IntactiWiki - User contributions [en]

West Virginia

2026-04-04T17:34:21Z

WikiModEn2: Ad section.

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is contiguous with Ohio, which is part of the "circumcision capital of America" that runs through the midwestern [[United States]].

==Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia==
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) in 2009 of harmful, painful, traumatic, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
[[File:US c rates by state.jpg|600px|left|American circumcision rates by state.]]

It is very likely that [[third-party payment]] is freely available for the medically not indicated, non-therapeutic surgical [[amputation]] of the normal [[foreskin]].

==Health care in West Virginia==
According to Wikipedia, health care in West Virginia is generally substandard:
<blockquote>
"United Health Foundation's "America's Health Rankings" for 2013 found that Americans are making considerable progress in key health measures. West Virginia, however, ranked either last or second-to-last in twenty categories, including cancer, child immunization, diabetes, disabilities, drug deaths, teeth loss, low birth weight, missed work days due to health, prescription drug overdose, preventable hospitalizations, and senior clinical care."

"The residents of West Virginia have a lower life expectancy than the national average. In 2014 life expectancy for both sexes in the state was 76.0 years compared to 79.1 years for the United States as a whole. In 2014, males in West Virginia lived an average of 73.6 years compared to a national average of 76.7 years and females lived an average of 77.5 years compared to a national average of 81.5 years. Male life expectancy in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 4.7 years, compared to a national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 1.7 years, compared to a national average of a 4.0-year increase. Life expectancy for both sexes is among the lowest of all states."<ref>{{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}</ref>
</blockquote>
West Virginia may have the poorest health care of any U.S. State.
==Conclusion==
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Male circumcision]]
[[Category:Male genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine

2026-04-04T16:01:42Z

WikiModEn2:

Osteopathic medicine is practiced in parallel alongside of allopathic medicine in the [[United States]].

The [https://osteopathic.org/ American Osteopathic Association] (AOA) is the [[medical trade association]] for osteopathic doctors (DOs). The AOA has not enunciated a position regarding male circumcision, however the AOA has adopted four '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' that may be applied to both [[child circumcision]] and [[adult circumcision]]. The Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine express the underlying philosophy of osteopathic medicine and were approved by the AOA House of Delegates as policy.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/aoa-governance-documents/tenets-of-osteopathic-medicine/
|title=Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> The tenets were last reaffirmed by resolution of the Ad Hoc Committee on 22 July 2023.<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Sunset Res. No. H608 - A/2023
|url=https://osteopathic.org/index.php?aam-media=/wp-content/uploads/past-resolutions/H608-A2023-SR-Tenets-of-Osteopathic-Medicine.pdf
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|format=PDF
|date=2023-07-22
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

It is estimated, that by 2030, 20 percent of U.S. physicians will be Doctors of Osteopathy.

==Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine==
The four tenets of osteopathic medicine provide for treatment and well-being of the whole person. Allopathic medicine has nothing comparable.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-wiki/allopathic-medicine/
|title=What is Allopathic medicine?
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com
|date=2024-06-03
|accessdate=2026-03-31
}}</ref>
===1. The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind and spirit.===
The harmful, adverse effects of [[circumcision]] upon the human person had, until recently, been ignored for many decades. Now there is increasing evidence of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and disability caused by [[amputation]] of the multi-functional [[foreskin]] portion of the [[penis]] upon the [[Sexual injury of circumcision| sexual]] and [[Psychological injury of male circumcision| psychological]] well-being of the human person.<ref name="hill2007">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=Finally, we must remember that males are the more vulnerableand sensitive of the two genders and, therefore, deserve the greater degree of protection from traumatic, invasive, injurious, and unnecessary surgery.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref><ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
}}</ref> [[Amputation]] and lost of [https://circumcision.org/functions-of-the-foreskin/ function] may induce [[depression]] and even [[suicide]]. It is clear that unwanted [[circumcision]] makes many men very angry.<ref name="chapin2022">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022
|quote=But we need to listen to the growing number of men speaking out about having been violated as babies when an essential (i.e., of its essence) part of their penis was forcibly severed. And we must ask ourselves whether the nearly ubiquitous violation of baby boys as a class of people and the assembly-line acts of violence carried out upon individual newborns might be responsible for at least some of the rage, pain and feelings of impotence that underlie the epidemic of mass killings we are witnessing today.
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}</ref>

===2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.===
[[Charles Darwin]] (1859) observed that survival of the fittest caused evolution. The [[foreskin]] was created and improved by [[Evolution of the foreskin| evolution]] to provide protection of the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. [[Paul M. Fleiss| Fleiss]], [[Frederick M. Hodges| Hodges]] & [[Robert S. Van Howe| Van Howe]] (1998) enumerated numerous ways in which the foreskin protects against [[infection]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological Functions of the Human Prepuce
|journal= Sex Transm Infect
|date=1998-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/fleiss3/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref>

The [[foreskin]] [[Development of retractable foreskin| develops throughout childhood]] invariably without medical intervention. It could hardly be otherwise, since human genitalia evolved over 100,000+ years without medical assistance of any kind<ref name="agarwal2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Agarwal
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Mohta
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Anand
|first3=
|init3=RK
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Preputial retraction in children
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg
|location=
|date=2005-04
|season=
|volume=10
|issue=2
|article=
|pages=89-91
|url=https://journals.lww.com/jiap/fulltext/2005/10020/preputial_retraction_in_children.5.aspx
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.4103/0971-9261.16468
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref> [[Forced foreskin retraction]] is harmful, [[trauma| traumatic]], painful, injurious, inappropriate, and inconsistent with the tenets of osteopathic medicine. The practice frequently generates a parental complaint of gratuitous clinical injury filed with state and federal medical authorities. ([[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] offers a free service to help parents file complaints.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/help-with-forcible-foreskin-retraction/pffr-data-collection-form/
|title=PFFR Data Collection Form
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|accessdate=2026-03-24
}}</ref>)

===3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.===
The human [[penis]] and its [[foreskin]] are excellent examples of the truth of this tenet. The penis and foreskin consist of specialized tissues ideally suited for their functions.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

===4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function.===
When these basic principles are applied, it will quickly be seen that harmful, medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of boys is contraindicated.<ref name="tye2022"> {{REFjournal
|last=Tye
|first=
|init=MC
|author-link=
|last2=Sardi
|first2=
|init2=LM
|author2-link=Lauren Sardi
|etal=no
|title=Psychological, psychosocial, and psychosexual aspects of penile circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int J Impot Res
|date=2023-05
|volume=35
|issue=3
|pages=242-8
|url=https://www.galdef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tye-Sardi-Psycho-Aspects-of-Penile-Circumcision-IJIR-2022.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35347302
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00553-9
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name="andersen2025" /> Boys are unable to grant consent due to their immaturity. Parental surrrogates must protect the interest and rights of the child patient. They are limited to granting [[surrogate consent]] for diagnosis and treatment of disease. There is no person who is empowered to grant consent for non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of a minor.<ref name="hill2002">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Informed Consent for Circumcision
|trans-title=
|journal=South Med J
|date=2002-08
|volume=95
|issue=8
|page=946
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George-Hill-3/publication/371599857_Can_Anyone_Authorize_the_Nontherapeutic_Permanent_Alteration_of_a_Child's_Body/links/648b8819c41fb852dd0949be/Can-Anyone-Authorize-the-Nontherapeutic-Permanent-Alteration-of-a-Childs-Body.pd
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=12190244
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> There are no valid indications for circumcision in the neonatal period.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Preston
|first=
|init=EN
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Whither the foreskin?
|trans-title=
|journal=JAMA
|date=1970-09-14
|volume=213
|issue=11
|article=
|page=
|pages=1853-58
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/preston/
|archived=
|quote=Routine circumcision of the newborn is an unnecessary procedure. It provides questionable benefits and is associated with a small but definite incidence of complications and hazards. These risks are preventable if the operation is not performed unless truly medically indicated. Circumcision of the newborn is a procedure that should no longer be considered routine.
|pubmedID=5468911
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.213.11.1853
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

Myers & [[Brian D. Earp| Earp]] (2020) concluded that the best age to circumcise is after the patient reached the age at which he could grant consent for his own circumcision.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-05-27
}}</ref>

[[Amputation]] of a healthy boy's [[foreskin]] without medical indication and without valid effective consent is equivalent to criminal battery.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/what-is-the-crime-of-battery.html
|title=What Is the Crime of Battery?
|last=Buckner
|first=Susan
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Findlaw
|date=2026-01-13
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> While there are no reports of an American provider being criminally charged, in the [[United Kingdom]] Dr. [[Mohammad Siddiqui]] has been struck off the Medical Register and has been criminally charged by the Crown Prosecution Service. The changing view of [[child circumcision]] has altered the atmosphere around [[child circumcision]], so a criminal charge may now be more likely than in the past.

It is more likely that a parent would bring a civil suit for injury caused by [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Adler
|first=Peter W.
|init=PW
|author-link=Peter W. Adler
|title=Is circumcision legal?
|journal=Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
|date=2013
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=439-86
|url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1265&context=jolpi
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

==PFFR in West Virginia==
Parents of a boy in [[West Virginia]] have alleged that an osteopathic physician prematurely forcibly retracted the healthy [[Foreskin#Foreskin_in_infancy_and_childhoo| foreskin of a boy]], causing great [[trauma]], [[pain]], and destructive injury to the [[synechia]] that secures the protective [[foreskin]] in place. [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] assisted the parents in the filing of a complaint against the osteopathic physician.

If true, then the osteopathic physician would appear to have violated the Second Tenet of Osteopathic Medicine.

==Videos==
===What is osteopathic medicine?===
<youtube>v=_q5U1_qudtM</youtube>
===What is Osteopathy?===
<youtube>v=OnYHanA5noU</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Forced foreskin retraction]]
* [[ICCPR]]
* [[Psychiatrist Discusses the Lasting Trauma of Circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|Osteopathic_medicine_in_the_United_States|Osteopathic medicine in the United States}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://osteopathic.org/|2026-03-18}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital surgery]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Osteopathy]]

[[Category:USA]]

Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine

2026-04-04T15:57:43Z

WikiModEn2: /* 4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function. */

Osteopathic medicine is practiced in parallel alongside of allopathic medicine in the [[United States]].

The [https://osteopathic.org/ American Osteopathic Association] (AOA) is the [[medical trade association]] for osteopathic doctors (DOs). The AOA has not enunciated a position regarding male circumcision, however the AOA has adopted four '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' that may be applied to both [[child circumcision]] and [[adult circumcision]]. The Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine express the underlying philosophy of osteopathic medicine and were approved by the AOA House of Delegates as policy.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/aoa-governance-documents/tenets-of-osteopathic-medicine/
|title=Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> The tenets were last reaffirmed by resolution of the Ad Hoc Committee on 22 July 2023.<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Sunset Res. No. H608 - A/2023
|url=https://osteopathic.org/index.php?aam-media=/wp-content/uploads/past-resolutions/H608-A2023-SR-Tenets-of-Osteopathic-Medicine.pdf
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|format=PDF
|date=2023-07-22
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

It is estimated, that by 2030, 20 percent of U.S. physicians will be Doctors of Osteopathy.

==Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine==
The four tenets of osteopathic medicine provide for treatment and well-being of the whole person. Allopathic medicine has nothing comparable.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-wiki/allopathic-medicine/
|title=What is Allopathic medicine?
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com
|date=2024-06-03
|accessdate=2026-03-31
}}</ref>
===1. The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind and spirit.===
The harmful, adverse effects of [[circumcision]] upon the human person had, until recently, been ignored for many decades. Now there is increasing evidence of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and disability caused by [[amputation]] of the multi-functional [[foreskin]] portion of the [[penis]] upon the [[Sexual injury of circumcision| sexual]] and [[Psychological injury of male circumcision| psychological]] well-being of the human person.<ref name="hill2007">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=Finally, we must remember that males are the more vulnerableand sensitive of the two genders and, therefore, deserve the greater degree of protection from traumatic, invasive, injurious, and unnecessary surgery.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref><ref name="andersen2026">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
}}</ref> [[Amputation]] and lost of [https://circumcision.org/functions-of-the-foreskin/ function] may induce [[depression]] and even [[suicide]]. It is clear that unwanted [[circumcision]] makes many men very angry.<ref name="chapin2022">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022
|quote=But we need to listen to the growing number of men speaking out about having been violated as babies when an essential (i.e., of its essence) part of their penis was forcibly severed. And we must ask ourselves whether the nearly ubiquitous violation of baby boys as a class of people and the assembly-line acts of violence carried out upon individual newborns might be responsible for at least some of the rage, pain and feelings of impotence that underlie the epidemic of mass killings we are witnessing today.
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}</ref>

===2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.===
[[Charles Darwin]] (1859) observed that survival of the fittest caused evolution. The [[foreskin]] was created and improved by [[Evolution of the foreskin| evolution]] to provide protection of the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. [[Paul M. Fleiss| Fleiss]], [[Frederick M. Hodges| Hodges]] & [[Robert S. Van Howe| Van Howe]] (1998) enumerated numerous ways in which the foreskin protects against [[infection]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological Functions of the Human Prepuce
|journal= Sex Transm Infect
|date=1998-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/fleiss3/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref>

The [[foreskin]] [[Development of retractable foreskin| develops throughout childhood]] invariably without medical intervention. It could hardly be otherwise, since human genitalia evolved over 100,000+ years without medical assistance of any kind<ref name="agarwal2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Agarwal
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Mohta
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Anand
|first3=
|init3=RK
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Preputial retraction in children
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg
|location=
|date=2005-04
|season=
|volume=10
|issue=2
|article=
|pages=89-91
|url=https://journals.lww.com/jiap/fulltext/2005/10020/preputial_retraction_in_children.5.aspx
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.4103/0971-9261.16468
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref> [[Forced foreskin retraction]] is harmful, [[trauma| traumatic]], painful, injurious, inappropriate, and inconsistent with the tenets of osteopathic medicine. The practice frequently generates a parental complaint of gratuitous clinical injury filed with state and federal medical authorities. ([[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] offers a free service to help parents file complaints.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/help-with-forcible-foreskin-retraction/pffr-data-collection-form/
|title=PFFR Data Collection Form
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|accessdate=2026-03-24
}}</ref>)

===3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.===
The human [[penis]] and its [[foreskin]] are excellent examples of the truth of this tenet. The penis and foreskin consist of specialized tissues ideally suited for their functions.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

===4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function.===
When these basic principles are applied, it will quickly be seen that harmful, medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of boys is contraindicated.<ref name="tye2022"> {{REFjournal
|last=Tye
|first=
|init=MC
|author-link=
|last2=Sardi
|first2=
|init2=LM
|author2-link=Lauren Sardi
|etal=no
|title=Psychological, psychosocial, and psychosexual aspects of penile circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int J Impot Res
|date=2023-05
|volume=35
|issue=3
|pages=242-8
|url=https://www.galdef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tye-Sardi-Psycho-Aspects-of-Penile-Circumcision-IJIR-2022.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35347302
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00553-9
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name="andersen2025" /> Boys are unable to grant consent due to their immaturity. Parental surrrogates must protect the interest and rights of the child patient. They are limited to granting [[surrogate consent]] for diagnosis and treatment of disease. There is no person who is empowered to grant consent for non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of a minor.<ref name="hill2002">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Informed Consent for Circumcision
|trans-title=
|journal=South Med J
|date=2002-08
|volume=95
|issue=8
|page=946
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George-Hill-3/publication/371599857_Can_Anyone_Authorize_the_Nontherapeutic_Permanent_Alteration_of_a_Child's_Body/links/648b8819c41fb852dd0949be/Can-Anyone-Authorize-the-Nontherapeutic-Permanent-Alteration-of-a-Childs-Body.pd
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=12190244
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> There are no valid indications for circumcision in the neonatal period.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Preston
|first=
|init=EN
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Whither the foreskin?
|trans-title=
|journal=JAMA
|date=1970-09-14
|volume=213
|issue=11
|article=
|page=
|pages=1853-58
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/preston/
|archived=
|quote=Routine circumcision of the newborn is an unnecessary procedure. It provides questionable benefits and is associated with a small but definite incidence of complications and hazards. These risks are preventable if the operation is not performed unless truly medically indicated. Circumcision of the newborn is a procedure that should no longer be considered routine.
|pubmedID=5468911
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.213.11.1853
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

Myers & [[Brian D. Earp| Earp]] (2020) concluded that the best age to circumcise is after the patient reached the age at which he could grant consent for his own circumcision.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-05-27
}}</ref>

[[Amputation]] of a healthy boy's [[foreskin]] without medical indication and without valid effective consent is equivalent to criminal battery.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/what-is-the-crime-of-battery.html
|title=What Is the Crime of Battery?
|last=Buckner
|first=Susan
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Findlaw
|date=2026-01-13
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> While there are no reports of an American provider being criminally charged, in the [[United Kingdom]] Dr. [[Mohammad Siddiqui]] has been struck off the Medical Register and has been criminally charged by the Crown Prosecution Service. The changing view of [[child circumcision]] has altered the atmosphere around [[child circumcision]], so a criminal charge may now be more likely than in the past.

It is more likely that a parent would bring a civil suit for injury caused by [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Adler
|first=Peter W.
|init=PW
|author-link=Peter W. Adler
|title=Is circumcision legal?
|journal=Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
|date=2013
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=439-86
|url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1265&context=jolpi
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

==PFFR in West Virginia==
Parents of a boy in [[West Virginia]] have alleged that an osteopathic physician prematurely forcibly retracted the healthy [[Foreskin#Foreskin_in_infancy_and_childhoo| foreskin of a boy]], causing great [[trauma]], [[pain]], and destructive injury to the [[synechia]] that secures the protective [[foreskin]] in place. [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] assisted the parents in the filing of a complaint against the osteopathic physician.

If true, then the osteopathic physician would appear to have violated the Second Tenet of Osteopathic Medicine.

==Videos==
===What is osteopathic medicine?===
<youtube>v=_q5U1_qudtM</youtube>
===What is Osteopathy?===
<youtube>v=OnYHanA5noU</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Forced foreskin retraction]]
* [[ICCPR]]
* [[Psychiatrist Discusses the Lasting Trauma of Circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|Osteopathic_medicine_in_the_United_States|Osteopathic medicine in the United States}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://osteopathic.org/|2026-03-18}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital surgery]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Osteopathy]]

[[Category:USA]]

West Virginia

2026-04-04T13:41:27Z

WikiModEn2:

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is contiguous with Ohio, which is in the "circumcision capital of America" that runs through the midwestern [[United States]].

==Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia==
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) in 2009 of harmful, painful, traumatic, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
[[File:US c rates by state.jpg|600px|left|American circumcision rates by state.]]

It is very likely that [[third-party payment]] is freely available for the medically not indicated, non-therapeutic surgical [[amputation]] of the normal [[foreskin]].

==Health care in West Virginia==
According to Wikipedia, health care in West Virginia is generally substandard:
<blockquote>
"United Health Foundation's "America's Health Rankings" for 2013 found that Americans are making considerable progress in key health measures. West Virginia, however, ranked either last or second-to-last in twenty categories, including cancer, child immunization, diabetes, disabilities, drug deaths, teeth loss, low birth weight, missed work days due to health, prescription drug overdose, preventable hospitalizations, and senior clinical care."

