so I'm pretty sure I have 'full' phimosis, because I cannot even retract my foreskin over the glans even when flaccid lat alone trying to retract it when erect. Im 21 years old and have never been able to pull the foreskin back my entire life.

today I went to my GP about it and it was so bad. first he looked at my penis and tried to tell me it looks completely normal (he actually said it looked like his....) then after a second look he agreed that the foreskin was tight. he then asked me why I wanted to pull the foreskin back... I said because it is naturally supposed to be that why so you can clean it and what not! I asked about stretching and maybe a cream for it but he said I should probably just think about a circumcision... then he referred me to a urologist (not sure how much they charge but I probably cant afford to see one at the moment..)

ive tried stretching by myself with no creams and havent seen much results.. I just don't know what to do next. Do most doctors have no clue what phimosis is? I don't want to be going to doctor after doctor and flopping my penis out in front of them if they wont be any help to me at all.

Would over the counter Sigmacort ointment be any help to me while stretching or not?

thank you for reading.. im just getting very frustrated with this

Just to be sure you begin with a level playing ground, it might be wise to treat for a possible yeast infection. Your local pharmacy has an array of products for yeast control in the area where they display tampons. Some say products with Miconazole are very effective in fighting yeast. Brand shouldn't matter much. The cream should be applied to the end of the foreskin and to the inside. You can squeeze a small amount into the opening and then knead your foreskin to distribute the cream around inside.

Once you are assured that yeast is not inhibiting the stretching, you can try again. Any cortisone purchased over the counter will not be effective. Betamethasone requires a doctor's prescription.

Please be patient with this. It's going to take some time to sort out, but it will be possible without resorting to circumcision.

Actually, I think that GP was just a little smarter than you give him credit! (And he has a foreskin himself, which is a very good start. You would appear to have identified your country as Great Britain where you would need to see a urologist privately for a "cosmetic" circumcision.)

Asking just why you wish to pull back your foreskin is actually quite reasonably astute. Saying "so you can clean it" suggests that you believe you need to clean under your foreskin, but I would ask you, if you could retract your foreskin so that you could readily see your meatus (pee hole), would you then want to start cleaning inside that?

Of course not! My point is, if you have a foreskin that will not retract, then it follows that "dirt" or whatever you fancy, cannot get under it and consequently, there is nothing to be "cleaned" out. Now I perceive you may have read about "smegma", but any such material under your foreskin has been present for something of the order of sixteen years, give or take a few, and it clearly hasn't caused a problem so far, so I shouldn't get too worried about that!

The fact is, smegma is no doubt present, but it is nothing more than the surface material of the skin there, continuously wearing away as the skin continuously grows, and no doubt being loosened by sexual activity (which is to say, masturbation to which I am sure you are no stranger) and flushed out as you pee. Girls develop this at least as much, and in either gender, causing irritation by washing these areas with soap is the cause of excessive smegma production as the skin literally attempts to protect itself from the irritation in the only way it can, by growing faster.

Now to the "and what not" reason for wanting to retract - I presume you allude to sexual functions. Well, that is a genuine reason to wish to have it retracting as long as you realise that this is a relative consideration. It might be a point of preference to have your glans fully exposed for sexual activities as long as you do not believe it is necessary! It should be clear to you already that not only has this not prevented you from enjoying masturbation, but is actually a great convenience since having the foreskin permanently covering the glans makes it very easy to stroke without having to be careful not to have your hand (or anything else) touch your glans which would if it did, require generous amounts of lubrication which is messy and inconvenient.

It should also be evident that if masturbation is not a problem, then sexual exploits with a young lady would not be a problem either. Oral sex for example, is critically limited by something called "teeth" (at least insofar as her using her mouth on you) and a foreskin also provides excellent protection against those. Vaginal intercourse with a foreskin that will not move back and forth, is no more limited than intercourse with no foreskin at all.

