some time now, and I will happily contribute in any way I can. One thing I've noticed is that this page is very far down on the list when doing a google search for tight foreskin. I remember it took some time before I found this page - actually, I searched for Glansie and this page came up as one of the first hits. I don't know a lot about computers, so I can't really give you any tips, but I think your message would reach more people if the page was easier to find.

About the pigmentation, you're right - I do have some spots on the knuckles of my hands, though I don't think I have paler lips.

Why I would expect sex to be painful? Well, there has been situations during sex where it has simply not been very pleasurable because of the tight foreskin, even though I admit it has happened rarely. I lost my virginity at 19, and have only had two partners, both long term relationships. It hasn't really been a problem, they have both been ok with it, but I would simply like to be able to retract normally.

How I found out? Well, it's strange, since I have been able to retract my foreskin for cleaning etc, I didn't think much about it. Masturbation was fine since I did it without pulling the foreskin over the glans. After my first sexual encounter I started to think/read about this.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards,
Martin

My advocacy is pretty much limited to advising here - I do not otherwise have such direct involvement in people stretching foreskins as to have researched suppliers of "flesh tunnels" - WYSIWYG.

We used to suggest the use of 35 mm film canisters, but they come in only two sizes (and are becoming harder to obtain!), both too small. We considered (fleetingly) the possibility of having a product manufactured for the purpose, or people making their own using craft materials. "Flesh tunnels" are however already manufactured and shaped for this very purpose, so there is no point in "re-inventing the wheel", as soon as we realised their existence, we have seen no point in alternatives, apart from the GFS which seems to have acquired bad press here but I think should be useful if used in the right manner (which appears to require a certain "knack").

The "Glansie" appears to have little use (as you note) except for the most severe or "early" aspects of a very tight foreskin where the glans or meatus is not visible.

I am afraid it is not up to us to increase our ranking on Google. It is unfortunate (not for us, but people with problems) that we rank below one or more rather perverse sites that are certainly not at all helpful. Google has taken considerable effort to prevent people deliberately "jacking" themselves up the rankings. We need other people to blog about us, link us in other "informational" sites (but unfortunately many such sites are more self-seeking than genuinely "informational") and so on. We would be referenced (and have intermittently been) by Wikipedia except that it is controlled by certain "net-pests" who have the unlimited time and determination to pursue their own perversions. And - that's life!

I concur with your desire to "simply like to be able to retract normally". The import of my point is that a tight foreskin in itself does not cause pain, but may cause you to be more sensitive to inappropriate sexual technique - I have described this elsewhere (quite recently) and I am sure you understand what I am getting at.

http://www.fleshtunnels.co.uk/acatalog/Acrylic_Plastic_Ear_Flesh_Tunnels.html


Browse and you'll find a bigger one somewhere

G.uest,

It's the material that matters.........It must be silicone not hard acrylic ouchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I calculate that, on average doing the flesh tunnel stretch up to a 30mm tunnel (this is about 36mm diameter including flares and including the 6 weeks consistently and constantly recommended on this excellent site to establish skin cell setting)
will suffice for most men, unless you are, putting it bluntly, a right wideboy/man.

First of all, what a relief to find this sight. My boyfriend is 52 and has only just started experiencing the inability to retract the foreskin even a little bit, has a lot of pain with the advent of an erection and now has torn the frenulum. A few weeks ago I finally discovered the condition Phimosis. I have him applying MSM cream or the likes just to keep the hard ring area from getting to dried out but as you know this isn't enough. My main question and concern is the torn frenulum. Should he be applying neosporine or what???? to heal the cut before trying to stratch the foreskin. The ear tunnels sound like a great idea and am anxious to begin that process. He's having quite a bit of discomfort. Any advice. Thanks.