"The residents of West Virginia have a lower life expectancy than the national average. In 2014 life expectancy for both sexes in the state was 76.0 years compared to 79.1 years for the United States as a whole. In 2014, males in West Virginia lived an average of 73.6 years compared to a national average of 76.7 years and females lived an average of 77.5 years compared to a national average of 81.5 years. Male life expectancy in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 4.7 years, compared to a national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 1.7 years, compared to a national average of a 4.0-year increase. Life expectancy for both sexes is among the lowest of all states."<ref>{{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}</ref>
</blockquote>
West Virginia may have the poorest health care of any U.S. State.
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Male circumcision]]
[[Category:Male genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

West Virginia

2026-04-04T13:21:52Z

WikiModEn2: /* Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia */ Add text and Wikify.

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is adjacent to Ohio, which is in the "circumcision capital of America" that runs through the midwestern [[United States]].

==Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia==
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) in 2009 of harmful, painful, traumatic, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
[[File:US c rates by state.jpg|600px|left|American circumcision rates by state.]]

It is very likely that [[third-party payment]] is freely available for the medically not indicated, non-therapeutic surgical [[amputation]] of the normal [[foreskin]].

==Health care in West Virginia==
According to Wikipedia, health care in West Virginia is generally substandard:
<blockquote>
"United Health Foundation's "America's Health Rankings" for 2013 found that Americans are making considerable progress in key health measures. West Virginia, however, ranked either last or second-to-last in twenty categories, including cancer, child immunization, diabetes, disabilities, drug deaths, teeth loss, low birth weight, missed work days due to health, prescription drug overdose, preventable hospitalizations, and senior clinical care."

"The residents of West Virginia have a lower life expectancy than the national average. In 2014 life expectancy for both sexes in the state was 76.0 years compared to 79.1 years for the United States as a whole. In 2014, males in West Virginia lived an average of 73.6 years compared to a national average of 76.7 years and females lived an average of 77.5 years compared to a national average of 81.5 years. Male life expectancy in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 4.7 years, compared to a national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 1.7 years, compared to a national average of a 4.0-year increase. Life expectancy for both sexes is among the lowest of all states."<ref>{{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}</ref>
</blockquote>
West Virginia may have the poorest health care of any U.S. State.
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Male circumcision]]
[[Category:Male genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

West Virginia

2026-04-04T12:41:33Z

WikiModEn2: Add categories.

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is adjacent to Ohio, which is in the "circumcision capital of America" that runs through the midwestern [[United States]].

==Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia==
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) in 2009 of harmful, painful, traumatic, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
[[File:US c rates by state.jpg|600px|left|American circumcision rates by state.]]

==Health care in West Virginia==
According to Wikipedia, health care in West Virginia is generally substandard:
<blockquote>
"United Health Foundation's "America's Health Rankings" for 2013 found that Americans are making considerable progress in key health measures. West Virginia, however, ranked either last or second-to-last in twenty categories, including cancer, child immunization, diabetes, disabilities, drug deaths, teeth loss, low birth weight, missed work days due to health, prescription drug overdose, preventable hospitalizations, and senior clinical care."

"The residents of West Virginia have a lower life expectancy than the national average. In 2014 life expectancy for both sexes in the state was 76.0 years compared to 79.1 years for the United States as a whole. In 2014, males in West Virginia lived an average of 73.6 years compared to a national average of 76.7 years and females lived an average of 77.5 years compared to a national average of 81.5 years. Male life expectancy in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 4.7 years, compared to a national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 1.7 years, compared to a national average of a 4.0-year increase. Life expectancy for both sexes is among the lowest of all states."<ref>{{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}</ref>
</blockquote>
West Virginia may have the poorest health care of any U.S. State.
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Male circumcision]]
[[Category:Male genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

West Virginia

2026-04-04T12:14:23Z

WikiModEn2: Add text.

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is adjacent to Ohio, which is in the "circumcision capital of America" that runs through the midwestern [[United States]].

==Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia==
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) in 2009 of harmful, painful, traumatic, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
[[File:US c rates by state.jpg|600px|left|American circumcision rates by state.]]

==Health care in West Virginia==
According to Wikipedia health care in West Virginia is generally substandard:
<blockquote>
"United Health Foundation's "America's Health Rankings" for 2013 found that Americans are making considerable progress in key health measures. West Virginia, however, ranked either last or second-to-last in twenty categories, including cancer, child immunization, diabetes, disabilities, drug deaths, teeth loss, low birth weight, missed work days due to health, prescription drug overdose, preventable hospitalizations, and senior clinical care."

"The residents of West Virginia have a lower life expectancy than the national average. In 2014 life expectancy for both sexes in the state was 76.0 years compared to 79.1 years for the United States as a whole. In 2014, males in West Virginia lived an average of 73.6 years compared to a national average of 76.7 years and females lived an average of 77.5 years compared to a national average of 81.5 years. Male life expectancy in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 4.7 years, compared to a national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 1.7 years, compared to a national average of a 4.0-year increase. Life expectancy for both sexes is among the lowest of all states."<ref>{{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}</ref>
</blockquote>
West Virginia may have the poorest health care of any U.S. State.
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

West Virginia

2026-04-04T12:06:39Z

WikiModEn2: /* Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia */

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is adjacent to Ohio, which is in the "circumcision capital of America" that runs through the midwestern [[United States]].

==Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia==
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) in 2009 of harmful, painful, traumatic, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
[[File:US c rates by state.jpg|600px|left|American circumcision rates by state.]]

==Health care in West Virginia==
Health care in West Virginia is generally substandard according to Wikipedia:
<blockquote>
"United Health Foundation's "America's Health Rankings" for 2013 found that Americans are making considerable progress in key health measures. West Virginia, however, ranked either last or second-to-last in twenty categories, including cancer, child immunization, diabetes, disabilities, drug deaths, teeth loss, low birth weight, missed work days due to health, prescription drug overdose, preventable hospitalizations, and senior clinical care."

"The residents of West Virginia have a lower life expectancy than the national average. In 2014 life expectancy for both sexes in the state was 76.0 years compared to 79.1 years for the United States as a whole. In 2014, males in West Virginia lived an average of 73.6 years compared to a national average of 76.7 years and females lived an average of 77.5 years compared to a national average of 81.5 years. Male life expectancy in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 4.7 years, compared to a national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 1.7 years, compared to a national average of a 4.0-year increase. Life expectancy for both sexes is among the lowest of all states."<ref>{{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}</ref>
</blockquote>
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

West Virginia

2026-04-04T12:02:36Z

WikiModEn2: Add text and citation.

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is adjacent to Ohio, which is in the "circumcision capital of America" that runs through the midwestern [[United States]].

==Popularity of male circumcision in West Virginia==
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) in 2009 of harmful, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
[[File:US c rates by state.jpg|600px|left|American circumcision rates by state.]]

==Health care in West Virginia==
Health care in West Virginia is generally substandard according to Wikipedia:
<blockquote>
"United Health Foundation's "America's Health Rankings" for 2013 found that Americans are making considerable progress in key health measures. West Virginia, however, ranked either last or second-to-last in twenty categories, including cancer, child immunization, diabetes, disabilities, drug deaths, teeth loss, low birth weight, missed work days due to health, prescription drug overdose, preventable hospitalizations, and senior clinical care."

"The residents of West Virginia have a lower life expectancy than the national average. In 2014 life expectancy for both sexes in the state was 76.0 years compared to 79.1 years for the United States as a whole. In 2014, males in West Virginia lived an average of 73.6 years compared to a national average of 76.7 years and females lived an average of 77.5 years compared to a national average of 81.5 years. Male life expectancy in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 4.7 years, compared to a national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in West Virginia between 1980 and 2014 increased by 1.7 years, compared to a national average of a 4.0-year increase. Life expectancy for both sexes is among the lowest of all states."<ref>{{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}</ref>
</blockquote>
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

Foreskin Day

2026-04-04T03:03:09Z

WikiModEn2: Add link in SEEALSO section.

[[Georganne Chapin]] at [[Intact America]] has declared the fourth day of the fourth month (4 April 2026) as the first '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}'''.

The [[foreskin]], also known as the ''[[prepuce]]'', is the protective, erogenous, functional tissue of the [[penis]], that is irreversibly amputated by [[circumcision]].

== Claim ==
{{Citation
|Title=Foreskin = Funskin - Celebrate Foreskin Appreciation Day with Us!
|Text=Foreskin Appreciation Day is April 4! It is Four, Four, [[Foreskin]]! The purpose of this sex-positive day is to raise awareness and increase appreciation for this unique and valuable body part. 
What better way to positively change people’s attitudes towards [[foreskin]] than by showing our appreciation for it? We’re celebrating [[foreskin]] day today (and every day), because it is a vital step in re-envisioning America’s view of the [[intact]] [[penis]]. Everyone has a [[foreskin]], so why not celebrate it?
|Author=[[Intact America]]
|ref=<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://foreskin.day/
|title=Foreskin = Funskin
|accessdate=2023-04-07
}}</ref>
}}

==Video==
 
<youtube>v=cB8Iavyfr_U</youtube>
 
<youtube>v=pLA0yy62X6w</youtube>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Forekin Appreciation Day]]
* [[United States of America]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://foreskin.day/|2026-04-04}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Campaign day]]
[[Category:Penile anatomy]]
[[Category:USA]]

Adolescent and adult circumcision

2026-04-03T23:27:21Z

WikiModEn2: /* Elective non-therapeutic circumcision */ Add text.

'''Adolescent and adult circumcision''' is rare when compared to the millions upon millions of medically-unnecessary, harmful non-therapeutic [[Circumcision| circumcisions]] of boys that are carried out in [[Islam]]ic nations, [[Israel]], the [[United States]], and elsewhere, however they are promoted by a [[medical trade association| medical trade associations]] and their members for [[Financial incentive| profit]].

[[Rosemary Romberg]] commented on adult circumcision in the [[United States]]:
<blockquote>
In the [[United States]], where many medical doctors are themselves victims of [[child circumcision]], doctors tend to consider the [[foreskin]] as something "dispensible."
…
It is difficult to ascertain the true percentage of actual need for adult circumcision among [[intact]] males. In a circumcision-oriented society such as ours many doctors prescribe the operation for conditions which could be resolved, often easily, without resort to surgery.…<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Romberg
|first=Rosemary
|init=
|author-link=Rosemary Romberg
|year=2021
|title=Circumcision — The Painful Dilemma
|url=https://circumcisionthepainfuldilemma.wordpress.com/
|work=
|editor=[[Ulf Dunkel]]
|edition=Second Edition, Revised
|volume=
|chapter=The Circumcision of an Adult
|scope=
|page=247
|pages=
|location=
|publisher=Kindle
|ISBN=23: 979-8683021252
|quote=
|accessdate=2023-08-31
|note=
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

[[Posthectomy]] is the proper medical term of [[excision]] and [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]], but is seldom used. Males who are considering adult circumcision should be aware that irreversible [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] is disabling in many ways.<ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-14
}}</ref>

<big>Circumcision is an [[amputation]] that cannot be reversed or undone. Circumcision is forever.</big>

==Considerations before consent is granted==
[[Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani| Cepeda-Emiliani]] et al. (2025) have provided this warning to men who are considering an adult circumcision.
<blockquote>
Regarding adult circumcision, the current knowledge of preputial
and penile neuroanatomy and structure underscores the importance
of meticulous patient selection for this procedure. Specifically, when
adult circumcision is to be performed, factors such as the position of
the [[circumcision scar]] line, the amount of inner prepuce retained, the
tightness of the remaining penile skin, and whether a frenulectomy
is performed should be carefully discussed and agreed upon by both
the patient and the surgeon, with all decisions clearly documented in
the [[informed consent]]. Recent survey findings underscore this need
for dialogue: Callegari et al. showed that preferences regarding the
amount of inner preputial remnant retained after circumcision vary
considerably among individuals, reinforcing the importance of engaging patients in personalized discussions to align surgical decisions with their expectations.<ref name="cepeda2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Otero-Alén
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Gándara-Cortés
|first4=
|init4=M
|author4-link=
|last5=García-Caballero
|first5=
|init5=T
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=R
|author6-link=
|last7=García-Caballero
|first7=
|init7=L
|author7-link=
|etal=no
|title=The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation
|trans-title=
|journal=Andrology
|date=2025-09-19
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|pages=1-41
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/andr.70118
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40970806
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/andr.70118
|accessdate=2025-09-29
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

==Consent==

Male [[circumcision]] is an ''elective'', irreversible, surgical [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] part of the [[penis]]. Legally, the patient or his surrogate must grant [[Informed consent| ''informed'' consent]] before the surgery can be performed. A surrogate's powers are limited to granting consent for medically-indicated and necessary diagnosis and treatment of existing disease.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-06-30
}}</ref>

The surgeon must provide all material information to the patient before [[informed consent]] can be granted. There is a strong tendency for the surgeon to omit telling the patient anything about the nature and [http://www.intactaus.org/information/functionsoftheforeskin/ functions of the foreskin],<ref name="masood2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Masood
|init=S
|last2=Patel
|first2=
|init2=HRH
|author2-link=
|last3=Himpson
|first3=
|init3=RC
|author3-link=
|etal=yes
|title=Penile sensitivity and sexual satisfaction after circumcision: are we informing men correctly?
|journal=Urol Int
|date=2005
|volume=75
|issue=1
|pages=62-6
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/masood1/
|pubmedID=16037710
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1159/000085930
|accessdate=2023-04-08
}}</ref> which would be lost through [[amputation]] if consent should be granted.

[[Issues_with_American_urologists_and_the_practice_of_male_circumcision| Urologic surgeons]] in the [[United States]] derive a substantial fee from the performance of a [[circumcision]], so some urologists may have a [[bias]] in favor of circumcision and may inappropriately recommend adult circumcision to patients when a conservative treatment would be satisfactory or even when no treatment is necessary. Patients should be wary and do their own research before granting consent for an irreversible [[circumcision]].

[[Marilyn Fayre Milos| Milos]] (2022) advises:
<blockquote>
* A penis without a foreskin doesn’t work as nature intended for its owner or his sexual partner.
* Amputating the foreskin eliminates the penis’ “command and control” nerve center, the normal skin system that allows for comfortable erections and the gliding mechanism necessary for sensory pleasure, foreplay, and normal intromission (entry during intercourse).
* Circumcision amputates the tens of thousands of specialized, erogenous nerve endings that signal to the man where he is in relation to the orgasmic threshold.
* It denudes and exposes the glans (head of the penis), causing it to become dry, calloused, and desensitized. Circumcised men talk about becoming impotent during their 50s or 60s while intact males tell me the urge doesn’t come around as often but their sensitivity hasn’t diminished.
* Circumcision makes the penis smaller, too.<ref name="milos2022-05-02">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/ask-marilyn-a-19-year-old-considers-circumcision/
|title=Ask Marilyn – 19-year-old Considers Circumcision
|last=Milos
|first=
|init=MF
|author-link=Marilyn Fayre Milos
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022-05-02
|accessdate=2024-10-24
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Performance of unneccesary circumcision simply to earn a surgical fee is [[Ethics_of_non-therapeutic_child_circumcision#Patient_exploitation| unethical patient exploitation]].

==Reasons for circumcision==

All circumcisions are injurious because they amputate a [http://www.intactaus.org/information/functionsoftheforeskin/ multi-functional body part], but in rare cases the benefit obtained by removing a deformed, diseased, or damaged foreskin may be of more value than the amputated [[foreskin]].

* Deformed foreskins — The common type of deformed foreskin is the narrow non-retractable foreskin of [[phimosis]]. Circumcision was the traditional treatment for phimosis, however circumcision is less performed today because newer conservative treatments are now available that preserve the [[foreskin]] and its many useful functions. There is a wide range of normal in foreskin length. [[Long foreskin| Longer foreskins]] are not deformed, so do ''not'' justify circumcision.

* Diseased foreskins — Diseases for which circumcision may be indicated include [[Penile cancer|malignant tumor]],[[Balanitis xerotica obliterans| lichen sclerosis]], recurrent yeast infection in diabetic males (after conservative treatment fails),<ref name="verma2011">{{REFjournal
|last=Verma
|first=Shyam B.
|init=SB
|author-link=
|last2=Molina
|first2=Uwe
|init2=U
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Looking through the cracks of diabetic candidal balanoposthitis!
|journal=Int J Gen Med
|location=
|date=2011-07-07
|volume=4
|issue=
|pages=511-3
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150172/
|pubmedID=21845057
|pubmedCID=3150172
|DOI=10.2147/IJGM.S17875
|accessdate=2020-12-19
}}</ref> recurrent [[balanoposthitis]], and [[gangrene]].

* Damaged foreskins — This includes any type of physical [[trauma]] and injury that is beyond surgical repair. Zipper injury does not require circumcision.<ref name="flowerdew1977">{{REFjournal
|last=Flowerdew
|init=R
|author-link=
|last2=Fishman
|init2=IJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Churchill
|init3=BM
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Management of penile zipper injuries
|journal=J Urol
|location=
|date=1977-05
|volume=117
|issue=5
|article=
|page=671
|pages=
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/zipper/flowerdew/
|pubmedID=859209
|pubmedCID=
|DOI= 10.1016/s0022-5347(17)58581-x
|accessdate=2020-12-20
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Chalfin
|first=Laura
|init=L
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Win one for the zipper
|journal=Emerigency Medicine
|location=
|date=1989-03-30
|volume=21
|issue=6
|article=
|page=
|pages=05
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/zipper/chalfin/
|accessdate=2020-12-20
}}</ref>

===Elective non-therapeutic circumcision===

Some adult males may seek non-therapeutic circumcision because of a conversion to [[Judaism]] or [[Islam]]. Others may simply want a circumcision because they like the physical appearance, or to fit into a society where most men are [[circumcised]], or for some personal whim.<ref name="holman1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Holman
|first=John R.
|init=JR
|author-link=
|last2=Steussi
|first2=Keith A.
|init2=KA
|author2-link=
|last3=
|etal=no
|title=Adult circumcision
|journal=Am Fam Physician
|location=
|date=1999-03-15
|volume=59
|issue=6
|article=
|page=1514-8
|pages=
|url=https://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/0315/p1514.html
|pubmedID=10193593
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessed=2020-12-20}}</ref>

Many men who elect an irreversible non-therapeutic circumcision later express regret.

===A word to intact teens===

Boys are born with a [[foreskin]] that is non-retractable for reasons of protection against [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. The inner surface is fused with the [[glans penis]] by a [[synechia]] (similar to a fingernail that is glued to the nail bed of the finger). Also the tip of the foreskin is too narrow to retract. As a boy gets older, the synechia disintegrates and releases the foreskin and the foreskin gets wider as a boy ages, so the foreskin gradually becomes [[Retraction of the foreskin| retractable]]. Some boys go through [[puberty]] but find that their [[foreskin]] is still too narrow to permit retraction.

Beaugé (1997) reported that boys, who masturbate by pulling their [[foreskin]] away from the body, will not stretch the tight part of the foreskin so non-retractile foreskin will persist. He advised changing the method of [[masturbation]] to the more conventional method of pulling the foreskin toward the body so that the narrow orifice gets stretched.<ref name="beauge1997">{{REFjournal
|last=Beaugé
|init=Michel
|author-link=Michel Beaugé
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis/beauge2/
|title=The causes of adolescent phimosis
|journal=Br J Sex Med
|date=1997
|volume=
|issue=September/October
|pages=26
|accessdate=2021-04-21
}}</ref>

The traditional way of addressing this issue was to consult a urologist and get a circumcision, however we now understand that in the vast majority of cases, manual [[stretching]] over a few months will widen the foreskin by [[tissue expansion]], make the foreskin retractable and eliminate the need for a destructive circumcision.

