First off, can i just say how glad i am to have found this message board and how great i think it is that people are willing to talk about and give advice on such a personal issue!

Secondly, i have some questions regarding stretching.

I have read a lot of the messages and links in the board and tried a bit of stretching myself, and was surprised how much easier it was to get two fingers below the skin to do the stretching than i expected, so this was good. I'm planning on being strict with this, morning and night every day until i am done.

Should i be considering using the creams the doctor can provide by default or should i do without and see if there is progress for a while? Also, if i don't use the cream what can i use as lubrication to assist the stretching process without using anything harmful (i am aware most creams are not for the skin around the penis!).

Lastly, can i still have sex with a condom even if i cannot retract the foreskin past the glans?

Thanks hugely everyone out there, very helpful board!

Stretching manually without steroids is very effective, so I suggest that you start there. You should recognize sign of change within a week. The growth will take longer and come in stages, so you must be patient. Using a steroid will not hurry the process.

Do you need a lubricant? You may find it easier not to use anything if the fingers go in.

Yes, you may use a condom. In fact, it should work quite well. I suggest not using any lubricant inside, although pre-ejaculate fluid will often be produced. I'm saying that the foreskin is less apt to move in the absence of a lubricant, but natural fluids are part of the process!

Great thanks for the fast response!

I would say that using a (correct) steroid ointment would hurry the stretching progress - but nowhere near as much as if the problem was a disease which was causing scarring and contraction of a previously retractile foreskin where the steroid becomes essential. So it's not something to be concerned about if your situation is - as I presume - a foreskin that you simply have not stretched to become retractile before in the normal process of growth.

A lubricant is not a bad idea as it will make the stretch you apply more comfortable, and thus you will be able to stretch more effectively. You may well become somewhat lubricated naturally by playing around with your penis, but otherwise you could variously use a "personal" lubricant as sold for such purpose, or something simple such as olive oil. If you were to encounter any irritation, I would suggest the plain Zinc and Castor Oil which I so frequently mention, which also has lubricant properties.

You do not need to retract for (various forms of) sex at all. The only problem is a lack of lubrication resulting in undue drag on the foreskin and a consequent tendency to pull it back inappropriately if the lady is not "ready" for it. A condom serves very well to resist such dragging even if lubrication is deficient (which is in fact, the almost universal reason that condoms "fail" by breaking you see), and instructions offered to retract the foreskin in order to apply the condom, are given in total ignorance of foreskin function. Adding lubrication on the outside (or inside the young lady!) has great merit in this case.