Are you saying this condition just started, and before, he had the ability to retract? If so, ordinarily, my first guess would be a problem with yeast. The remedy for that would be something like Lotrimin. But there remains the question of the source. Is he possibly diabetic? Has he recently used antibiotics? Are you having unprotected sex and perhaps you are infected? Try tracking this down. Meanwhile, visit the pharmacy and get something to combat yeast, following directions for treatment. Have him avoid the use of soap for cleaning the inside parts of his penis.

The torn frenulum should heal quickly. If you apply Neosporin, only ONE application is necessary. More will simply hinder progress.

I recommend trying get the cause solved before jumping into stretching in order to prevent some pain. If it's yeast and not too bad, it should be gone in a week. However, application of the product should continue for another week.

Well now, as I have so often pointed out, as soon as you mention the development of a tight foreskin - "phimosis" if you like - occurring at age 50 or so, my ears prick up and I think - "Diabetes"! Which is to say, if he has been fine before, something new must have happened, and the likely cause of irritation as Jim mentions, is "Thrush"; an infection with a yeast, Candida, and which requires treatment in the first instance with an antifungal such as clotrimazole (Lotrimin®) but you then have to look for a cause for the susceptibility to the yeast which was not evident before and unfortunately, diabetes is the prime suspect and needs to be specifically excluded by a blood test (and incidentally, not a urine test which is simply not helpful unless it proves positive).

If his problem is the recent development of a tight foreskin, the matter of a torn frænulum is a comparatively trivial side issue - I presume you are of an age such as to have experienced childbirth and therefore to realise that this area of the body heals in due course just fine, without applications of such foolishness as "Neosporin®" (which is really nothing more than a marketing venture in the American tradition).

The thing you need to treat is the yeast infection (which does tend to indicate that you have this yourself to some degree and are quite cosily sharing it with him by your conjugal ministrations, so you of course need the treatment as well). "MSM" - as an acronym, the current euphemism for male homosexuals as a class - is hitherto completely unknown to me as a topical medicament, but appears to me to be another marketing campaign for a simple emollient - I can see neither particular benefit nor harm in it.

So, when he has the "Thrush" under control, having also either excluded or initiated effective management for diabetes at which point he will no longer be getting pain with erections, then - and only then - can you consider the matter for stretching, along the lines we have detailed. Whether "flesh tunnels" might be useful in this, remains to be seen - perhaps, perhaps not.

Hi Martin, sorry for my English not so good.I'm 26 y.o. and I'm not a doctor.
I think is very difficult to stretch a frenulum brevis, much more than a phimosis.

Now, I suggest to you to do a frenuloplastic for your case. I tell you this solution because I had a frenulum brevis and phimosis like yours and I have

actually only a light phimosis, in fact 1 months ago I made frenuloplastic in day surgery at hospital, and I have to tell to you that now is another world!!

The operation is not frightful, half an hour, they make little local anesthesy with a pomade and you feel nothing...and the scar tissue is very little, only

a little straight stripe of about 2 cm on the bottom of glans and on the first foreskin, very difficult to see, and there's a little cheloid at the end(it

looks like a white birth mark, even if better than frenulum brevis).

Phimosis persists,of course, but now without frenulum there's no ostacle (except phimosis) to try to pull back foreskin...
I think the frenulum causes congenital phimosis because it pulls the foreskin to cover the glans when your growth try to do the opposite, so in my opinion if

the frenulum brevis wouldn't exist when I was born, probably I never had phimosis too. This is an opinion, of course, but the aspect of my penis
is better now than before.

As soon as possible I'll take and post some photos of my penis.

I don't think I'll have a circumcision in the future, and now I'm ready to lookin for a stretching method.I look around and I found exercises, glansie, and

now
your "silicon ear tunnels"... this last seems to be the best solution!!!


Ah, where did you bought your "silicon ear tunnels"?

Thanks, Bye!!!

Yes, that is one way to solve the problem. However, the time spent in recuperating may as well be spent stretching. Actually, there should be no greater difficulty in lengthening the frenulum than there is in enlarging the opening, for the frenar band and the frenulum are one continuous structure. It's really a matter of learning to grip the little guy so optimum results can be obtained.