==Methods of adult circumcision==

===Dorsal slit===

[[Dorsal slit]] is a cut on the top of the [[foreskin]] to widen the opening, allowing the foreskin to retract and fall below the shaft of the [[penis]]. Dorsal slit does not cut around and does not remove tissue, so it is not a true circumcision. Dorsal slit is a first step in the circumcision of a phimotic foreskin by the sleeve technique.<ref name="holman1999" />

===Sleeve technique===

Holman & Stuessi (1999) said patients should be advised of alternatives to circumcision.

They reported the indications for adult circumcision are uncommon. The most common is [[phimosis]].

They recommended [[dorsal penile nerve block]] or [[ring block]] local anesthesia for the [[pain]] of circumcision surgery.

[[Informed consent]] must be obtained. They stated:
<blockquote>
Specifically, the patient should be told about the risks of [[bleeding]], hematoma formation, [[infection]], inadvertent damage to the [[glans]], removal of too much or too little [[skin]], aesthetically unpleasing results, and a change of sensation during intercourse. The patient should also be informed that, during the postoperative period, [[erection]]s can cause pain and [[Wound dehiscence| disruption of the suture line]] that may require replacement of the sutures. Full recovery following circumcision generally requires four to six weeks of abstinence from all genital stimulation and sexual activity.<ref name="holman1999" />
</blockquote>

In regard to complications, Holman & Stuessi reported:
<blockquote>
As with any surgical procedure, [[bleeding]] and [[infection]] are probably the most common complications of circumcision in adult patients; however, accurate statistics are not available. Other complications include hematoma formation, diffuse swelling, pain from inadequate anesthesia, poor cosmesis, tearing of the sutures due to [[erection]] before healing is complete and anesthetic complications. Some patients may also note an unpleasant heightened sensitivity during intercourse. Infection can be treated with local or parenteral antibiotics, depending on the severity of the infection. [[Bleeding]] can be controlled with pressure, an absorbable gelatin sponge product (i.e., Gelfoam), electrocautery or ligatures. None of these techniques can be preferentially recommended based on differences in complication rate or severity.<ref name="holman1999" />
</blockquote>

===Circumcision with a plastic ring device===

Adolescent and adult circumcision may also be carried out with one of several plastic, one-use, disposable ring devices. These devices work by clamping the foreskin tightly so that it is crushed and flow is cut off completely. Ischemic [[necrosis]] ensues and the [[foreskin]] dies. It may then be cut off or left to fall off. Ring devices include the [[TARA KLamp]], the [[PrePex]], [[AccuCirc]], and the [[Shang Ring]].

==Pain during and after circumcision==
Circumcision is a surgical [[amputation]] of part of the [[penis]]. It is normal to feel [[pain]] during the surgical [[amputation]], however this is usually eliminated by general or local anesthesia.

One may expect pain after surgery until the incision heals. Ask your doctor for a two-week supply of an opioid pain reliever.

One may also expect pain when the sensitive [[glans penis]] is exposed to friction from clothing, etc. It is no longer protected by the [[foreskin]], so there is not much one can do about it.

One may also expect painful [[erection]]s, depending on how much [[skin]] was removed.
Depending on how much [[skin]] was removed, there may not be enough [[skin]] left to allow for shaft expansion during [[erection]] and this may cause painful [[erection]]s.

One may also experience phantom pain from neuromas that form at the incision where nerves were severed.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Cold
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=Taylor
|init2=JR
|author2-link=John R. Taylor
|title=The prepuce
|journal=BJU Int
|date=1999-01-01
|volume=83 Suppl 1
|issue=
|pages=34-44
|url=https://www.i2researchhub.org/wp-content/uploads/storage/TQ63QSHD/Cold%20and%20Taylor%20-%201999%20-%20The%20prepuce.pdf
|quote=
|pubmedID=1034941
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1034.x
|accessdate=2021-03-07
}}</ref>

[[Masturbation]] after circumcision may be painful if one doesn’t use lubrication because of lack of [[gliding action]].
==Recovery period==
Recovery from an adult circumcision is frequently said to be six weeks. Recovery does not include restoration of permanently lost functions.
===Complications===
Circumcision is a surgical operation. Like all surgical operations, there is risk of [[bleeding| hemorrhage]], [[infection]], and surgical mishap, including, rarely, loss of the [[penis]].
[[Erection]] tends to be painful and may cause [[wound dehiscence]].<ref name="wang2023">{{REFjournal
|last=Wang
|first=
|init=D
|author-link=
|last2=Li
|first2=
|init2=Z
|author2-link=
|last3=Chen
|first3=
|init3=X
|author3-link=
|last4=Wang
|first4=
|init4=H
|author4-link=
|etal=no
|title=Wound healing rates and wound problems of conventional circumcision compared with ring circumcision: A meta-analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int Wound J
|location=
|date=2023-06-11
|volume=Online ahead of print
|issue=
|article=
|page=
|pages=
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/iwj.14262
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=37303303
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/iwj.14262
|accessdate=2023-07-16
}}</ref>

There is danger of [[infection]] until the [[circumcision]] wound heals closed.<ref name="wang2023" />

===Lymphoedema===
[[Lymphoedema]] of the [[penis]] is a normal and expected [[complication]] of male adult circumcision due to the adverse effect on blood circulation. Ferhatoglu et al. (2019) reported edema in 108 of 198 patients or 54.5 percent.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Ferhatoglu
|first=
|init=Mf
|author-link=
|last2=Kartal
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Gurkan
|first3=
|init3=A
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Evaluation of Male Circumcision: Retrospective Analysis of One Hundred and Ninety-eight Patients
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Cureus
|location=
|date=2019-04-27
|volume=11
|issue=4
|article=
|page=e4555
|pages=
|url=https://www.cureus.com/articles/19380-evaluation-of-male-circumcision-retrospective-analysis-of-one-hundred-and-ninety-eight-patients
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=31275779
|pubmedCID=6592839
|DOI=10.7759/cureus.4555
|accessdate=2022-02-17
}}</ref> It frequently lasts for months.

==Permanent adverse effects==
===Loss of sensation===
The human [[foreskin]] has long been noted for its high level of erogenous sensation. Winklemann (1959) early identified the foreskin as a ''specific erogenous zone''.<ref name="winklemann1959">{{WinkelmannRK 1959}}</ref> Falliers (1970) called attention to ''sensory pleasure'' induced by tactile stimulation of the foreskin, which is almost totally lost after its surgical removal.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Falliers
|first=CJ
|init=
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1970-12-21
|volume=214
|issue=12
|article=
|page=2194
|accessdate=2021-06-04
}}</ref> García-Mesa et al. (2021) reported the [[foreskin]] has an abundance of [[Meissner's corpuscles]] which provide pleasant sexual sensation when mechanically stimulated by motion of the foreskin.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021">{{REFjournal
|last=García-Mesa
|first=Yolanda
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=García-Piqueras
|first2=Jorge
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Cobo
|first3=Ramón
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Martín-Cruces
|first4=José
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Suazo
|first5=Iván
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Suárez
|first6=Olivia
|init6=
|author6-link=
|last7=Feito
|first7=Jorge
|init7=
|author7-link=
|last8=
|first8=Vega
|init8=José A.
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Anatomy
|location=
|date=2021-10
|volume=239
|issue=4
|article=
|page=
|pages=892-902
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joa.13481
|pubmedID=34120333
|pubmedCID=8450466
|DOI=10.1111/joa.13481
|accessdate=2021-11-15
}}</ref>

Money & Davison (1983) reported "diminished penile sensitivity, less penile gratification, more penile pain, and cosmetic deformity" as the effect of circumcision, however they considered that a "prolongation of the period prior to ejaculation" was a possible benefit.<ref name="money1983">{{REFjournal
|last=Money
|first=John
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=Davison
|first2=Jackie
|init2=
|author2-link=
|author9-link=
|etal=no
|title=Adult penile circumcision: erotosexual and cosmetic sequelae
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Sex Res|
|location=
|date=1983
|volume=19
|issue=3
|article=
|page=
|pages=289-92
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/money/
|accessdate=2021-06-04
}}</ref>

Money & Davison thought the loss of sensation is "secondary to diminished sensory input from stretch receptors in the less mobile [[shaft skin|skin of the shaft]] of the penis, as well as loss of foreskin stretch receptors".<ref name="money1983" />

Denniston (2004) carried out a survey of 38 adult males who were [[circumcised]] at least 2 years after they commenced sexual intercourse. Thirteen men felt that sexual intercourse was better after circumcision, but 22 felt that intercourse was worse and would not have the circumcision again, because of loss of sexual pleasure.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Denniston
|first=George C.
|init=
|author-link=George C. Denniston
|last2=Hill
|first2=George
|init2=
|author2-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision in adults: effect on sexual function
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Urology
|location=
|date=2004-12
|volume=54
|issue=5
|article=
|page=1267
|pages=
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/denniston3/
|pubmedID=15596221
|DOI=10.1016/j.urology.2004.03.059
|accessdate=2021-06-05
}}</ref>

Masood et al. (2005) suggested "before circumcision, men should be warned of the long-term consequences (penile sensations and effect on erectile function) as well as be talked through the more traditional subjects (peri-operative complications)."<ref name="masood2005" />

Kim & Pang (2007) studied the effect of adult circumcision on 138 males in [[South Korea]]. They concluded:
<blockquote>There were no significant differences in sexual drive, [[erection]], [[ejaculation]], and ejaculation latency time between [[circumcised]] and [[uncircumcised]] men. Masturbatory pleasure decreased after circumcision in 48% of the respondents, while 8% reported increased pleasure. Masturbatory difficulty increased after circumcision in 63% of the respondents but was easier in 37%. About 6% answered that their sex lives improved, while 20% reported a worse sex life after circumcision.<ref>{{KimDS PangMG 2007}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Remennick (2021) reported Jewish men from the former Soviet Union who migrated to [[Israel]] and received their [[Brit Milah| ritual circumcision]] as sexually active adults were very displeased with their loss of [[Sexual sensation of the foreskin| sexual sensation]]:
<blockquote>
Driven by social pressure and the need to belong, most young men (and their parents) consented to the operation without proper counselling and unaware of its ramifications. Men share their intimate memories of the rapid surgical procedure, painful recuperation, and their belated regrets, both aesthetic and sexual. The willingness to expose their lingering trauma signals evolving concepts of masculinity and vulnerability among these former Soviet men. Their voices join the local and international movement opposing medically-unnecessary genital surgeries of any kind – on men, women and intersex people.<ref name="remennick2021">{{REFjournal
|last=Remennick
|first=
|init=L
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Joining the tribe: adult circumcision among immigrant men in Israel and its traumatic aftermath
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Cult Health Sex
|location=
|date=2021-01-29
|volume=24
|issue=5
|pages=702-16
|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13691058.2021.1879272?journalCode=tchs20
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=33512277
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1080/13691058.2021.1879272
|accessdate=2025-01-08
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Many [[circumcised]] men say they are unable to feel anything if a condom is used.

===Other adverse effects===
# Circumicision causes loss of [[body pleasure]].
# Circumcision causes both physical and psychic [[trauma]].
# Circumcision severs blood vessels and disrupts lymph and blood circulation in the [[penis]]. This frequently causes [[lymphoedema]] and [[erection]] difficulties.
# Circumcision invariably excises the [[ridged band]], resulting in partial loss of sensation.
# Circumcision is a surgical [[amputation]] of functional tissue. The various [https://foreskinfunction.org/ functions] cease to operate. If the patient does not like the results, it cannot be reversed or undone.
# Recovery from adolescent or adult circumcision is slow and painful. [[Erection]]s are painful because the [[skin]] is stretched and the sutures are stressed. [[Wound dehiscence]] may occur.
# The [[foreskin]] is protective of the [[glans penis]]. After the foreskin is amputated, the [[glans penis]] is exposed so that it touches clothing and other things. Some men report this causes extreme pain so that they cannot wear pants for an extended time. Some circumcised men complain of discomfort due to the head being permanently exposed.
# The foreskin provides moisture and oil to the glans penis. After circumcision, the glans penis will become desiccated. Many [[circumcised]] men complain of dryness.
# The foreskin has [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| immunological functions]] that protect from disease. [[Circumcised]] populations have a higher incidence of [[HIV]] than [[intact]] populations.<ref name="denniston2020">{{REFdocument
|title=World Health Organization, HIV, and male circumcision
|url=https://pool.intactiwiki.org/images/2020-06-15b_LettertoPEPFAR.pdf
|contribution=
|last=Denniston
|first=George C.
|publisher=[[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)]]
|format=
|date=2020-06-29
|accessdate=2020-09-02
}}</ref><ref name="fish2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Fish
|first=Max
|init=M
|author-link=
|last2=Shavisi
|first2=Arianne
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Gwaambuka
|first3=Tatenda
|init3=T
|author3-link=
|last4=Tangwa
|first4=Godfrey B.
|init4=GB
|author4-link=
|last5=Ncayiyana
|first5=Daniel
|init5=D
|author5-link=
|last6=Earp
|first6=Brian D.
|init6=BD
|author6-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=A new Tuskegee? Unethical human experimentation and Western neocolonialism in the mass circumcision of African men
|journal=Developing World Bioeth
|date=2020-09-09
|volume=00
|pages=1-16
|url=https://doi.org/10.1111/dewb.12285
|DOI=10.1111/dewb.12285
|accessdate=2021-02-13
}}</ref>
# The heavily innervated [[ridged band]] is located on the foreskin and is always amputated along with the foreskin. The [[Foreskin sensitivity| most sensitive regions in the intact penis]] are those parts ablated by circumcision.<ref>{{Sorrells etal 2007}}</ref> There is great loss of sensation caused by the [[amputation]] of this structure. It appears that many [[intact]] males are unaware of the source of sensation and are shocked by the loss of sensation after circumcision.
# The abundance of [[skin]] in the foreskin allows [[gliding action]]. Gliding action facilitates [[masturbation]] and [[vagina| intercourse]]. The shortening of [[penile skin]] reduces or eliminates gliding action. The loss of gliding action may cause [[dyspareunia]].
# Painful [[erection]]s may occur due to lack of sufficient [[skin]] to allow for expansion of the [[penis]].
# The erect penis may be shorter due to lack of sufficient [[skin]] to allow full expansion.
# There always will be a [[circumcision scar]] that encircles the shaft of the penis.
# The exposed [[glans penis]] will protect itself from friction by developing a layer of [[keratin]] and become cracked and hardened. The [[keratinization]] of the [[glans penis]] will reduce its sensitivity.
# There are possible [[Psychological issues of male circumcision| emotional issues]] secondary to a partial loss of the [[penis]] through circumcision.
# The shaft of the penis becomes narrrower because of the loss of a double layer of skin

==Financial considerations==
Medical insurance policies vary with the provider of insurance. Most will pay for circumcision only if it is done to treat a medical condition. When circumcision is carried out for cosmetic reasons or personal desire, it is very unlikely that medical insurance would pay. The cost of an adult circumcision would include a facility fee, a surgeon's fee, an anesthesiologist's fee, and pre-operative and post-operative care. Garrett (2024) says the cost may range from $1,650 to $6,450.<ref name="garrett2024-03-07">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/adult-circumcision-cost/
|title=Adult Circumcision Cost: The Profit Motives and Hidden Toll
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-03-07
|accessdate=2024-05-15
}}</ref>

==Warning==
It is quite common for some urologists to push circumcision on any [[foreskinned]] male although conservative treatment would have been sufficient, since there is a nice fee attached to a circumcision [[amputation]]. There are many reports of false statements being made. It is totally unethical and akin to fraud, but it happens frequently.

===Videos===
Here are seven videos in which [[regret men]] who had an adult circumcision express their regret.

==== Circumcised at 18 ====
<youtube>v=NAHGFx95D80</youtube>

====Circumcised at 46====
<youtube>v=pZ3n8CtcmRY</youtube>

==== Why I Regret Getting Circumcised At 19 ====
<youtube>v=7AaUb63NLLw</youtube>

==== Circumcised Man: "I feel such a sense of loss" ====
<youtube>v=gx_PoXm3XZ4</youtube>

==== Circumcised at 30 ====
<youtube>v=g2CwHbCDiAU</youtube>

==== Circumcision Care - After Circumcision - 5 Post Circumcision Surgery Recovery Tips!====
<youtube>v=xdrvq_10vTM</youtube>

====Why can’t I sleep after my circumcision operation?? Day 12 ====
<youtube>v=CLmxdbV3Uyc</youtube>

== Rite of passage ==
In some cultures, [[circumcision]] is viewed as a rite of passage, and a male may not be considered a privileged adult until he has undergone circumcision.

=== Aborigines ===
The indigeous people of [[Australia]], the [[Aborigines]], have variously practiced [[Religion and culture#Australia|subincision]] and [[circumcision]] on adolescents and adults since before the first contact with Europeans.

=== Ulwaluko ===
Traditional [[Circumcision]] and Initiation into Manhood (ulwaluko) is an ancient initiation ritual practiced by the amaXhosa of the Eastern Cape Province of [[South Africa]]. The ritual is traditionally intended as a teaching institution to prepare boys for the responsibilities of manhood. The principles that lie at the very core of the ritual are respect for self (including self control and integrity), respect for family (not to bring shame to them), and respect for community (to protect them from harm).

Every single initiation season the media writes about complications accompanying the ritual of Traditional [[Circumcision]] and Initiation into Manhood ''(ulwaluko)''. The magnitude of these complications is horrific: From 1995 till 2014, 919 boys have lost their lives in the mountains and hills of the Eastern Cape. Many others were mutilated or even lost their manhood. [[Ulwaluko|Many of these mutilations are documented (graphic content).]]

===Tuli===
[[Tuli]] is a [[genital mutilation]] rite of boys and adolescents practiced in the Philippine Islands.