So, having convinced him that the mere presence of your foreskin represented a problem to you, he "logically" turned to the option of removing it. OK, so he then wasn't so astute about stretching but to be fair, most people he sees haven't the patience and persistence to execute stretching. Let's face it - most of his patients aren't so good at reliably taking a few tablets twice a day, or even every morning.

Now let me move on to what you can do. Given your story, you probably do not have a problem with Candida at this point as you have simply never been able to retract, so you probably do not need the Miconazole or Clotrimazole. The fact however that you refer to a "cream" tells me that you have not been reading the discussions here, or at least, not in sufficient depth to have discovered what steroid ointment would actually be of value in stretching. And if you have not read sufficiently here, you probably are not stretching as we explain it which means you have probably not been stretching in an effective manner.

I invite you then as we always do - you need to read all the prior discussions here, perhaps a hundred of them (three or more index pages worth) by way of research to discover how to actually stretch, what ointment you might use if you could convince your present doctor to prescribe it (because you are correct in stating that simply randomly visiting other doctors isn't likely to be at all productive) and how you would use it if you did obtain it, and how long (in a very broad sense) it might take you to see results.

hey guys, I really appreciate your responses.

firstly, I just want to show you what I am dealing with here

this is as far as I can retract when flaccid, it hurts a bit when I do this:






not sure if I have a short frenulum (im guessing i do..) and unsure what to think of all the skin at the back of my penis under the frenulum (is that normal?)




after doing some reading on this site I have started to stretch the 'tight ring' in the morning and night using the two index finger method as demonstrated. In a few days I might go back to my GP and ask for a prescription of betamethasone ointment to use to help me with my stretching. just wondering what your opinion is after seeing the picture as to how severe my case of phimosis is, as I am scared of being circumcised.

thanks.

Get the "C" word out of your vocabulary. No one can force you into this, and we've already told you that you can do this. Have some faith.

You're in a lot better shape than half of the guys who come here. Some cannot retract at all. You're almost there before you start.

It appears you need to do stretching for both the opening and the frenulum.

It is only sensible that you do not want a circumcision and are justifiably scared of the suggestion, because notwithstanding your doctor's confusion on this matter, there is no reason that you would want a circumcision. There is no reason anyone would really want a circumcision because there is virtually no "problem" that a circumcision can improve.

The problem here is that your GP - in even mentioning circumcision - is interpreting your enquiry as saying that the cosmetic aspect of being able to retract your foreskin appears to be more important to you than your sexual function. Perhaps he hasn't really looked at it in those terms, but that is what he is saying in effect, and thus his question - just why do you want to retract your foreskin anyway?

We of course know this because we comprehend the sexual function of the penis, though when genuinely honest "clinical studies" have been performed, it is found that men offered circumcision because they have some "medical reason" (and somewhat more than simply being unable to retract the foreskin), are frequently dissatisfied with the result even if they believe that the supposed medical problem actually is "fixed" by circumcision (which was of course, not the proper way to correct said problem anyway).

As I previously intimated, problems with a foreskin that does not retract are in some respects - lack of movement of the foreskin, loss of sensitivity - comparable to having had the foreskin removed, but not as severe (especially in the longer term) as the latter.

You need to understand this. Under no circumstance would a circumcision improve matters, so there is simply no reason to even consider it. It does not enter into the discussion (and if you were to see the doctor and he suggested it, you should ask him how he imagines it would advantage you and take careful note of his explanation against what we have pointed out).

---

Now looking at your pictures, it is indeed apparent that you have a tight foreskin opening and a very short and stout frænulum. I can see that you could consider, as one other fellow posting here recently has, having the frænulum separated in a minor, brief procedure performed in the doctor's office under local anaesthesia.