Try Googling for ear tunnels.

Where are you located? Is circumcision practiced much in your country?

Hi Jim. Hi Paul B. Thanks for replies. Sure, there're plus than one method to solve, in my case the truth is that I've losen my patience, really...But I must confess I didn't try actually stretch the frenulum and also phimosis ring, becouse until about an year ago I blindly believed what my doctor said: surgery will be necessary(circumcision).

Besides when I tried googling "natural methods, exercising , stretching..." in italian language and in italian forums, I found nothing interesting.
I discover these methods only when I searched in English.

In my country doctors posting on "www.medicitalia.it",one of the more referenced medicine forum, say stretching exercises aren't useful...generally they slant for circumcision (postectomy). This one is generally an adult's question, becouse In Italy circumcision is never practiced routinely at birth neither in childhood like USA's, Jewish, or Moslems do.

However, we disagree circumcision and we would like to resolve "naturally" our problem. That's right.

Nevertheless, after a dark period, I decided to entrust myself a little in surgery and I took the risk of a "simple" frenulum extension operation.

I convinced myself(probably be wrong) that frenulum is not so easy to treat because it is not only skin, pulls(this also in a "normal" penis, I suppose), in my case it was thick, and very short. After searchs about fisiological frenulum's role and aftermaths of a surgery, I thought a frenuloplastic first, then prepuce stretching(with two fingers, I read) could be a quite good compromise to obtain a functional, aesthetic result with lowest surgery risk, to help me struggle phimosis and, above all, to preserve foreskin.

But, as I said above, this couldn't be the only way, neither the best.
Everyone is free to express his certainly.
I've taken some risks deciding to do the surgery. I'm aware of it. And I'm satisfied of the result. Fortunately.

About the "flesh tunnels": I'm not experienced in piercing,
tattoos and so on. Flesh tunnels attract me because they recall me some africans habits to stretch body parts I've seen on TV. On they it works fine.
But reading here and there, I convinced myself that I could avoid that perhaps, first trying only with the two fingers in the morning and in the evening for some weeks(without any steroid cream, only water and moistourizing e-vitamin cream). I'll also continue to try simply pull down and up foreskin, even if I think it is not so useful. I have to force it gently. Also during erections.
If no results, I'll try somethin' like flesh tunnels, maybe a pair of buttons or a wine cork

I'll tell you among few weeks...

The only problem I see with that is the yeast. You could get a nasty infection from them. Stick with something that is easily cleaned with soap and water.

Your comments illustrate a number of points which we frequently make. The most obvious - but all-too-common - is that stretching in whatever form almost always does not work if you do not actually do it!

And this also belies the doctors' comments - in their experience, stretching does not work - simply because none of their clients have ever performed it. It's as simple - and as blatantly and quite absurdly obvious - as that. It is what one calls a Self-fulfilling prophecy or perhaps, an example of the Thomas theorem.

Of course, it may be the case that on some isolated occasion, the doctor did suggest stretching to a patient who - as is so often the case - went home, tried something quite trivial a couple of times, and reported when asked, his lack of "success". The point is, you have to actually stretch using an effective technique, which is why we go into such detail here including suggestion as to the amount of force appropriate, then you have to do it regularly which means, each day, and a number of times each day (at least twice at the absolute minimum, but four, six or more times is going to be proportionately more effective), and you have to keep doing it for more than a week; essentially for several weeks to obtain an effect and whenever the stretching has achieved the desired result (whatever that actually is), for a month or so further with perhaps lesser vigour to cause skin growth to consolidate the stretch. The fact is, that few people actually do all of this and you have to ask - which is easier - to do the stretching, or to pay whatever it is to see a doctor, have surgery and be "out of action" for a few weeks?