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Autocircumcision]]
* [[Circumcision: Effect upon erectile function]]
* [[Circumcision methods]]
* [[Circumcision scar]]
* [[Development of retractable foreskin]]
* [[Doctors Cut Off Man’s Penis During Circumcision]]
* [[Ethics of non-therapeutic child circumcision]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin comment]]
* [[Foreskin sensitivity]]
* [[Frenectomy]]
* [[Frenuloplasty]]
* [[Fusions and adhesions]]
* [[Ischemia of the glans penis]]
* [[American urologists and the practice of male circumcision]]
* [[Neurotomy]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Phimosis]]
* [[Phimosis#Preputioplasty| Preputioplasty]]
* [[Posthectomy]]
* [[The recovery after an adult circumcision]]
* [[Regret men]]
* [[Risks and complications]]
* [[Sexual effects of circumcision]]
* [[Stretching]]
* [[Surrogate consent]]
* [[Trauma]]
{{LINKS}}
====Medical circumcision====
* {{REFjournal
|last=Holman
|first=
|init=JR
|author-link=
|last2=Stuessi
|first2=
|init2=KA
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Adult circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=American Family Physician
|location=
|date=1999-03-15
|season=
|volume=59
|issue=6
|article=
|page=
|pages=1514-18
|url=https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/1999/0315/p1514.html
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10193593
|accessdate=2024-05-03
}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Hammond
|first=
|init=T
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=A preliminary poll of men circumcised in infancy or childhood
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=1999-01
|season=
|volume=83 Supple 1
|issue=
|article=
|page=
|pages=85-92
|url=http://www.noharmm.org/bju.htm
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10349419
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1085.x
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2022-06-10
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://15square.org.uk/losses-from-circumcision/
|title=Losses from Circumcision
|last=Ball
|first=Peter
|publisher=15 Square
|date=2003-08-09
|accessdate=2023-02-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://davidlouis77.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/adult-circumcision-my-experience-2-years-on/comment-page-4/#comment-24567
|title=Adult Circumcision: My experience two years on.
|last=Louis
|first=David
|author-link=
|publisher=
DavidLouis77's Blog
|website=wordpress.com
|date=2010-05-08
|accessdate=2020-12-29
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.circumstitions.com/Resent.html
|title=The tip of the iceberg: Men who resent being circumcised
|last=Young
|first=Hugh
|author-link=
|publisher=Circumstitions
|website=
|date=
|accessdate=2020-12-29
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.intactaus.org/men-circumcised-as-adults/
|title=Men Circumcised As Adults
|publisher=Intact Australia
|date=2017-03-01
|accessdate=2020-12-21
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://ladagueetlefourreau.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/a-personal-account-of-adult-circumcision/
|title=A Personal Account of Adult Circumcision
|last=
|first=
|date=2017-07-17
|accessdate=2021-02-14
}}
* {{REFdocument
|title=Circumcision (Complete Removal of the Foreskin}
|url=https://www.baus.org.uk/_userfiles/pages/files/Patients/Leaflets/Circumcision.pdf
|contribution=
|last=
|first=
|publisher=British Association of Paediatric Surgeons
|format=PDF
|date=2020-12
|accessdate=2024-02-12
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a28580739/circumcision-pros-and-cons/
|title=I Had an Adult Circumcision, and I Totally Regret It
|last=Hseih
|first=Carina
|date=2019-08-02
|accessdate=2021-06-05
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://wikionlymen.com/?s=circumcision
|title=Disadvantages Of Circumcision In Man
|publisher=Wiki Only Men
|date=2021-11-05
|accessdate=2024-10-05
}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Remennick
|first=Larissa
|init=L
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Joining the tribe: adult circumcision among immigrant men in Israel and its traumatic aftermath
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Cult Health Sex
|location=
|date=2021-01-29
|volume=24
|issue=5
|article=
|page=
|pages=702-16
|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13691058.2021.1879272?journalCode=tchs20
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=33512277
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1080/13691058.2021.1879272
|accessdate=2022-10-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionGrief/comments/wemjzy/got_circumcised_4_months_ago/
|title=Got circumcised 4 months ago
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2022
|accessdate=2025-12-26
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/FriendsOfTheFrenulum/comments/128dvgq/for_adults_contemplating_circumcision_what/
|title=For adults contemplating circumcision, what essential questions should they ponder to guarantee their decision is genuinely rooted in an informed choice — made autonomously and for their own well-being?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2022
|accessdate=2025-12-26
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/adult-circumcision-cost/
|title=Adult Circumcision Cost: The Profit Motives and Hidden Toll
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|init=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-03-07
|accessdate=2024-03-10
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://4skin-health.alderhey.nhs.uk/teenagers-young-adults/
|title=Advice for teenagers and young adults
|last=Kenny
|first=
|init=S
|author-link=
|publisher=NHS Children's Hospital at Alder Hey
|date=
|accessdate=2025-02-21
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://archive.md/Au7cV#selection-98.0-707.8
|title=Unjustifiable reason 1: Parents are clueless about the functions of the foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT Intactivism
|date=2025-06-17
|accessdate=2025-06-24
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1p67xlp/circumcision_ended_my_life/
|title=Circumcision ended my life
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=12-11-27
|accessdate=2025-12-11
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1ptxzrh/i_regret_getting_an_adult_circumcision/?chainedPosts=t3_1p67xlp
|title=I regret getting an adult circumcision
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=12-12-23
|accessdate=2025-12-29
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/intactinfo/comments/1qe1kkl/the_neurological_cost_of_circumcision_a_breakdown/
|title=The Neurological Cost of Circumcision, A Breakdown of What's Removed
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-15
|accessdate=2026-01-16
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1qgb86l/uncircumcised_easier_to_climax/
|title=Uncircumcised = easier to climax?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-18
|accessdate=2026-01-31
}}

====Traditional circumcision====
* {{NSFW}} [[Ulwaluko]]

{{REF}}

[[Category:Body modification]]
[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Male circumcision]]
[[Category:Male genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Penile surgery]]
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Teen]]

[[de:Jugendlichen- und Erwachsenenbeschneidung]]

Adolescent and adult circumcision

2026-04-03T23:20:31Z

WikiModEn2: /* Reasons for circumcision */ Wikify.

'''Adolescent and adult circumcision''' is rare when compared to the millions upon millions of medically-unnecessary, harmful non-therapeutic [[Circumcision| circumcisions]] of boys that are carried out in [[Islam]]ic nations, [[Israel]], the [[United States]], and elsewhere, however they are promoted by a [[medical trade association| medical trade associations]] and their members for [[Financial incentive| profit]].

[[Rosemary Romberg]] commented on adult circumcision in the [[United States]]:
<blockquote>
In the [[United States]], where many medical doctors are themselves victims of [[child circumcision]], doctors tend to consider the [[foreskin]] as something "dispensible."
…
It is difficult to ascertain the true percentage of actual need for adult circumcision among [[intact]] males. In a circumcision-oriented society such as ours many doctors prescribe the operation for conditions which could be resolved, often easily, without resort to surgery.…<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Romberg
|first=Rosemary
|init=
|author-link=Rosemary Romberg
|year=2021
|title=Circumcision — The Painful Dilemma
|url=https://circumcisionthepainfuldilemma.wordpress.com/
|work=
|editor=[[Ulf Dunkel]]
|edition=Second Edition, Revised
|volume=
|chapter=The Circumcision of an Adult
|scope=
|page=247
|pages=
|location=
|publisher=Kindle
|ISBN=23: 979-8683021252
|quote=
|accessdate=2023-08-31
|note=
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

[[Posthectomy]] is the proper medical term of [[excision]] and [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]], but is seldom used. Males who are considering adult circumcision should be aware that irreversible [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] is disabling in many ways.<ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-14
}}</ref>

<big>Circumcision is an [[amputation]] that cannot be reversed or undone. Circumcision is forever.</big>

==Considerations before consent is granted==
[[Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani| Cepeda-Emiliani]] et al. (2025) have provided this warning to men who are considering an adult circumcision.
<blockquote>
Regarding adult circumcision, the current knowledge of preputial
and penile neuroanatomy and structure underscores the importance
of meticulous patient selection for this procedure. Specifically, when
adult circumcision is to be performed, factors such as the position of
the [[circumcision scar]] line, the amount of inner prepuce retained, the
tightness of the remaining penile skin, and whether a frenulectomy
is performed should be carefully discussed and agreed upon by both
the patient and the surgeon, with all decisions clearly documented in
the [[informed consent]]. Recent survey findings underscore this need
for dialogue: Callegari et al. showed that preferences regarding the
amount of inner preputial remnant retained after circumcision vary
considerably among individuals, reinforcing the importance of engaging patients in personalized discussions to align surgical decisions with their expectations.<ref name="cepeda2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Otero-Alén
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Gándara-Cortés
|first4=
|init4=M
|author4-link=
|last5=García-Caballero
|first5=
|init5=T
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=R
|author6-link=
|last7=García-Caballero
|first7=
|init7=L
|author7-link=
|etal=no
|title=The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation
|trans-title=
|journal=Andrology
|date=2025-09-19
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|pages=1-41
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/andr.70118
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40970806
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/andr.70118
|accessdate=2025-09-29
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

==Consent==

Male [[circumcision]] is an ''elective'', irreversible, surgical [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] part of the [[penis]]. Legally, the patient or his surrogate must grant [[Informed consent| ''informed'' consent]] before the surgery can be performed. A surrogate's powers are limited to granting consent for medically-indicated and necessary diagnosis and treatment of existing disease.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-06-30
}}</ref>

The surgeon must provide all material information to the patient before [[informed consent]] can be granted. There is a strong tendency for the surgeon to omit telling the patient anything about the nature and [http://www.intactaus.org/information/functionsoftheforeskin/ functions of the foreskin],<ref name="masood2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Masood
|init=S
|last2=Patel
|first2=
|init2=HRH
|author2-link=
|last3=Himpson
|first3=
|init3=RC
|author3-link=
|etal=yes
|title=Penile sensitivity and sexual satisfaction after circumcision: are we informing men correctly?
|journal=Urol Int
|date=2005
|volume=75
|issue=1
|pages=62-6
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/masood1/
|pubmedID=16037710
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1159/000085930
|accessdate=2023-04-08
}}</ref> which would be lost through [[amputation]] if consent should be granted.

[[Issues_with_American_urologists_and_the_practice_of_male_circumcision| Urologic surgeons]] in the [[United States]] derive a substantial fee from the performance of a [[circumcision]], so some urologists may have a [[bias]] in favor of circumcision and may inappropriately recommend adult circumcision to patients when a conservative treatment would be satisfactory or even when no treatment is necessary. Patients should be wary and do their own research before granting consent for an irreversible [[circumcision]].

[[Marilyn Fayre Milos| Milos]] (2022) advises:
<blockquote>
* A penis without a foreskin doesn’t work as nature intended for its owner or his sexual partner.
* Amputating the foreskin eliminates the penis’ “command and control” nerve center, the normal skin system that allows for comfortable erections and the gliding mechanism necessary for sensory pleasure, foreplay, and normal intromission (entry during intercourse).
* Circumcision amputates the tens of thousands of specialized, erogenous nerve endings that signal to the man where he is in relation to the orgasmic threshold.
* It denudes and exposes the glans (head of the penis), causing it to become dry, calloused, and desensitized. Circumcised men talk about becoming impotent during their 50s or 60s while intact males tell me the urge doesn’t come around as often but their sensitivity hasn’t diminished.
* Circumcision makes the penis smaller, too.<ref name="milos2022-05-02">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/ask-marilyn-a-19-year-old-considers-circumcision/
|title=Ask Marilyn – 19-year-old Considers Circumcision
|last=Milos
|first=
|init=MF
|author-link=Marilyn Fayre Milos
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022-05-02
|accessdate=2024-10-24
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Performance of unneccesary circumcision simply to earn a surgical fee is [[Ethics_of_non-therapeutic_child_circumcision#Patient_exploitation| unethical patient exploitation]].

==Reasons for circumcision==

All circumcisions are injurious because they amputate a [http://www.intactaus.org/information/functionsoftheforeskin/ multi-functional body part], but in rare cases the benefit obtained by removing a deformed, diseased, or damaged foreskin may be of more value than the amputated [[foreskin]].

* Deformed foreskins — The common type of deformed foreskin is the narrow non-retractable foreskin of [[phimosis]]. Circumcision was the traditional treatment for phimosis, however circumcision is less performed today because newer conservative treatments are now available that preserve the [[foreskin]] and its many useful functions. There is a wide range of normal in foreskin length. [[Long foreskin| Longer foreskins]] are not deformed, so do ''not'' justify circumcision.

* Diseased foreskins — Diseases for which circumcision may be indicated include [[Penile cancer|malignant tumor]],[[Balanitis xerotica obliterans| lichen sclerosis]], recurrent yeast infection in diabetic males (after conservative treatment fails),<ref name="verma2011">{{REFjournal
|last=Verma
|first=Shyam B.
|init=SB
|author-link=
|last2=Molina
|first2=Uwe
|init2=U
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Looking through the cracks of diabetic candidal balanoposthitis!
|journal=Int J Gen Med
|location=
|date=2011-07-07
|volume=4
|issue=
|pages=511-3
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150172/
|pubmedID=21845057
|pubmedCID=3150172
|DOI=10.2147/IJGM.S17875
|accessdate=2020-12-19
}}</ref> recurrent [[balanoposthitis]], and [[gangrene]].

* Damaged foreskins — This includes any type of physical [[trauma]] and injury that is beyond surgical repair. Zipper injury does not require circumcision.<ref name="flowerdew1977">{{REFjournal
|last=Flowerdew
|init=R
|author-link=
|last2=Fishman
|init2=IJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Churchill
|init3=BM
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Management of penile zipper injuries
|journal=J Urol
|location=
|date=1977-05
|volume=117
|issue=5
|article=
|page=671
|pages=
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/zipper/flowerdew/
|pubmedID=859209
|pubmedCID=
|DOI= 10.1016/s0022-5347(17)58581-x
|accessdate=2020-12-20
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Chalfin
|first=Laura
|init=L
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Win one for the zipper
|journal=Emerigency Medicine
|location=
|date=1989-03-30
|volume=21
|issue=6
|article=
|page=
|pages=05
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/zipper/chalfin/
|accessdate=2020-12-20
}}</ref>

===Elective non-therapeutic circumcision===

Some adult males may seek non-therapeutic circumcision because of a conversion to [[Judaism]] or [[Islam]]. Others may simply want a circumcision because they like the physical appearance, or to fit into a society where most men are [[circumcised]], or for some personal whim.<ref name="holman1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Holman
|first=John R.
|init=JR
|author-link=
|last2=Steussi
|first2=Keith A.
|init2=KA
|author2-link=
|last3=
|etal=no
|title=Adult circumcision
|journal=Am Fam Physician
|location=
|date=1999-03-15
|volume=59
|issue=6
|article=
|page=1514-8
|pages=
|url=https://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/0315/p1514.html
|pubmedID=10193593
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessed=2020-12-20}}</ref>

===A word to intact teens===

Boys are born with a [[foreskin]] that is non-retractable for reasons of protection against [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. The inner surface is fused with the [[glans penis]] by a [[synechia]] (similar to a fingernail that is glued to the nail bed of the finger). Also the tip of the foreskin is too narrow to retract. As a boy gets older, the synechia disintegrates and releases the foreskin and the foreskin gets wider as a boy ages, so the foreskin gradually becomes [[Retraction of the foreskin| retractable]]. Some boys go through [[puberty]] but find that their [[foreskin]] is still too narrow to permit retraction.

Beaugé (1997) reported that boys, who masturbate by pulling their [[foreskin]] away from the body, will not stretch the tight part of the foreskin so non-retractile foreskin will persist. He advised changing the method of [[masturbation]] to the more conventional method of pulling the foreskin toward the body so that the narrow orifice gets stretched.<ref name="beauge1997">{{REFjournal
|last=Beaugé
|init=Michel
|author-link=Michel Beaugé
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis/beauge2/
|title=The causes of adolescent phimosis
|journal=Br J Sex Med
|date=1997
|volume=
|issue=September/October
|pages=26
|accessdate=2021-04-21
}}</ref>

The traditional way of addressing this issue was to consult a urologist and get a circumcision, however we now understand that in the vast majority of cases, manual [[stretching]] over a few months will widen the foreskin by [[tissue expansion]], make the foreskin retractable and eliminate the need for a destructive circumcision.

==Methods of adult circumcision==

===Dorsal slit===

[[Dorsal slit]] is a cut on the top of the [[foreskin]] to widen the opening, allowing the foreskin to retract and fall below the shaft of the [[penis]]. Dorsal slit does not cut around and does not remove tissue, so it is not a true circumcision. Dorsal slit is a first step in the circumcision of a phimotic foreskin by the sleeve technique.<ref name="holman1999" />

===Sleeve technique===

Holman & Stuessi (1999) said patients should be advised of alternatives to circumcision.

They reported the indications for adult circumcision are uncommon. The most common is [[phimosis]].

They recommended [[dorsal penile nerve block]] or [[ring block]] local anesthesia for the [[pain]] of circumcision surgery.

[[Informed consent]] must be obtained. They stated:
<blockquote>
Specifically, the patient should be told about the risks of [[bleeding]], hematoma formation, [[infection]], inadvertent damage to the [[glans]], removal of too much or too little [[skin]], aesthetically unpleasing results, and a change of sensation during intercourse. The patient should also be informed that, during the postoperative period, [[erection]]s can cause pain and [[Wound dehiscence| disruption of the suture line]] that may require replacement of the sutures. Full recovery following circumcision generally requires four to six weeks of abstinence from all genital stimulation and sexual activity.<ref name="holman1999" />
</blockquote>

In regard to complications, Holman & Stuessi reported:
<blockquote>
As with any surgical procedure, [[bleeding]] and [[infection]] are probably the most common complications of circumcision in adult patients; however, accurate statistics are not available. Other complications include hematoma formation, diffuse swelling, pain from inadequate anesthesia, poor cosmesis, tearing of the sutures due to [[erection]] before healing is complete and anesthetic complications. Some patients may also note an unpleasant heightened sensitivity during intercourse. Infection can be treated with local or parenteral antibiotics, depending on the severity of the infection. [[Bleeding]] can be controlled with pressure, an absorbable gelatin sponge product (i.e., Gelfoam), electrocautery or ligatures. None of these techniques can be preferentially recommended based on differences in complication rate or severity.<ref name="holman1999" />
</blockquote>

===Circumcision with a plastic ring device===

Adolescent and adult circumcision may also be carried out with one of several plastic, one-use, disposable ring devices. These devices work by clamping the foreskin tightly so that it is crushed and flow is cut off completely. Ischemic [[necrosis]] ensues and the [[foreskin]] dies. It may then be cut off or left to fall off. Ring devices include the [[TARA KLamp]], the [[PrePex]], [[AccuCirc]], and the [[Shang Ring]].

==Pain during and after circumcision==
Circumcision is a surgical [[amputation]] of part of the [[penis]]. It is normal to feel [[pain]] during the surgical [[amputation]], however this is usually eliminated by general or local anesthesia.

One may expect pain after surgery until the incision heals. Ask your doctor for a two-week supply of an opioid pain reliever.

One may also expect pain when the sensitive [[glans penis]] is exposed to friction from clothing, etc. It is no longer protected by the [[foreskin]], so there is not much one can do about it.

One may also expect painful [[erection]]s, depending on how much [[skin]] was removed.
Depending on how much [[skin]] was removed, there may not be enough [[skin]] left to allow for shaft expansion during [[erection]] and this may cause painful [[erection]]s.