On the other hand, as that fellow discovered, the short frænulum has nothing to do with the tight foreskin (or more correctly while they necessarily occur together, relieving the short frænulum has no benefit in terms of the tight foreskin opening) and in fact your short frænulum being so thick means that it cannot be torn and is most unlikely to be uncomfortable in sexual activity. I would advise - with or without the betamethasone - that you work on stretching both of the opening and the frænulum, and when you can easily retract just behind the glans when erect will be the time to judge whether the short frænulum is of any real concern.

thanks for the responses guys

So today I finally convinced the doc to prescribe something to help fix my problem, even though they did it reluctantly . They have given me a script for Diprosone (Cream) 0.5mg/1g - 15grams. with no repeats - is this the right kind of cream I am looking for to help my foreskin? I think it is betamethasone but not too sure. how long will 15 grams of this stuff last - weeks/months?

Even though i asked for an ointment, they still gave me a cream, but at least ive got something to use now. Now, as for the actual usage of the cream, I know that I need to apply a small ammount after my stretching session, so do i apply the cream just on the outside of the ring or on the inside of it also. The doc kept telling me to be careful with where I use it (they even said it would be safer to get snipped) and I told them that that is never going to happen (thanks to this website for all the helpful advice :D).

hopefully I start to see some faster progress now

Diprosone is correct. Diprosone is Betamethasone Dipropionate, whereas Betnovate is Betamethasone Valerate - that's how they made up the trade names. As best I know, these are pretty much equivalent.

Clearly your doctor does have a number of deficiencies in his expertise. If you indeed specified to him the preference for the ointment form and he prescribed the cream, then his competence in dermatology is severely suspect (or he is being deliberately obtuse ). That he does not understand why he thinks this steroid is somehow "dangerous" to use, strongly reinforces this same conclusion.

And of course, his faith in some "benefit" of circumcision, despite his own intact status, unfortunately indicates a profound ignorance of sexual function, so whatever his strengths might be, it would seem wise to steer clear of him as far as possible for any skin condition or sexual problem.

I suggest that when filling the prescription - if you have not already done so - you negotiate with the pharmacist, to substitute the ointment for the cream. It may take some talking, but is worth a try.

For this purpose, fifteen grams of the steroid should last you years - which is why all the concerns about "overuse" and "side effects" are moot! Note in each of your pictures above, a "valley" or "groove" where the tight part of the foreskin that you have pulled back, is now constricting the shaft of the penis. That is the part that needs to be stretched, and indeed it and the frænulum which is readily visible in the third and fourth pictures, are the only parts which need to be stretched, so you only put the tiniest smear of the steroid precisely on those areas while you have them exposed as you demonstrate in the pictures.

This requires only the very tiniest dab on your fingertip (it will do no harm to the much thicker skin in your fingertip anyway, just wipe the finger afterward with a tissue or wash it with soap if you were going to do that anyway) and run it around that groove and over your frænulum. You should not be able to feel any significant "greasiness" afterward; that would indicate that you have used too much.

I trust that is all straightforward.

Hey guys thanks for all the helpful advice . I come here with great news - today I was able to pull back my foreskin and reveal the whole of the glans for the first time in my life!! It was when flaccid and it still felt tight but i finanlly retracted all the way down ! It was a very strange feeling and there was quite a buildup of smegma but I'm sure that will wash away by itself. Any advice on what to do about sensitivity of the glans? It was hard to touch in the shower. Ive still got a long way to go but I'm seeing good progress so far.

Advice on sensitivity: Treasure it. Not everyone has it.

Clearly it has never been a problem whilst covered by your foreskin. Therefore it is not a problem. The problem is that you expect it to be something it is not "designed" for, such as to be touched by your dry finger.

Your comment indicates that you have had no experience of sexual exploration with a girl, else you would have been told in no uncertain terms that you may not touch her clitoris with your sticky finger. How do you do it then? She has to be wet - sufficiently (sexually) excited that slippery fluid is coming from her vagina and lubricating her vulva. Then you can dip your fingers into that fluid and use it to stroke her clitoris. If it were not for the critical need to use a condom, you could at some stage use this same slipperiness to insert your bare glans into her vagina.

Now since this is not going to happen any time soon, then just bear it in mind that your glans is similarly sensitive to a girls, and figure out how carefully to treat it.