As to circumcision, well, this is an interesting point. We know that losing the foreskin is a huge impediment to sexual satisfaction, and I think that most people in non-mutilating societies - or indeed those who are intact in any society - take this as a "given". Why then would doctors even in those societies be so cavalier₍₅₎ about this? Well, again, most people who present for a circumcision believe they have a "serious" problem, and this colours their concern for what they are going to lose so if told that circumcision is the "only answer", they tend to fall for it. However when genuine scientific studies are made of men who have a circumcision for a condition which they believe to be an actual medical problem and would thus be expected to obtain the greatest actual benefit - if there were any - from the procedure, only 61% considered they were "satisfied" with the procedure, and many were particularly dissatisfied.

But of course, surgeons do not generally see these patients other than to verify that they have initially healed, and will not be told about problems with sexual function.

Now you refer to the frænulum as "not only skin" but - in fact it it is no different from any other part of the skin. What makes it difficult to deal with is that it is somewhat delicate and perhaps more to the point, an intricate structure (compared to the foreskin opening), closely integrated into the glans and meatus (urinary opening), so that it requires a certain delicacy. The very simple "exercise" we illustrate is however, so easy to practice, that I feel it should be little problem to do this frequently, every day as you do not need so much privacy - one hand only inside the pants and whilst applying tension, it need not even be apparent that you are actually touching the penis and the hand can be moved away in a perfectly innocuous manner.

And ... We will certainly be interested to hear of your results. In a few weeks, this thread will most likely have been "antiquated" (locked), but by all means do start a new one. Best wishes.

My question is - did you actually try stretching your frænulum before you had that operation - that is, according to the criteria we outline here, and not just a little tug once or twice?

You are of course correct on a number of points - it is significantly more difficult to stretch a frænulum breve than a phimosis. And there is a connection between a short frænulum and a tight foreskin.

Now we are not entirely against frænuloplasty, and indeed, the tying procedure is probably entirely adequate in the vast majority of cases and requires no more than five minutes in a doctor's office with a tiny amount of local anaesthetic, rather than a day surgery.

Our point is simply that if you put some effort into doing it - the keyword that has been used before is "diligence" - then stretching will work. In the month or so that it has taken you to recover to a point of comfortable manipulation following this surgery, you might well have achieved a significant result from regular stretching, at no cost other than your time and the satisfaction of self-reliance. "Horses for courses" as they say.

Clearly you are still troubled by your tight foreskin. If as you describe, you do not have the patience to sit out the manual exercises which we have so frequently described in complete detail here, then the "flesh tunnels" look to be more practical. "Google is your friend" as it is said, there certainly do seem to be plenty of Internet vendors happy to mail them to you and charge your credit card.

While a short frænulum does to some extent make retraction difficult, I think it is more the point that where the foreskin is too tight, the frequent natural erections that happen during sleep, fail to cause the frænulum to grow normally during childhood. And of course there is the behavioural aspect - why were you not pulling your foreskin back as a child anyway?

I am however most troubled that you might imagine that circumcision is either beneficial or "benign" - that it is in some way actually "better" to be circumcised than have a foreskin even if it does not retract. This does suggest that it is rare in your country, or something never actually discussed in real terms due to a religious divide.

Hi again,

Haven't checked in for a while - been busy stretching!

I've used the tunnels on a daily basis, and my foreskin has widened quite a bit. I haven't started using the 30mm's as I haven't received them yet, but as someone else said, there will probably not be any need for anything bigger. The difference already is fantastic.


Then there's the frenulum stretching.

My best tip:

Buy a box set (or five) of your favourite tv show! I'm watching one episode in the morning, and one in the evening. sometimes one turns into 3. I'm watching in my bed, and I stretch my frenulum the whole time as I watch. Twice daily, never missing a day. I've seen noticeable changes already.

I'm very glad I took the pictures - I've compared, and it's really quite motivating.

I admit I have been lazy before, skipped days etc, but not this time. I will continue to stretch for as long as it takes!

Basically, if I was to do frenuloplasty (I have considered it) I would have to wait more than a year, for various reasons. I believe my frenulum will be long enough by that time

I'll keep you posted. For all you frenulum stretchers out there, keep pulling.

Thank you so much for that encouraging report.