One may also experience phantom pain from neuromas that form at the incision where nerves were severed.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Cold
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=Taylor
|init2=JR
|author2-link=John R. Taylor
|title=The prepuce
|journal=BJU Int
|date=1999-01-01
|volume=83 Suppl 1
|issue=
|pages=34-44
|url=https://www.i2researchhub.org/wp-content/uploads/storage/TQ63QSHD/Cold%20and%20Taylor%20-%201999%20-%20The%20prepuce.pdf
|quote=
|pubmedID=1034941
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1034.x
|accessdate=2021-03-07
}}</ref>

[[Masturbation]] after circumcision may be painful if one doesn’t use lubrication because of lack of [[gliding action]].
==Recovery period==
Recovery from an adult circumcision is frequently said to be six weeks. Recovery does not include restoration of permanently lost functions.
===Complications===
Circumcision is a surgical operation. Like all surgical operations, there is risk of [[bleeding| hemorrhage]], [[infection]], and surgical mishap, including, rarely, loss of the [[penis]].
[[Erection]] tends to be painful and may cause [[wound dehiscence]].<ref name="wang2023">{{REFjournal
|last=Wang
|first=
|init=D
|author-link=
|last2=Li
|first2=
|init2=Z
|author2-link=
|last3=Chen
|first3=
|init3=X
|author3-link=
|last4=Wang
|first4=
|init4=H
|author4-link=
|etal=no
|title=Wound healing rates and wound problems of conventional circumcision compared with ring circumcision: A meta-analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int Wound J
|location=
|date=2023-06-11
|volume=Online ahead of print
|issue=
|article=
|page=
|pages=
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/iwj.14262
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=37303303
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/iwj.14262
|accessdate=2023-07-16
}}</ref>

There is danger of [[infection]] until the [[circumcision]] wound heals closed.<ref name="wang2023" />

===Lymphoedema===
[[Lymphoedema]] of the [[penis]] is a normal and expected [[complication]] of male adult circumcision due to the adverse effect on blood circulation. Ferhatoglu et al. (2019) reported edema in 108 of 198 patients or 54.5 percent.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Ferhatoglu
|first=
|init=Mf
|author-link=
|last2=Kartal
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Gurkan
|first3=
|init3=A
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Evaluation of Male Circumcision: Retrospective Analysis of One Hundred and Ninety-eight Patients
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Cureus
|location=
|date=2019-04-27
|volume=11
|issue=4
|article=
|page=e4555
|pages=
|url=https://www.cureus.com/articles/19380-evaluation-of-male-circumcision-retrospective-analysis-of-one-hundred-and-ninety-eight-patients
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=31275779
|pubmedCID=6592839
|DOI=10.7759/cureus.4555
|accessdate=2022-02-17
}}</ref> It frequently lasts for months.

==Permanent adverse effects==
===Loss of sensation===
The human [[foreskin]] has long been noted for its high level of erogenous sensation. Winklemann (1959) early identified the foreskin as a ''specific erogenous zone''.<ref name="winklemann1959">{{WinkelmannRK 1959}}</ref> Falliers (1970) called attention to ''sensory pleasure'' induced by tactile stimulation of the foreskin, which is almost totally lost after its surgical removal.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Falliers
|first=CJ
|init=
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1970-12-21
|volume=214
|issue=12
|article=
|page=2194
|accessdate=2021-06-04
}}</ref> García-Mesa et al. (2021) reported the [[foreskin]] has an abundance of [[Meissner's corpuscles]] which provide pleasant sexual sensation when mechanically stimulated by motion of the foreskin.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021">{{REFjournal
|last=García-Mesa
|first=Yolanda
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=García-Piqueras
|first2=Jorge
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Cobo
|first3=Ramón
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Martín-Cruces
|first4=José
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Suazo
|first5=Iván
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Suárez
|first6=Olivia
|init6=
|author6-link=
|last7=Feito
|first7=Jorge
|init7=
|author7-link=
|last8=
|first8=Vega
|init8=José A.
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Anatomy
|location=
|date=2021-10
|volume=239
|issue=4
|article=
|page=
|pages=892-902
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joa.13481
|pubmedID=34120333
|pubmedCID=8450466
|DOI=10.1111/joa.13481
|accessdate=2021-11-15
}}</ref>

Money & Davison (1983) reported "diminished penile sensitivity, less penile gratification, more penile pain, and cosmetic deformity" as the effect of circumcision, however they considered that a "prolongation of the period prior to ejaculation" was a possible benefit.<ref name="money1983">{{REFjournal
|last=Money
|first=John
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=Davison
|first2=Jackie
|init2=
|author2-link=
|author9-link=
|etal=no
|title=Adult penile circumcision: erotosexual and cosmetic sequelae
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Sex Res|
|location=
|date=1983
|volume=19
|issue=3
|article=
|page=
|pages=289-92
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/money/
|accessdate=2021-06-04
}}</ref>

Money & Davison thought the loss of sensation is "secondary to diminished sensory input from stretch receptors in the less mobile [[shaft skin|skin of the shaft]] of the penis, as well as loss of foreskin stretch receptors".<ref name="money1983" />

Denniston (2004) carried out a survey of 38 adult males who were [[circumcised]] at least 2 years after they commenced sexual intercourse. Thirteen men felt that sexual intercourse was better after circumcision, but 22 felt that intercourse was worse and would not have the circumcision again, because of loss of sexual pleasure.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Denniston
|first=George C.
|init=
|author-link=George C. Denniston
|last2=Hill
|first2=George
|init2=
|author2-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision in adults: effect on sexual function
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Urology
|location=
|date=2004-12
|volume=54
|issue=5
|article=
|page=1267
|pages=
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/denniston3/
|pubmedID=15596221
|DOI=10.1016/j.urology.2004.03.059
|accessdate=2021-06-05
}}</ref>

Masood et al. (2005) suggested "before circumcision, men should be warned of the long-term consequences (penile sensations and effect on erectile function) as well as be talked through the more traditional subjects (peri-operative complications)."<ref name="masood2005" />

Kim & Pang (2007) studied the effect of adult circumcision on 138 males in [[South Korea]]. They concluded:
<blockquote>There were no significant differences in sexual drive, [[erection]], [[ejaculation]], and ejaculation latency time between [[circumcised]] and [[uncircumcised]] men. Masturbatory pleasure decreased after circumcision in 48% of the respondents, while 8% reported increased pleasure. Masturbatory difficulty increased after circumcision in 63% of the respondents but was easier in 37%. About 6% answered that their sex lives improved, while 20% reported a worse sex life after circumcision.<ref>{{KimDS PangMG 2007}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Remennick (2021) reported Jewish men from the former Soviet Union who migrated to [[Israel]] and received their [[Brit Milah| ritual circumcision]] as sexually active adults were very displeased with their loss of [[Sexual sensation of the foreskin| sexual sensation]]:
<blockquote>
Driven by social pressure and the need to belong, most young men (and their parents) consented to the operation without proper counselling and unaware of its ramifications. Men share their intimate memories of the rapid surgical procedure, painful recuperation, and their belated regrets, both aesthetic and sexual. The willingness to expose their lingering trauma signals evolving concepts of masculinity and vulnerability among these former Soviet men. Their voices join the local and international movement opposing medically-unnecessary genital surgeries of any kind – on men, women and intersex people.<ref name="remennick2021">{{REFjournal
|last=Remennick
|first=
|init=L
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Joining the tribe: adult circumcision among immigrant men in Israel and its traumatic aftermath
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Cult Health Sex
|location=
|date=2021-01-29
|volume=24
|issue=5
|pages=702-16
|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13691058.2021.1879272?journalCode=tchs20
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=33512277
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1080/13691058.2021.1879272
|accessdate=2025-01-08
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Many [[circumcised]] men say they are unable to feel anything if a condom is used.

===Other adverse effects===
# Circumicision causes loss of [[body pleasure]].
# Circumcision causes both physical and psychic [[trauma]].
# Circumcision severs blood vessels and disrupts lymph and blood circulation in the [[penis]]. This frequently causes [[lymphoedema]] and [[erection]] difficulties.
# Circumcision invariably excises the [[ridged band]], resulting in partial loss of sensation.
# Circumcision is a surgical [[amputation]] of functional tissue. The various [https://foreskinfunction.org/ functions] cease to operate. If the patient does not like the results, it cannot be reversed or undone.
# Recovery from adolescent or adult circumcision is slow and painful. [[Erection]]s are painful because the [[skin]] is stretched and the sutures are stressed. [[Wound dehiscence]] may occur.
# The [[foreskin]] is protective of the [[glans penis]]. After the foreskin is amputated, the [[glans penis]] is exposed so that it touches clothing and other things. Some men report this causes extreme pain so that they cannot wear pants for an extended time. Some circumcised men complain of discomfort due to the head being permanently exposed.
# The foreskin provides moisture and oil to the glans penis. After circumcision, the glans penis will become desiccated. Many [[circumcised]] men complain of dryness.
# The foreskin has [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| immunological functions]] that protect from disease. [[Circumcised]] populations have a higher incidence of [[HIV]] than [[intact]] populations.<ref name="denniston2020">{{REFdocument
|title=World Health Organization, HIV, and male circumcision
|url=https://pool.intactiwiki.org/images/2020-06-15b_LettertoPEPFAR.pdf
|contribution=
|last=Denniston
|first=George C.
|publisher=[[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)]]
|format=
|date=2020-06-29
|accessdate=2020-09-02
}}</ref><ref name="fish2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Fish
|first=Max
|init=M
|author-link=
|last2=Shavisi
|first2=Arianne
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Gwaambuka
|first3=Tatenda
|init3=T
|author3-link=
|last4=Tangwa
|first4=Godfrey B.
|init4=GB
|author4-link=
|last5=Ncayiyana
|first5=Daniel
|init5=D
|author5-link=
|last6=Earp
|first6=Brian D.
|init6=BD
|author6-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=A new Tuskegee? Unethical human experimentation and Western neocolonialism in the mass circumcision of African men
|journal=Developing World Bioeth
|date=2020-09-09
|volume=00
|pages=1-16
|url=https://doi.org/10.1111/dewb.12285
|DOI=10.1111/dewb.12285
|accessdate=2021-02-13
}}</ref>
# The heavily innervated [[ridged band]] is located on the foreskin and is always amputated along with the foreskin. The [[Foreskin sensitivity| most sensitive regions in the intact penis]] are those parts ablated by circumcision.<ref>{{Sorrells etal 2007}}</ref> There is great loss of sensation caused by the [[amputation]] of this structure. It appears that many [[intact]] males are unaware of the source of sensation and are shocked by the loss of sensation after circumcision.
# The abundance of [[skin]] in the foreskin allows [[gliding action]]. Gliding action facilitates [[masturbation]] and [[vagina| intercourse]]. The shortening of [[penile skin]] reduces or eliminates gliding action. The loss of gliding action may cause [[dyspareunia]].
# Painful [[erection]]s may occur due to lack of sufficient [[skin]] to allow for expansion of the [[penis]].
# The erect penis may be shorter due to lack of sufficient [[skin]] to allow full expansion.
# There always will be a [[circumcision scar]] that encircles the shaft of the penis.
# The exposed [[glans penis]] will protect itself from friction by developing a layer of [[keratin]] and become cracked and hardened. The [[keratinization]] of the [[glans penis]] will reduce its sensitivity.
# There are possible [[Psychological issues of male circumcision| emotional issues]] secondary to a partial loss of the [[penis]] through circumcision.
# The shaft of the penis becomes narrrower because of the loss of a double layer of skin

==Financial considerations==
Medical insurance policies vary with the provider of insurance. Most will pay for circumcision only if it is done to treat a medical condition. When circumcision is carried out for cosmetic reasons or personal desire, it is very unlikely that medical insurance would pay. The cost of an adult circumcision would include a facility fee, a surgeon's fee, an anesthesiologist's fee, and pre-operative and post-operative care. Garrett (2024) says the cost may range from $1,650 to $6,450.<ref name="garrett2024-03-07">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/adult-circumcision-cost/
|title=Adult Circumcision Cost: The Profit Motives and Hidden Toll
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-03-07
|accessdate=2024-05-15
}}</ref>

==Warning==
It is quite common for some urologists to push circumcision on any [[foreskinned]] male although conservative treatment would have been sufficient, since there is a nice fee attached to a circumcision [[amputation]]. There are many reports of false statements being made. It is totally unethical and akin to fraud, but it happens frequently.

===Videos===
Here are seven videos in which [[regret men]] who had an adult circumcision express their regret.

==== Circumcised at 18 ====
<youtube>v=NAHGFx95D80</youtube>

====Circumcised at 46====
<youtube>v=pZ3n8CtcmRY</youtube>

==== Why I Regret Getting Circumcised At 19 ====
<youtube>v=7AaUb63NLLw</youtube>

==== Circumcised Man: "I feel such a sense of loss" ====
<youtube>v=gx_PoXm3XZ4</youtube>

==== Circumcised at 30 ====
<youtube>v=g2CwHbCDiAU</youtube>

==== Circumcision Care - After Circumcision - 5 Post Circumcision Surgery Recovery Tips!====
<youtube>v=xdrvq_10vTM</youtube>

====Why can’t I sleep after my circumcision operation?? Day 12 ====
<youtube>v=CLmxdbV3Uyc</youtube>

== Rite of passage ==
In some cultures, [[circumcision]] is viewed as a rite of passage, and a male may not be considered a privileged adult until he has undergone circumcision.

=== Aborigines ===
The indigeous people of [[Australia]], the [[Aborigines]], have variously practiced [[Religion and culture#Australia|subincision]] and [[circumcision]] on adolescents and adults since before the first contact with Europeans.

=== Ulwaluko ===
Traditional [[Circumcision]] and Initiation into Manhood (ulwaluko) is an ancient initiation ritual practiced by the amaXhosa of the Eastern Cape Province of [[South Africa]]. The ritual is traditionally intended as a teaching institution to prepare boys for the responsibilities of manhood. The principles that lie at the very core of the ritual are respect for self (including self control and integrity), respect for family (not to bring shame to them), and respect for community (to protect them from harm).

Every single initiation season the media writes about complications accompanying the ritual of Traditional [[Circumcision]] and Initiation into Manhood ''(ulwaluko)''. The magnitude of these complications is horrific: From 1995 till 2014, 919 boys have lost their lives in the mountains and hills of the Eastern Cape. Many others were mutilated or even lost their manhood. [[Ulwaluko|Many of these mutilations are documented (graphic content).]]

===Tuli===
[[Tuli]] is a [[genital mutilation]] rite of boys and adolescents practiced in the Philippine Islands.

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Autocircumcision]]
* [[Circumcision: Effect upon erectile function]]
* [[Circumcision methods]]
* [[Circumcision scar]]
* [[Development of retractable foreskin]]
* [[Doctors Cut Off Man’s Penis During Circumcision]]
* [[Ethics of non-therapeutic child circumcision]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin comment]]
* [[Foreskin sensitivity]]
* [[Frenectomy]]
* [[Frenuloplasty]]
* [[Fusions and adhesions]]
* [[Ischemia of the glans penis]]
* [[American urologists and the practice of male circumcision]]
* [[Neurotomy]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Phimosis]]
* [[Phimosis#Preputioplasty| Preputioplasty]]
* [[Posthectomy]]
* [[The recovery after an adult circumcision]]
* [[Regret men]]
* [[Risks and complications]]
* [[Sexual effects of circumcision]]
* [[Stretching]]
* [[Surrogate consent]]
* [[Trauma]]
{{LINKS}}
====Medical circumcision====
* {{REFjournal
|last=Holman
|first=
|init=JR
|author-link=
|last2=Stuessi
|first2=
|init2=KA
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Adult circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=American Family Physician
|location=
|date=1999-03-15
|season=
|volume=59
|issue=6
|article=
|page=
|pages=1514-18
|url=https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/1999/0315/p1514.html
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10193593
|accessdate=2024-05-03
}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Hammond
|first=
|init=T
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=A preliminary poll of men circumcised in infancy or childhood
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=1999-01
|season=
|volume=83 Supple 1
|issue=
|article=
|page=
|pages=85-92
|url=http://www.noharmm.org/bju.htm
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10349419
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1085.x
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2022-06-10
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://15square.org.uk/losses-from-circumcision/
|title=Losses from Circumcision
|last=Ball
|first=Peter
|publisher=15 Square
|date=2003-08-09
|accessdate=2023-02-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://davidlouis77.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/adult-circumcision-my-experience-2-years-on/comment-page-4/#comment-24567
|title=Adult Circumcision: My experience two years on.
|last=Louis
|first=David
|author-link=
|publisher=
DavidLouis77's Blog
|website=wordpress.com
|date=2010-05-08
|accessdate=2020-12-29
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.circumstitions.com/Resent.html
|title=The tip of the iceberg: Men who resent being circumcised
|last=Young
|first=Hugh
|author-link=
|publisher=Circumstitions
|website=
|date=
|accessdate=2020-12-29
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.intactaus.org/men-circumcised-as-adults/
|title=Men Circumcised As Adults
|publisher=Intact Australia
|date=2017-03-01
|accessdate=2020-12-21
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://ladagueetlefourreau.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/a-personal-account-of-adult-circumcision/
|title=A Personal Account of Adult Circumcision
|last=
|first=
|date=2017-07-17
|accessdate=2021-02-14
}}
* {{REFdocument
|title=Circumcision (Complete Removal of the Foreskin}
|url=https://www.baus.org.uk/_userfiles/pages/files/Patients/Leaflets/Circumcision.pdf
|contribution=
|last=
|first=
|publisher=British Association of Paediatric Surgeons
|format=PDF
|date=2020-12
|accessdate=2024-02-12
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a28580739/circumcision-pros-and-cons/
|title=I Had an Adult Circumcision, and I Totally Regret It
|last=Hseih
|first=Carina
|date=2019-08-02
|accessdate=2021-06-05
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://wikionlymen.com/?s=circumcision
|title=Disadvantages Of Circumcision In Man
|publisher=Wiki Only Men
|date=2021-11-05
|accessdate=2024-10-05
}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Remennick
|first=Larissa
|init=L
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Joining the tribe: adult circumcision among immigrant men in Israel and its traumatic aftermath
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Cult Health Sex
|location=
|date=2021-01-29
|volume=24
|issue=5
|article=
|page=
|pages=702-16
|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13691058.2021.1879272?journalCode=tchs20
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=33512277
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1080/13691058.2021.1879272
|accessdate=2022-10-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionGrief/comments/wemjzy/got_circumcised_4_months_ago/
|title=Got circumcised 4 months ago
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2022
|accessdate=2025-12-26
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/FriendsOfTheFrenulum/comments/128dvgq/for_adults_contemplating_circumcision_what/
|title=For adults contemplating circumcision, what essential questions should they ponder to guarantee their decision is genuinely rooted in an informed choice — made autonomously and for their own well-being?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2022
|accessdate=2025-12-26
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/adult-circumcision-cost/
|title=Adult Circumcision Cost: The Profit Motives and Hidden Toll
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|init=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-03-07
|accessdate=2024-03-10
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://4skin-health.alderhey.nhs.uk/teenagers-young-adults/
|title=Advice for teenagers and young adults
|last=Kenny
|first=
|init=S
|author-link=
|publisher=NHS Children's Hospital at Alder Hey
|date=
|accessdate=2025-02-21
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://archive.md/Au7cV#selection-98.0-707.8
|title=Unjustifiable reason 1: Parents are clueless about the functions of the foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT Intactivism
|date=2025-06-17
|accessdate=2025-06-24
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1p67xlp/circumcision_ended_my_life/
|title=Circumcision ended my life
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=12-11-27
|accessdate=2025-12-11
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1ptxzrh/i_regret_getting_an_adult_circumcision/?chainedPosts=t3_1p67xlp
|title=I regret getting an adult circumcision
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=12-12-23
|accessdate=2025-12-29
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/intactinfo/comments/1qe1kkl/the_neurological_cost_of_circumcision_a_breakdown/
|title=The Neurological Cost of Circumcision, A Breakdown of What's Removed
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-15
|accessdate=2026-01-16
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1qgb86l/uncircumcised_easier_to_climax/
|title=Uncircumcised = easier to climax?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-18
|accessdate=2026-01-31
}}

====Traditional circumcision====
* {{NSFW}} [[Ulwaluko]]

{{REF}}

[[Category:Body modification]]
[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Male circumcision]]
[[Category:Male genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Penile surgery]]
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Teen]]

[[de:Jugendlichen- und Erwachsenenbeschneidung]]

Foreskin

2026-04-03T19:18:59Z

WikiModEn2: Add external link.

<div class='res-img'>[[File:Infographic Foreskin.jpg|Foreskin - Anatomy and function]]</div>

The word ''foreskin'' is a cognate of the German word ''Vorhaut''. The word ''prepuce'' is a cognate of the French word ''prépuce'', which is derived from Latin ''praeputium''. ''Foreskin'' is more commonally used in speech, while ''prepuce'' is more commonly seen in scientific literature.

The '''foreskin''' or '''prepuce''' is the double-layered fold of smooth muscle tissue, blood vessels, neurons, [[skin]], and [[mucosa| mucous membrane]] part of the [[penis]] that creates the [[preputial sac]], while covering and protecting the [[glans penis]] and the [[urinary meatus]].

The nature of the prepuce or foreskin, which is [[Amputation| amputated]] and destroyed by circumcision, must be considered and fully understood in any discussion of male [[circumcision]].<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

Purpura et al. (2018) described the foreskin as follows:
<blockquote>
Few parts of the human anatomy can compare to the incredibly multifaceted nature of the human foreskin. At times dismissed as “just [[skin]],” the adult foreskin is, in fact, a highly vascularized and densely innervated bilayer tissue, with a surface area of up to 90 cm, and potentially larger. On average, the foreskin accounts for 51% of the total length of the penile [[shaft skin]] and serves a multitude of functions. The tissue is highly dynamic and biomechanically functions like a roller bearing; during intercourse, the foreskin “unfolds” and glides as abrasive friction is reduced and lubricating fluids are retained. The sensitive foreskin is considered to be the primary erogenous zone of the male [[penis]] and is divided into four subsections: [[Preputial mucosa|inner mucosa]], [[ridged band]], [[frenulum]], and outer foreskin; each section contributes to a vast spectrum of sensory pleasure through the [[gliding action]] of the foreskin, which mechanically stretches and stimulates the densely packed corpuscular receptors. Specialized immunological properties should be noted by the presence of [[Langerhans cells]] and other lytic materials, which defend against common microbes, and there is robust evidence supporting [[HIV]] protection. The [[glans penis| glans]] and inner [[mucosa]] are physically protected against external irritation and contaminants while maintaining a healthy, moist surface. The foreskin is also immensely vascularized and acts as a conduit for essential blood vessels within the [[penis]], such as supplying the [[glans]] via the frenular artery.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Purpura
|first=Valeria
|init=V
|author-link=
|last2=Bondioli
|first2=Elena
|init2=E
|author2-link=
|last3=Cunningham
|first3=Eric J.
|init3=EC
|author3-link=
|etal=yes
|title=The development of a decellularized extracellular matrix–based biomaterial scaffold derived from human foreskin for the purpose of foreskin reconstruction in circumcised males
|journal=J Tissue Eng
|location=
|date=2018-12-22
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=
|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2041731418812613
|quote=
|pubmedID=30622692
|pubmedCID=6304708
|DOI=10.1177/2041731418812613
|accessdate=2020-02-09
}}</ref></blockquote>
==Origin==
[[Evolution of the foreskin]] over hundreds of thousands of years by natural selection provided better fitness for survival.<ref name="darwin1859">{{REFbook
|last=Darwin
|first=Charles
|init=
|author-link=
|year=1859
|title=The Origin of Species
|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1228/1228-h/1228-h.htm#chap04
|work=
|editor=
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter Four: Natural Selection
|scope=
|page=
|pages=
|location=London
|publisher=John Murray
|ISBN=
|quote=
|accessdate=2024-12-18
|note=
}}</ref> Evolution provided protective functions that protect the [[penis]] from [[trauma]], [[infection]],<ref name="fleiss-hodges-vanhowe1998"></ref> and also provided functions that promote reproduction.<ref name="cold-taylor1999" />

== Structure ==

The medical community usually omits information on the nature and functions of the foreskin from information provided to the public and to parents.

The foreskin is considered to have three parts:
* The outer foreskin which is covered with true [[skin]].
* The inner foreskin and [[ridged band]] which is covered with mucosal membrane. ([[Mucosa]])
* The [[frenulum]] which connects the foreskin to the [[glans penis]] and usually limits retraction.

The inner and outer adult foreskin together contain about 15 square inches of skin.

The foreskin is not redundant tissue.<ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-12
}}</ref>

===Foreskin in infancy and childhood===
Baby boys are born with the foreskin fused with the [[glans penis]] by the balanopreputial lamina, a [[synechia| synechial membrane]], which prevents retraction. The [[preputial sac]] is closed by the synechia and cannot be infected.<ref name="fleiss-hodges-vanhowe1998"/> The synechia breaks down over a widely variable period of years to release the foreskin and allow retraction.

In addition, the tip of the foreskin ([[acroposthion]]) is usually too narrow to allow [[retraction of the foreskin]], but usually widens as [[puberty]] approaches to permit retraction.

Forcible attempts to retract the foreskin result in injury to the boy, so should be avoided. The first person to retract the foreskin should be the boy himself since he will not retract if it is painful.<ref name="Wright1994">{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|init=JE
|title=Further to the "Further Fate of the Foreskin"
|journal=Med J Aust
|volume=160
|issue=
|pages=134-135
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright2/
|quote=
|pubmedID=8295581
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1994-02-07
|accessdate=2020-05-16
}}</ref>

Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff (2005) conducted a survey of 4,000 boys in [[Denmark]]. They reported that the mean age of first foreskin retraction is 10.4 years in [[Denmark]].<ref name="Thorvaldsen-meyhoff2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Thorvaldsen
|init=MA
|last2=Meyhoff
|init2=H
|title=Patologisk eller fysiologisk fimose?
|trans-title=Pathological or physiological phimosis?
|language=Danish
|journal=Ugeskr Læger
|volume=167
|issue=17
|pages=1858-1862
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/thorvaldsen1/
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=2005
|accessdate=2019-11-14
}}</ref>

===Foreskin in adolescence===
The foreskin is in a transitional state during [[puberty]] and adolescence, in which it is changing from the non-retractile foreskin of childhood to the fully retractable foreskin of adulthood. Many adolescents complain of a non-retractable foreskin. Many teens need to do manual [[stretching]] to widen the tip of their foreskin if they wish it to retract. They usually achieve full retraction by age 16. The foreskin facilitates normal [[masturbation]].

===Foreskin in adulthood===

The foreskin may be retractable or non-retractable. Most men have a retractable foreskin, but about two to five percent have a longer, tighter, non-retractable foreskin, which is a normal variant.

The foreskin (also known as the ''prepuce'') is the layered fold of smooth muscle tissue, blood vessels, neurons, [[skin]], and [[Preputial mucosa|mucous membrane]] part of the [[penis]] that covers and protects the [[glans penis]] and the urinary meatus.<ref name="cold-taylor1999"/> There are four layers of tissue in the foreskin. The top layer is either epidermis in the outer foreskin or [[mucosa]], in the inner foreskin. The second layer is the lamina propria. The third layer is the [[dartos]]. The fourth layer is the dermis. It is normal for the foreskin to become darker in color than the rest of one's body after [[puberty]]. This condition is called hyperpigmentation.

The adult foreskin measures about 3 inches by 5 inches or [[The Foreskin: 15 Square Inches of Erogenous Tissue| 15 square inches]].<ref name="taylor1996">{{TaylorJR LockwoodAP TaylorAJ 1996}}</ref> The foreskin creates the [[preputial sac]]. The two foreskin layers provide a [[skin]] reserve. When the penis becomes erect, the foreskin may wholly or partially unfold to provide the necessary [[skin]] to allow for expansion of the penis during [[erection]].

The foreskin is the movable part of the [[penis]]. The foreskin is not attached to the underlying structure and is free to [[gliding action| glide back and forth]].<ref name="lakshmanan-prakash1980">{{REFjournal
|last=Lakshmanan
|init=S
|author-link=
|last2=Prakash
|init2=S
|title=Human prepuce: some aspects of structure and function
|journal=Indian J Surg
|date=1980
|volume=44
|issue=
|pages=134-7
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/lakshmanan/
|quote=
|accessdate=
}}</ref> The foreskin is internally lubricated between the inner and outer layer by [[lymph]], so it can move without friction. The [[gliding action]] reduces the friction of intercourse and helps to prevent abrasions, while conserving vaginal lubrication and moisture.<ref name="warren-bigelow1994">{{REFjournal
|last=Warren
|first=John
|init=J
|author-link=John Warren
|last2=Bigelow
|first2=Jim
|init2=J
|author2-link=Jim Bigelow
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Brit J Sex Med
|date=1994-09
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/general/warren2/
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-28
}}</ref> The foreskin is attached to the [[glans penis]] on the ventral side by the [[frenulum]], which usually limits [[Retraction of the foreskin| retraction]] to a widely variable degree. The [[ridged band]] emanates from the frenulum.<ref name="cold-taylor1999" />

The epithelium of the outer layer of the foreskin is true [[skin]] while the epithelium of the inner layer is [[Preputial mucosa|mucosal membrane]]. There is a mucocutaneous boundary at the tip of the foreskin. The mucocutaneous junction is a specific erogenous zone,<ref name="winklemann1959">{{WinkelmannRK 1959}}</ref> Taylor et al. reported:
<blockquote>
The vascular ridges of the `ridged band' and its [[Meissner's corpuscles]] firmly separate preputial epithelium from true [[skin]] and place preputial [[mucosa]] amongst other mucocutaneous [[mucosa]]e. Winkelmann emphasized the structural and functional importance of junctional regions of the body and focused on mucocutaneous end-organs, or `genital corpuscles', of the [[glans penis]] and prepuce. Some of these end-organs resemble Krause end-bulbs; others resemble [[Meissner's corpuscles]]. … [[Meissner's corpuscles]] of the prepuce may be compared with similar nerve-endings in the finger-tips and lips, which respond in a fraction of a second to contact with light objects that bring about deformation of their capsules. … The prepuce provides a large and important platform for several nerves and nerve endings. The innervation of the outer [[skin]] of the prepuce is impressive; its sensitivity to light touch and pain are similar to that of the [[skin]] of the penis as a whole.<ref name="taylor1996" />
</blockquote>

The highly innervated [[ridged band]] area is found at the mucocutaneous junction. The ridged band area is characterized by rete ridges with [[Meissner's corpuscles]] in the ridges.<ref name="taylor1996"/>

As with other neurologic structures such as the brain, the tip of the prepuce is richly supplied with blood by important vascular structures.<ref name="taylor1996"/> The prepuce serves as a conduit for several important veins.<ref name="fleiss-hodges-vanhowe1998">{{FleissP HodgesF VanHoweRS 1998}}</ref> The [[glans penis]] receives blood through the frenular artery.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Persad
|init=R
|author-link=
|last2=Sharma
|init2=S
|author2-link=
|last3=McTavish
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|etal=yes
|title=Clinical presentation and pathophysiology of meatal stenosis following circumcision
|journal=Brit J Urol
|date=1995
|volume=75
|issue=1
|pages=91-3
|url=https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-410X.1995.tb07242.x
|quote=
|pubmedID=7850308
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/j.1464-410x.1995.tb07242.x
|accessdate=2019-10-15
}}</ref> The adult foreskin frequently has prominent visible veins.

The layer of [[dartos]] muscle is contained within the foreskin.<ref name="cold-taylor1999 /> It makes the foreskin rather stretchy. The dartos muscle keeps the foreskin snugly against the [[glans]]. The fibers of the [[dartos]] muscle form a whorl at the tip that functions as a sphincter. The sphincter opens to allow [[urine]] to flow out, but closes to protect the [[penis]] from foreign matter, contaminants, and pathogens.<ref name="lakshmanan-prakash1980"/><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Jefferson
|first=
|author-link=
|title=The peripenic muscle; some observations on the anatomy of phimosis
|journal=Surgery, Gynecology, and Obstetrics (Chicago)
|date=1916
|volume=23
|issue=2
|pages=177-81
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/jefferson/
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-14
}}</ref>

About two to five percent of men have a foreskin that did not become retractable in adulthood. That condition is called [[phimosis]] and is a normal variant that does not require treatment. Some believe that the longer foreskins may not get naturally stretched by [[erection]], so are more likely to remain tight and non-retractable. Treatment is optional. Many men happily live out their lives with a non-retractable foreskin.

The outer foreskin usually becomes somewhat darker after [[puberty]] due to increased melanin.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hyperpigmentation
|title=hyperpigmentation
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions
|date=2012
|accessdate=2024-09-25
}}</ref> The color may vary from slightly darker than the other skin to (rarely) almost black.

===Foreskin length===
Natural foreskins are found in all lengths from very short to very long. Most appear to fall near the center of the range with very few at the two extremes in accordance with the rules for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution normal distribution]. [[Long foreskins]] appear to perform their [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| protective and immunological function]] more satisfactorily. A short or inadequate foreskin may be lengthened by [[tissue expansion]] to improve function and aesthetics.

The tapered tip of [[long foreskins]] that extends beyond the [[glans penis]] is known as the ''[[acroposthion]]''. A very few of the longest foreskins will not remain retracted when released, but will spontaneously [[Gliding action| glide]] forward to recover the [[glans penis]]. [[Long foreskins]] improve protection and [[gliding action]] and do not usually create an issue. There is no recognized definition of an excessively long or so-called "redundant" foreskin.<ref name="tip2022">{{REFweb
|url=http://acroposthion.com/the-tip-at-the-end/
|title=The ‘Tip’ At The End
|last=
|first=
|publisher=Acroposthion
|date=2022
|accessdate=2022-06-21
}}</ref> It appears that [[Longer foreskin is favored| longer foreskins have been favored]] by men through the centuries.
===Kinsey study of foreskin length===
Sex researcher Alfred C. Kinsey (1963) carried out a study of the amount of the [[glans penis]] covered by the foreskin in white college men. Kinsey measured foreskin length by the extent of coverage and protection of the [[glans penis]]. He reported:
* None, foreskin kept retracted: 11.2%
* Foreskin just covers corona: 16.5%
* Most of head covered, tip shows: 17.6%
* Head completely covered: 48.4%
* Foreskin extends beyond head: 6.4%<ref>Gebhard, P. H., Johnson, A. B., & Kinsey, A. C. (1998). Table 81. In: The Kinsey Data: Marginal Tabulations of the 1938–1963 Interviews Conducted by the Institute for Sex Research. Indiana University Press. </ref>

Please note that the last two categories, totalling 54.8%, provide complete coverage of the [[glans penis]].

See [[Development_of_retractable_foreskin#Adult_foreskin| Adult foreskin]].

==Physiological functions of the foreskin==

Antique research by Alfred Kinsey (1948)<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Kinsey
|first=Alfred C.
|init=
|year=1948
|title=Sexual behavior in the human male
|url=
|scope=
|ISBN=
|accessdate=2022-06-16
}}</ref> and Masters & Johnson (1966)<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Masters
|first=William
|init=
|year=1966
|title=Human sexual response
|url=
|scope=
|ISBN=978-0-553-20429-2
|accessdate=2022-06-16
}}</ref> misled medical science into believing that the foreskin had no function. This meant the foreskin could be excised without doing harm. In actuality, the foreskin has many functions,<ref name="connors2024-02-19">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/intact-penis/
|title=6 Things You Need to Know About The Intact Penis
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-02-19
|accessdate=2024-10-21
}}</ref> so its [[amputation]] does [[Bodily harm| great harm]].<ref name="hill2017">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-323
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-10-01
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Policy Paper: Newborn Circumcision as a Negative Wellness Factor
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394517060_Policy_Paper_Newborn_Circumcision_as_a_Negative_Wellness_Factor
|contribution=
|last=Bollinger
|first=Dan
|publisher=Research Gate
|format=PDF
|date=2025-08
|accessdate=2025-08-29
}}</ref>

The human race evolved over perhaps 700 millenia. The foreskin evolved its physiological functions that improve fitness for survival during that time.<ref>{{URLwikipedia|Evolution|Evolution}}</ref>
=== Urination functions ===
The foreskin functions as a hose nozzle during [[urination]]. It confines and consolidates the multiple urine streams from the [[urethra]] into one stream that can easily be controlled and aimed as necessary.

[[Foreskinned]] men advise that [[Urination by foreskinned men| the foreskin should be stretched out to its full length]] to remove wrinkles before commencing [[urination]].

=== Erection functions ===
When [[erection]] of the [[penis]] occurs, the penis also expands in both circumference and length, so more skin is needed to cover it and allow painless erection. The foreskin unfolds to provide additional skin and permits [[intact]] men to enjoy painless erection, unlike many [[circumcised]] men who experience very tight, painful skin when [[erection]] occurs.

=== Protective functions ===

The foreskin provides physical protection to the [[glans penis]] and inner [[mucosa]],<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Morgan
|first=
|init=WKC
|author-link=William Keith Campbell Morgan
|etal=no
|title=The rape of the phallus
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1965-07-19
|volume=193
|issue=3
|pages=123-4
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/morgan/
|archived=
|quote=This ritual, however, has become so widespread in the [[United States]] that it is no longer much of a status symbol, and a situation has arisen where any recently delivered mother who is eccentric enough to wish her child to retain his [[prepuce]], would be well advised to maintain permanent guard over it until such time as they both leave the hospital.
|pubmedID=14310332
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.1965.03090030045013
|accessdate=2024-05-21
}}</ref> supplying moisture and natural oils by [[transudation]], while protecting the [[mucosa]]l tissue from pathogens, pollutants, friction, injury, [[keratinization]], de-sensitization, and drying out. The foreskin protects the glans penis and meatus of infant boys from abrasion and irritation from ammoniacal diapers to prevent [[meatal stenosis]].<ref name="gairdner1949">{{GairdnerDM 1949}}</ref> <ref name="dobanavacki2012">{{REFjournal
|last=Dobanavacki
|init=D
|author-link=
|last2=Lucić Prostran
|init2=B
|author2-link=
|last3=Sarac
|init3=D
|author3-link=
|etal=yes
|title=Prepuce in boys and adolescents: what when, and how?
|journal=Med Pregl
|date=2012
|volume=65
|issue=7-8
|pages=295-300
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230746332_Prepuce_in_boys_and_adolescents_What_when_and_how
|quote=
|pubmedID=22924249
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.2298/MPNS1208295D
|accessdate=2019-10-14
}}</ref>

In the absence of the foreskin about ten to twenty percent of [[circumcised]] boys suffer urethral stricture ([[meatal stenosis]]) requiring further treatment.<ref name="frisch2016">{{REFjournal
|last=Frisch
|first=Morten
|init=M
|author-link=Morten Frisch
|last2=Simonsen
|init2=J
|author2-link=
|title=Cultural background, non-therapeutic circumcision and the risk of meatal stenosis and other urethral stricture disease: Two nationwide register-based cohort studies in Denmark 1977-2013
|journal=The Surgeon
|date=2016-04-01
|volume=16
|issue=2
|pages=107-18
|url=http://www.thesurgeon.net/article/S1479-666X(16)30179-2/pdf
|quote=
|pubmedID=28017691
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1016/j.surge.2016.11.002
|accessdate=2019-10-23
}}</ref> Frisch & Simonsen (2016) reported the incidence of meatal stenosis to be 3.7 times higher in [[circumcised]] boys.<ref name="frisch2016"/> Fendereski et al. (2024) carried out a massive study to compare intact boys to circumcised boys. The authors reported that [[intact]] ([[foreskinned]]) boys have only one-third as many penile problems as do [[circumcised]] boys.<ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2025-01-06
}}</ref>

The foreskin continues to protect the [[glans penis]] throughout life, keeping it smooth, glossy, moist, [[Foreskin sensitivity| sensitive]], and free from [[keratinization]] and loss of sensation. Nature intended the glans penis to be an internal organ that is only exposed briefly. Many men prefer having a foreskin that fully covers and protects the sensitive [[mucosa]] of the glans penis.

=== Immunological functions ===

Fleiss et al. (1998) have listed numerous immunological functions of the foreskin that help to protect the human body against [[infection]]. The foreskin maintains the moistness of the [[preputial mucosa]] and the [[glans penis]] by [[transudation]]. The sub-preputial moisture contains cathepsin B, chymotrypsin, neutrophil elastase, cytokines, and lysozyme, which has the capacity to destroy the cell walls of bacteria. The preputial muscles keep the tip of the foreskin closed to keep moisture in, while also keeping pathogens and other contaminants out.<ref name="fleiss-hodges-vanhowe1998"/>

The foreskin is highly vascularized. The high rate of blood flow helps to prevent infection.<ref name="fleiss-hodges-vanhowe1998"/>

Although claims have been made that the presence of the foreskin increases the risk of infection with [[Circumcision and HIV|human immune deficiency virus]] ([[HIV]]), that is not correct. The claims are based on the reported findings of three randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that were carried out more than a decade ago in Africa. Boyle & Hill (2011) have shown these RCTs to be have significant methodological flaws and statistical errors that render their claims invalid.<ref name="boyle-hill2011">{{BoyleGJ HillG 2011}}</ref> [[HIV#Population-based_studies| Two massive population studies]] published in 2021 found that [[circumcision]] provided no protective effect.

Fleiss et al. noted the presence of [[Langerhans cells]] in the prepuce.<ref name="fleiss-hodges-vanhowe1998"/> De Witte et al. (2007) have discovered that Langerhans cells produce ''Langerin'', which is a "natural barrier to [[HIV]] infection".<ref>{{DeWitte etal 2007}}</ref>

For more information, see [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin]].

=== Sexual functions ===

The foreskin is a sexual organ.<ref name="hill2017" /> It provides both mechanical and erogenous functions in [[masturbation]] and sexual intercourse,<ref name="connors2024-02-19" /> as well as [[pheromone| pheromones]] for the excitement and arousal of the partner.<ref name="fleiss-hodges-vanhowe1998"/> Winkelmann (1959) classified the foreskin as ''specific erogenous tissue''.<ref name="winklemann1959" /> When the [[penis]] becomes [[Erection| erect]], the foreskin unfolds to provide the skin necessary to allow the [[penis]] to expand to full size and length.

The [[gliding action]] provides stimulation and facilitates intromission.<ref name="warren-bigelow1994"/><ref name="morgan1965">{{REFjournal
|last=Morgan
|init=WKC
|author-link=
|title=The rape of the phallus
|journal=JAMA
|date=1965
|volume=193
|issue=
|pages=123-4
|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/656072
|quote=
|pubmedID=14310332
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.1965.03090030045013
|accessdate=2019-10-15
}}</ref> <ref name="taves2002">{{REFjournal
|last=Taves
|init=D
|author-link=
|title=The intromission function of the foreskin
|journal=Med Hypotheses
|date=2002
|volume=59
|issue=2
|pages=180
|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987702002505
|quote=
|pubmedID=12208206
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1016/s0306-9877(02)00250-5
|accessdate=2019-10-15
}}</ref> At times of sexual arousal, the foreskin may be lubricated by [[pre-ejaculate]]. During the thrusting of sexual congress, the [[gliding action]] reduces abrasions and irritation in the [[Vagina| female partner]] and avoids problems with vaginal dryness.<ref name="warren-bigelow1994"/><ref name="morgan1965"/> The foreskin may protect the corona glandis from hyper-stimulation and prevent [[premature ejaculation]].

===Sensory functions===

Nature designed the foreskin to be an [[Foreskin sensitivity| erogenous sensory organ]].<ref name="hill2017" /> Hill (2003) commented the foreskin has a layer of muscle called the [[dartos]] muscle sheath that provides the foreskin with elasticity, flexibility, and stretchiness, which allows full stimulation of the nerves in the [[ridged band]] that sense movement and [[stretching]] to provide [[foreskin sensitivity]].<ref name="hill2003">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|url=https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/30/foreskin-motion-generates-meissner-corpuscle-stimulation
|title=Foreskin motion generates Meissner corpuscle stimulation
|journal=BMJ
|date=2003-12-16
|volume=309
|issue=
|pages=679
|accessdate=2024-12-06
}}</ref> There is a mucocutaneous region at the tip of the foreskin where outer skin changes to inner [[mucosa]]. Winkelmann (1959) identified the foreskin as a ''specific erogenous zone'' (meaning an area of acute erogenous sensation). Winklemann reported rete ridges in the foreskin with nerves set close to the surface with closely set networks.<ref name="winklemann1959"/>

Lakshamanan & Prakash (1980) report the "prepuce covers the [[glans]] completely and snugly like a hosiered material and continues to do so through the entire span of life of the male", which they explain as being caused by the smooth muscle fibers within the prepuce. The prepuce is free to [[gliding action| glide back and forth]]. When it does, it must stretch to go over the glans penis.<ref name="lakshmanan-prakash1980" />

Taylor et al. (1996) carried out a histological study of the foreskin. (Histology is the microscopic examination of cells and tissues.) Taylor et al. found an area of rete ridges just inside the tip of the foreskin that he called the [[ridged band]]. The ridges were found to have nerve endings at the top of the ridges. They report that the ridged band area moves to the shaft of the penis when the penis becomes erect where the nerves are subject to stimulation. They stated:
<blockquote>
The prepuce provides a large and important platform for several nerves and nerve endings. The innervation of the outer skin of the prepuce is impressive; its sensitivity to light touch and pain are similar to that of the skin of the penis as a whole.<ref name="taylor1996" />
</blockquote>

Sorrells et al. (2007) conducted a fine-touch study of the penis of both [[circumcised]] and [[intact]] men. Sorrells et al. concluded:
<blockquote>
In conclusion, circumcision removes the most sensitive parts of the [[penis]] and decreases the fine-touch pressure sensitivity of glans penis. The most sensitive regions in the [[uncircumcised]] penis are those parts ablated by circumcision. When compared to the most sensitive area of the circumcised penis, several locations on the [[uncircumcised]] penis (the rim of the preputial orifice, dorsal and ventral, the frenulum near the ridged band, and the frenulum at the muco-cutaneous junction) that are missing from the circumcised penis were significantly more sensitive.<ref>{{Sorrells etal 2007}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Bronselaer et al. (2013) surveyed a large group of [[intact]] and [[circumcised]] men in Belgium. They reported:
<blockquote>
Of the men in Group A [intact males], 90.6% rated the sexual pleasure provided when the foreskin was stimulated by themselves or their partners from ‘mild’ to ‘very strong’ and 61.9% the respective orgasm from ‘mild’ to ‘very strong’.

For the [[glans penis]], men in Group B [circumcised males] reported significantly less sexual pleasure than men in Group A at the dorsal side (P ≤ 0.001), and the lateral (P ≤ 0.001) and ventral sides (P = 0.02). Orgasm was less intense in Group B at the dorsal side (P = 0.006) and at the lateral sides (P = 0.02). Group B required more effort in achieving orgasm at the lateral sides (P = 0.04). Furthermore, a larger percentage of men in this group reported numbness at the dorsal, lateral, and ventral sides (all P ≤ 0.001), as well as unusual sensations (burning, prickling, itching, or tingling) at the lateral sides (P = 0.02) and at the ventral side (P = 0.003) of the glans.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Bronselaer
|first=Guy
|init=G
|author-link=
|last2=Schoeber
|first2=Justine M.
|init2=JM
|author2-link=
|last3=Meyer-Bahlburg
|init3=HM
|author3-link=
|last4=T'Sjoen
|first4=Guy
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Vlietinck
|first5=Robert
|init5=R
|author5-link=
|last6=Hoebeke
|first6=Piet B.
|init6=PB
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=Male circumcision decreases penile sensitivity as measured in a large cohort
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=2013-05
|volume=111
|issue=5
|pages=820-7
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2012.11761.x
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/j.1464-410X.2012.11761.x
|accessdate=2019-10-23
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

García-Mesa et al. (2021) reported the foreskin has an abundance of [[Meissner's corpuscles]] which provide pleasant sexual sensation when mechanically stimulated by motion of the foreskin.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021">{{REFjournal
|last=García-Mesa
|first=Yolanda
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=García-Piqueras
|first2=Jorge
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Cobo
|first3=Ramón
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Martín-Cruces
|first4=José
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Suazo
|first5=Iván
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Suárez
|first6=Olivia
|init6=
|author6-link=
|last7=Feito
|first7=Jorge
|init7=
|author7-link=
|last8=
|first8=Vega
|init8=José A.
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Anatomy
|location=
|date=2021-10
|volume=239
|issue=4
|article=
|page=
|pages=892-902
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joa.13481
|pubmedID=34120333
|pubmedCID=8450466
|DOI=10.1111/joa.13481
|accessdate=2021-11-15
}}</ref>

Vega et al. (2025) reported that the number of Meissner's corpuscles vary with age with the highest number being found between the ages of 20 and 40.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Vega
|first=
|init=JA
|author-link=
|last2=Aiello
|first2=
|init2=V
|author2-link=Vincenzo Aiello
|last3=Martin-Cruces
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Suazo
|first4=
|init4=I
|author4-link=
|last5=Jones
|first5=
|init5=R
|author5-link=
|last6=Musa
|first6=
|init6=W
|author6-link=
|last7=Szebeni-Varga
|first7=
|init7=B
|author7-link=
|last8=Garcia-Suảrez
|first8=
|init8=O
|author8-link=
|last9=Garcỉa-Mesa
|first9=
|init9=Y
|author9-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sexual Mechanosensitivity: Age-Related Changes in the Innervation of the Human Prepuce
|trans-title=
|journal=J Clin Med
|location=
|date=2025-07-04
|volume=14
|issue=13
|page=4730
|url=https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/14/13/4730
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40649104
|pubmedCID=12250474
|DOI=10.3390/jcm14134730
|accessdate=2025-07-31
}}</ref>

== Sexual behavior ==
The foreskin is a source of comfort to [[foreskinned]] men that is not available to [[circumcised]] men.

Laumann et al. (1997) reported that men who lack a foreskin "engage in a somewhat more elaborated set of sexual practices than do men who are not [[circumcised]]. For each of the practices examined, lifetime experience of various forms of oral and anal sex and [[masturbation]] frequency in the past year, [[circumcised]] men engaged in these behaviors at greater rates. The difference between [[circumcised]] men was greatest for [[masturbation]] — ironically, a practice that [[circumcision]] was once thought to limit. A total of 47% of circumcised men reported masturbating at least once a month vs 34% for their [[uncircumcised]] peers."<ref name="laumann1997>{{REFjournal
|last=Laumann
|init=EO
|author-link=
|last2=Masi
|init2=CM
|author2-link=
|last3=Zuckerman
|init3=CW
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision in the United States
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1997-04-02
|volume=277
|issue=13
|pages=1052-7
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/general/laumann/
|quote=
|pubmedID=9091693
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-23
}}</ref> Dave et al. (2003) reported that men without foreskins "were more likely to report having had homosexual partner(s) (7.5% v 5.3%, p =0.012) and partners from abroad (19.7% v 13.1%, p...0.001)."<ref name="dave2003">{{REFjournal
|last=Dave
|init=SS
|author-link=
|last2=Johnson
|init2=AM
|author2-link=
|last3=Fenton
|init3=KA
|author3-link=
|last4=Mercer
|init4=CH
|author4-link=
|last5=Erens
|init5=B
|author5-link=
|last6=Wellings
|init6=K
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=Male circumcision in Britain: findings from a national probability sample survey
|journal=Sex Trans Infect
|location=
|date=2003-12
|volume=79
|issue=
|pages=499-500
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/general/dave1/
|quote=
|pubmedID=14663134
|pubmedCID=1744763
|DOI=10.1136/sti.79.6.499
|accessdate=2019-10-29
}}</ref>

Cold & Taylor (1999) commented, "The increased frequency of [[masturbation]], anal intercourse and fellatio reported by [[circumcised]] men in the [[United States of America| USA]] may possibly be due to the sensory imbalance caused by [[circumcision]]. Clearly, [[amputation]] of the prepuce causes changes in sexual behaviour in human males and females."<ref name="cold-taylor1999" />

Frisch et al. (2011) surveyed the sexual function and behavior of a large group of [[intact]] and [[circumcised]] men in [[Denmark]]. They reported that "[[circumcised]] men were more likely (38%) than [[uncircumcised]] men (28%) to report ≥10 sex partners."<ref name="frisch lindholm groenbaek 2011">{{FrischM LindholmM GroenbaekM 2011}}</ref>

==The role of the foreskin in heterosexual relations==

The knowledge of the important of the [[intact]] [[penis]] in heterosexual relations long has been known to the Jews who give us our earliest evidence of the value of the [[foreskin]] to the female partner.

Moses Maimonides, a Jewish rabbi and physician, stated in the 12th century:
{{Citation
|Text=It is hard for a woman with whom an [[uncircumcised]] man has had sexual intercourse to separate from him.
|Author=[[Moses Maimonides]]
|ref=<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Maimonides
|first=Moses
|init=M
|author-link=Moses Maimonides
|year=1963
|title=The Guide of the Perplexed
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/maimonides/
|page=609
|isbn=
|accessdate=2019-10-11
}}</ref>
}}

According to the Rabbi Isaac ben Yedaiah, who lived in Southern France in the late 13th century:
<blockquote>
''She too will court the man who is [[uncircumcised]] in the flesh and lie against his breast with great passion, for he thrusts inside her a long time because of his foreskin, which is a barrier against ejaculation in intercourse. Thus she feels pleasure and reaches an orgasm first. When an [[uncircumcised]] man sleeps with her, and then resolves to return to his home, she brazenly grabs him, holding on to his genitals and says to him, "Come back, make love to me." This is because of the pleasure that she finds in intercourse with him, from the sinews of his testicles—sinew of iron—and from his ejaculation—that of a horse which he shoots like an arrow into her womb. They are united without separating, and he makes love twice and three times in one night, yet the appetite is not filled.''<ref name="saperstein1980">{{REFbook
|last=Saperstein
|first=Marc
|init=M
|year=1980
|title= Decoding the Rabbis: A Thirteenth-Century Commentary on the Aggadah
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/yedaiah1/
|pages=
|isbn=
|accessdate=2019-10-22
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
As previously reported, the foreskin reduces the force required for penetration of the female partner's [[vagina]] by as much as ninety percent.<ref name="taves2002"/> The [[gliding action]] of the foreskin reduces friction and abrasion, while conserving vaginal lubrication.<ref name="warren-bigelow1994"/>

In a first of its kind, O'Hara & O'Hara (1999) carried out a retrospective survey of 138 women with experience of both [[intact]] and [[circumcised]] partners. The women overwhelmingly concurred that the mechanics of [[sexual intercouse| coitus]] was different for the two groups of men. Of the women, 73% reported that [[circumcised]] men tend to thrust harder and deeper, using elongated strokes, while unaltered men by comparison tended to thrust more gently, to have shorter thrusts, and tended to be in contact with the mons pubis and [[clitoris]] more, according to 71% of the respondents. Women with [[intact]] partners had a higher rate of orgasms than women with [[circumcised]] partners. O'Hara & O'Hara concluded:
<blockquote>Clearly, the anatomically complete penis offers a more rewarding experience for the female partner during coitus. While this study has some obvious methodological flaws, all the differences cannot be attributed to them. It is important that these findings be confirmed by a prospective study of a randomly selected population of women with experience with both types of men. It would be useful to examine the role of the foreskin in other sexual activities. Because these findings are of interest, the negative effect of circumcision on the sexual enjoyment of the female partner needs to be part of any discussions providing '[[informed consent]]' before circumcision.<ref name="ohara1998">{{REFjournal
|last=O'Hara
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=O'Hara
|init2=J
|author2-link=
|etal=yes
|title=The effect of male circumcision on the sexual enjoyment of the female partner
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=1999
|volume=83 Suppl 1
|issue=
|pages=79-84
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1079.x
|quote=
|pubmedID=10349418
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1079.x
|accessdate=2019-10-22
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

[[Gregory J. Boyle| Boyle]] (2004) reported significant adverse effects of [[circumcision]] both for the [[circumcised]] male and his female partner.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Boyle
|first=
|init=GJ
|author-link=Gregory J. Boyle
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision in Adults: Effect on Sexual Function
|trans-title=
|journal=Urology
|location=
|date=2004-12
|volume=64
|issue=6
|pages=1267-8
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/boyle2004/
|archived=
|quote=Circumcised men also expressed significantly greater dissatisfaction with their sex lives than did genitally intact men.
|pubmedID=15596220
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1016/j.urology.2004.03.060
|accessdate=2025-04-14
}}</ref>

Solinis & Yiannaki (2007) concluded; "[t]here was a decrease in couple’s sexual life after circumcision indicating that [[Adolescent_and_adult_circumcision|adult circumcision]] adversely affects sexual function in many men or/and their partners, possibly because of complications of surgery and loss of nerve endings."<ref name="solinis-yiannaki2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Solinis
|first=
|author-link=
|last2=Yiannaki
|first2=
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Does circumcision improve couple's sex life?
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|location=
|date=2007-09
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=361
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/solinis2007/
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-23
}}</ref>

Frisch et al. (2011) surveyed a very large group of men and women in [[Denmark]]. They concluded:
<blockquote>
"Circumcision was associated with frequent orgasm difficulties in Danish men and with a range of frequent sexual difficulties in women, notably orgasm difficulties, dyspareunia and a sense of incomplete sexual needs fulfilment."<ref name="frisch lindholm groenbaek 2011"/>
</blockquote>
Cold & Taylor (1999) declared, "[t]he prepuce is primary, erogenous tissue necessary for
normal sexual function."<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref> This statement was affirmed by Cepeda-Emiliani et al. in 2025.<ref name="cepeda2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Otero-Alén
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Gándara-Cortés
|first4=
|init4=M
|author4-link=
|last5=García-Caballero
|first5=
|init5=T
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=R
|author6-link=
|last7=García-Caballero
|first7=
|init7=L
|author7-link=
|etal=no
|title=The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation
|trans-title=
|journal=Andrology
|date=2025-09-19
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|pages=1-41
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/andr.70118
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40970806
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/andr.70118
|accessdate=2025-09-30
}}</ref>


==Comparison with other primates==
The results of a fascinating study conducted by Dr. [[Christopher J. Cold]] and Dr. [[Ken McGrath|Kenneth A. McGrath]] demonstrate that the human foreskin is an evolutionary advancement over the foreskins of other primates. The human foreskin is far more sophisticated and responsive, as their comparative anatomy studies prove. This is seen most clearly in the evolutionary increase in corpuscular innervation and simultaneous decrease in corpuscular receptors in the human [[glans]] relative to the innervation of the foreskin and glans of lower primates.<ref>Cold CJ, [[Ken McGrath|McGrath KA]]. [https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/cold-mcgrath/ Anatomy and histology of the penile and clitoral prepuce in primates: an evolutionary perspective of the specializes sensory tissue of the external genitalia]. In: Denniston GC, Hodges MF, Milos FM (eds). ''Male and female circumcision: Medical, Legal, and Ethical Considerations in Pediatric Practice''. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 1999. pp. 19-29</ref>

In other words, in monkeys and apes, the [[glans]] is more sensitive than the foreskin. In humans, this is reversed, so that the foreskin is more sensitive than the [[glans]].
==Popularity==
There has been a sharp increase in the popularity of the foreskin in the [[United States]] as indicated by the decrease in the incidence of [[circumcision]].<ref name="jacobson2021">{{REFjournal
|last=Jacobson
|first=Deborah L.
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=Balmert
|first2=Lauren C.
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Holl
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|init4=
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|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=Johnson
|first6Emilie K.
|init6=
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=Nationwide Circumcision Trends: 2003 to 2016
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Urol
|location=
|date=2021-01
|volume=205
|issue=1
|pages=257-63
|url=https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|pubmedID=32716676
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|accessdate=2025-11-13
}}</ref> <ref name="yang2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Yang
|first=
|init=P
|author-link=
|last2=Zhu
|first2=
|init2=X
|author2-link=
|last3=Patel
|first3=
|init3=EU
|author3-link=
|last4=Quin
|first4=
|init4=PC
|author4-link=
|last5=Grabowski
|first5=
|init5=MK
|author5-link=
|last6=Tobian
|first6=
|init6=AAR
|author6-link=Aaron Tobian
|etal=no
|title=Trends in Circumcision Among Newborn Males in the US
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA Pediatrics
|location=
|date=2025-09-15
|season=
|volume=
|issue=
|article=e252464
|page=
|pages=
|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2838312
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40952753
|pubmedCID=12439174
|DOI=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.2464
|accessdate=2025-11-23
}}</ref>

This has been noticed in the online discussions.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1p1i35o/recent_growing_foreskin_love/
|title=Recent growing Foreskin love
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-11-19
|accessdate=2025-11-23
}}</ref>

==Videos==
===The Prepuce: Anatomy and Physiology of the Foreskin===
<youtube>v=luDqvvGbhzU</youtube>

===Why you need to pull back your foreskin.===
<youtube>v=PcxwW4KH3Wg</youtube>
Dr. Palmer's advice applies to adults, NOT pre-pubescent boys.

===Male Foreskin is Important - Here's Why===
<youtube>v=EtIYx8WnOvg</youtube>

=== Anatomy of the Penis: Penile and Foreskin Neurology ===
Pathologist [[Ken McGrath]], Senior Lecturer in Pathology at the Faculty of Health, [https://www.aut.ac.nz/ Auckland University of Technology] and Member of the New Zealand Institute of Medical Laboratory Scientists, discusses the neurological structures in the foreskin:
<youtube>v=lmToXLVrZ7c</youtube>

===Take care of your foreskin===
<youtube>v=OfeK75HWW7k</youtube>

===Part Five: The Common Narratives Debunked===
<youtube>v=exQPABHKjRo</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Acroposthion]]
* [[Care of intact, foreskinned boys]]
* [[Circumcision: Effect upon erectile function]]
* [[Circumcision - Penis SensitivityTest]]
* [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin comment]]
* [[Foreskin in Motion]]
* [[Frenulum]]
* [[Fusions and adhesions]]
* [[Gliding action]]
* [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin]]
* [[Living with a foreskin in circumcised America]]
* [[Long foreskins]]
* [[Longer foreskin is favored]]
* [[Pre-ejaculate]]
* [[Preputial sac]]
* [[Retraction of the foreskin]]
* [[Ridged band]]
* [[The Foreskin and Why You Should Keep It (book)]]
* [[Vagina]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFdocument
|title=When Your Baby Boy is Not Circumcised
|url=https://pool.intactiwiki.org/w/images/1982-02_Wallerstein-WhenYourBabyBoyIsNotCircumcised.pdf
|language=English
|last=Wallerstein
|first=Edward
|author-link=Edward Wallerstein
|publisher=Pennypress
|location=Seattle
|format=Four-page pamphlet
|date=1982-02
|accessdate=2021-05-30
}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=Paul
|init=P
|author-link=
|title=The foreskin is necessary
|journal=Mothering
|date=1997-01
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=36-45
|url=http://www.noharmm.org/mothering.htm
|accessdate=2020-06-29
}}
* {{REFbook
|last=Scott
|first=Steve
|init=S
|author-link=Steve Scott
|year=1999
|title=The anatomy and physiology of the human prepuce
|url=https://www.coloradonocirc.org/files/handouts/Anatomy_and_Physiology.pdf
|work=Male and Female Circumcision
|editor=[[George C. Denniston|Denniston]] et al.
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=
|scope=
|page=
|pages=9-18
|location=New York
|publisher=Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers
|ISBN=
|quote=
|accessdate=2022-08-03
|note=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.cirp.org/pages/anatomy/
|title=Anatomy of the Penis and Mechanics of Intercourse
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Circumcision Information Pages
|date=2004
|accessdate=2025-08-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://pool.intactiwiki.org/images/2008_Genital_Integrity_Policy_Statement.pdf
|title=Ch. 2: The Prepuce (DOC Genital Integrity Statement)
|last=Hill
|first=George
|author-link=George Hill
|publisher=[[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)]]
|website=Research Hub
|date=2008-06-14
|accessdate=2019-12-15
|format=PDF
|quote=Several writers have commented on the sensitivity of the prepuce. Winkelmann (1956) wrote, “…it is
a region of great sensitivity and possessed of an abundant nerve supply,”11 and later (1959) identified the
prepuce as a specific erogenous zone.13 Falliers (1970) noted the “sensory pleasure associated with tactile
stimulation of the foreskin.”15 A landmark study by Sorrells et al. (2007) of the fine-touch sensitivity of
the penis finds that the areas most sensitive to fine touch are on the foreskin.16 Circumcision, therefore,
amputates the most sensitive areas of the penis.
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.circumstitions.com/Works.html
|title=NSFW Video: How the foreskin works
|last=Young
|first=Hugh
|author-link=Hugh Young
|publisher=Circumstitions
|website=
|date=2010
|accessdate=2019-10-25
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://madsciencewriter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-foreskin-why-is-it-such-secret-in.html?m=1
|title=The foreskin: Why is it such a secret in North America?
|last=Quine
|first=Spoony
|author-link=
|publisher=Mad Science Writer
|website=
|date=2013-05-08
|accessdate=2020-04-19
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/
|title=Foreskin Sexual Function/Circumcision Sexual Dysfunction
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|publisher=CIRP
|date=2013
|accessdate=2024-11-04
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.noharmm.org/advantage.htm
|title=The Foreskin Advantage
|last=Harryman
|first=Gary L.
|author-link=
|publisher=
|website=NOHARMM
|date=2013-11-22
|accessdate=2021-09-02
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.noharmm.org/advantage.htm
|title=The Foreskin Advantage
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=NOHARMM
|date=2013-11-24
|accessdate=2025-07-04
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.intactaus.org/information/functionsoftheforeskin/
|title=Functions of the Foreskin
|last=Helard
|first=Lou
|author-link=
|publisher=Intact Australia
|website=
|date=2014-08-01
|accessdate=2020-05-29
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://circumcision.org/functions-of-the-foreskin/
|title=Functions of the Foreskin
|last=Goldman
|first=Ronald
|author-link=Ronald Goldman
|publisher=Circumcision Resource Center
|website=circumcision.org
|date=
|accessdate=2020-07-01
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-professionals/the-prepuce/
|title=The prepuce
|last=
|first=
|author-link=
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumccision
|website=
|date=2016-07
|accessdate=2019-10-16
|format=
|quote=To provide informed, respectful care to males with intact genitals, and to fully understand the harms of circumcision, health professionals must have a thorough grasp of the anatomy, development, and functions of the foreskin (also known as the prepuce).
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.noharmm.org/advantage.htm
|title=The Foreskin Advantage
|first=Gary L
|last=Harryman
|publisher=NORM/Southern California
|website=[[NOHARMM]]
|accessdate=2020-06-30
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/promoting-the-prepuce/
|title=Promoting the Prepuce
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|author-link=
|publisher=Intact America
|website=
|date=2016-05-13
|accessdate=2021-04-02
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://15square.org.uk/male-foreskin-is-functional-5-amazing-facts/
|archived=
|title=Male Foreskin is Functional – 5 Amazing Facts
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=Troy
|first=Louise
|author-link=
|publisher=15 Square
|website=
|date=2022-05-24
|accessdate=2022-05-24
|format=
|quote=The foreskin is the primary fine-touch sensory tissue of the penis.
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/circumcision-sexological-damage-erogenous-lip-tool-michel-herv%C3%A9
|title=Circumcision, the sexological damage (an erogenous lip, protective of erogeneity and the tool of autosexuality, the foreskin is a sexual organ)
|last=Bertaux-Navoiseau
|first=Michel Hervé
|init=
|author-link=Michel Hervé Bertaux-Navoiseau
|publisher=Linkedin
|date=2022-11-06
|accessdate=2022-11-16
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09gW4TclGqY
|title=The Amazing Foreskin: Learn Integral Anatomy with Gil Hedley
|last=Headley
|first=Gil
|init=
|publisher=
|date=2022
|accessdate=2022-12-03
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://wikionlymen.com/does-foreskin-grow-with-age/
|title=Does Foreskin Grow With Age?
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Wiki Only Men
|date=2022-06-12
|accessdate=2024-10-05
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.savingsons.org/2015/09/foreskin-and-its-16-functions-not-just.html
|title=Foreskin and its 16+ Functions: Not 'Just Skin'
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=Saving Our Sons
|date=
|accessdate=2025-11-30
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.scarleteen.com/read/bodies/my-foreskin-normal-how-does-it-work
|title=Is my foreskin normal? How does it work?
|last=Corinna
|first=Heather
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Scarleteen
|date=2024-04-19
|accessdate=2024-11-06
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://anatomy.co.uk/foreskin/
|title=Foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Anatomy.co.uk
|date=2024-11-07
|accessdate=2024-11-26
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/user/C4Charkey/comments/1jumd8x/the_accidental_intactivist_manifesto_ii_the_myth/
|title=Section II. The Myth of the Foreskin: Deconstructing the Label, Understanding the Whole
|last=C4Charkey
|first=
|init=
|author-link=C4Charkey
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-04-08
|accessdate=2025-04-12
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://archive.md/Au7cV#selection-98.0-707.8
|title=Unjustifiable reason 1: Parents are clueless about the functions of the foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT Intactivism
|date=2025-06-17
|accessdate=2025-06-24
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/foreskin-functions-you-were-never-told/
|title=The Penis You Were Supposed to Have: 10 Functions of the Foreskin You Were Never Taught
|last=Alissa
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=Kristel Alissa
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-07-03
|accessdate=2025-09-06
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Pro_Male_Collective/comments/1nnaycl/the_importance_of_the_foreskin/
|title=The importance of the foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-09-21
|accessdate=2025-09-24
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskininfo/comments/1oh0za3/the_foreskin_is_more_than_just_extra_skin_here/
|title=The foreskin is more than just "extra skin." Here are 5 of its functional benefits
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10-26
|accessdate=2025-11-03
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pmkb1x/foreskins_role_in_masturbating/
|title=Foreskin’s role in masturbating.
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-12-14
|accessdate=2025-12-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pwvms4/whats_something_about_foreskin_that_more_people/
|title=What's something about foreskin that more people should know?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2005-12-27
|accessdate=2025-12-29
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.foreskin.day/factsandfallacies.html
|title=Foreskin Facts and Phallacies
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2026-04-04
|accessdate=2026-04-04
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Genital]]
[[Category:Parental information]]
[[Category:Penile anatomy]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]

[[Category:Teen]]

[[Category:From Intactipedia]]

[[de:Vorhaut]]

Living with a foreskin in circumcised America

2026-04-03T18:54:30Z

WikiModEn2: /* What does the future hold? */

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a review of the experiences of [[foreskinned]] guys with a [[penis]] with an [[intact]] [[foreskin]] in the [[United States]], where the [[circumcised]] guy had been the norm.

Foreskinned guys frequently went to a school where they were the only [[foreskinned]] boy. The presence or absence of the [[foreskin]] is a big issue in [[puberty]].<ref name="allan2023">{{REFjournal
|last=Allan
|first=
|init=JA
|author-link=Jonathan A. Allan
|etal=no
|title=The Normal Foreskin: Puberty, Adolescence, and Growing Up
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Boyhood Studies
|location=
|date=2023
|volume=16
|issue=1
|pages=1-17
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371216922_The_Normal_Foreskin_Puberty_Adolescence_and_Growing_Up/fulltext/6478fa552cad460a1be945c3/The-Normal-Foreskin-Puberty-Adolescence-and-Growing-Up.pdf?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIn19
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.3167/bhs.2023.160102
|accessdate=2025-03-29
}}</ref> They were likely to be teased and may have had their [[intact]] [[penis]] derided and compared to an anteater or an elephant's trunk.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1j3n4q8/uncircumcised_in_north_america/
|title=Uncircumcised in North America
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-03-04
|accessdate=2025-03-04
}}
</ref> They may have been made to feel abnormal or deformed because of the presence of their normal, natural, healthy, complete, and fully functional [[foreskin]] covered [[penis]].<ref name="garrett2023-12-21">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/foreskin-phobia-intact-penis-shamed/
|title=Foreskin Phobia: How The Intact Penis Has Been Shamed
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2023-12-21
|accessdate=2025-02-25
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1krosat/uncut_in_us/
|title=Uncut in US
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-05-20
|accessdate=2025-05-22
}}</ref> [[Intact]] men usually come to appreciate the value of the [https://intactaus.org/information/functions-of-the-foreskin/ functions] of their [[foreskin]] later in life and become comfortable with their [[intactness]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1le8213/what_do_you_like_most_about_your_foreskin/
|title=What do you like most about your foreskin?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-06-17
|accessdate=2025-06-18
}}</ref>

==What is the real norm?==

In actuality, almost every male infant throughout the world is born with a [[foreskin]]. (There is a very rare birth defect called ''[[aposthia]]'' in which the foreskin does not develop normally.)

[[Charles Darwin]] established that evolution occurs because of "natural selection".<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Darwin
|first=Charles
|init=
|author-link=Charles Darwin
|year=1859
|title=The Origin of Species
|url=
|scope=
|location=London
|publisher=Murray
|ISBN=
|accessdate=
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFbook
|last=Darwin
|first=Charles
|init=
|author-link=Charles Darwin
|year=1871
|title=The Descent of Man
|url=
|scope=
|location=London
|publisher=Murray
|ISBN=
|accessdate=
}}</ref> The other primates also have a foreskin similar to that of humans.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Cold
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=McGraft
|first2=
|init2=KA
|author2-link=
|year=1999
|title=Anatomy and histology of the penile and clitoral prepuce in primates.
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/cold-mcgrath/
|work=Male and Female Circumcision
|editor=Denniston GC, Hodges FM, Milos MF (eds.)
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=
|scope=
|page=
|pages=
|location=New York
|publisher=Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
|ISBN=
|quote=
|accessdate=2025-02-23
|note=
}}</ref> The [[foreskin]] improves fitness for survival because of its many protective, immunological, sexual, and sensory functions.

Although 100 percent of males are born with a [[foreskin]], the [[World Health Organization]] estimated that about 70 percent of living males are [[intact]] and only about 30 percent are [[circumcised]]. The great majority of the [[circumcised]] men are found in the Muslim nations, stretching from Nigeria in the west to Indonesia in the east.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F5y3w6wht656a1.jpg
|title=Map of Islamic circumcision.
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2025-02-05
}}</ref> A majority of males in the [[United States]] and [[Israel]] are [[circumcised]], so these two nations are outliers. The [[foreskinned]] males are in the true majority world-wide and constitute the real norm, however the [[United States]] does not follow the norm.

Being [[foreskinned]] is the new normal among newborn boys in the [[USA]] since 2022.<ref name="yang2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Yang
|first=
|init=P
|author-link=
|last2=Zhu
|first2=
|init2=X
|author2-link=
|last3=Patel
|first3=
|init3=EU
|author3-link=
|last4=Quin
|first4=
|init4=PC
|author4-link=
|last5=Grabowski
|first5=
|init5=MK
|author5-link=
|last6=Tobian
|first6=
|init6=AAR
|author6-link=Aaron Tobian
|etal=no
|title=Trends in Circumcision Among Newborn Males in the US
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA Pediatrics
|location=
|date=2025-09-15
|volume=179
|issue=11
|article=e252464
|page=
|pages=
|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2838312
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40952753
|pubmedCID=12439174
|DOI=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.2464
|accessdate=2026-03-04
}}</ref>

==Health and well-being==
The American public has been lied to about the alleged advantages of [[circumcision]] by the [[circumcision industry]] for well over a century.<ref name="garrett2023-11-10">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/pros-and-cons-of-circumcision/
|title=Pros and Cons of Circumcision (Spoiler: You’ve Been Lied to)
|last=Garret
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2023-11-10
|accessdate=2025-03-22
}}</ref>
In reality, [[foreskinned]] American males may expect to enjoy higher levels of [[body pleasure]], health, and well-being than [[circumcised]] American males.<ref name="bollinger2025-08">{{REFdocument
|title=Policy Paper: Newborn Circumcision as a Negative Wellness Factor
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394517060_Policy_Paper_Newborn_Circumcision_as_a_Negative_Wellness_Factor
|contribution=
|last=Bollinger
|first=Dan
|init=
|author-link=Dan Bollinger
|publisher=Research Gate
|format=PDF
|date=2025-08
|accessdate=2025-08-19
}}</ref> The [[foreskin]] provides built-in [[immunological and protective function of the foreskin| protective functions]] that protects the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]].<ref name="vanhowe2006">{{REFjournal
|last=Van Howe
|init=RS
|author-link=
|title=Incidence of meatal stenosis following neonatal circumcision in a primary care setting
|journal=Clin Pediatr (Phila)
|volume=45
|issue=1
|pages=49-54
|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000992280604500108?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed
|quote=
|pubmedID=16429216
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1177/000992280604500108
|date=2006-01
|accessdate=2020-01-09
|note=Jan-Feb 2006
}}</ref> The [[foreskinned]] male may expect to enjoy [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| normal, natural sexual function]] and freedom from [[Psychological issues of male circumcision| circumcision related psychological issues]]. Many [[foreskinned]] males derive comfort and pleasure from touching their [[foreskin]] in a gentle, non-sexual way, which is distinguished from [[masturbation]] because [[erection]] and/or [[ejaculation]] is not the goal.<ref>{{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://acroposthion.com/foreskin-4play/
|title=Foreskin 4Play
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Acroposthion
|date=
|accessdate=2025-09-24
}}</ref>

Claims of increased [[infection]] in [[foreskinned]] men are myths started by the [[circumcision industry]].<ref name="garrett2023-11-10" /> The foreskin actually protects against infection.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref> Fendereski et al. (2024) reported a massive study using data from a private insurance company database that found that [[circumcised]] boys have three times as many penile issues as compared with [[intact]] boys through age 5.<ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2025-09-24
}}</ref>

[[Foreskinned]] guys also enjoy the benefit of having a [[preputial sac]] with sexually-stimulating [[Pheromone| pheromones]], which the [[circumcised]] guys lack.

==Distribution of foreskinned males in the United States==
===Percentage of foreskinned males in the United States===
Peter Moore (2015) reported that the prevalence of [[circumcision]] has declined to 62 percent of all American males,<ref name="moore2015">{{REFweb
|url=https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2015/02/03/younger-americans-circumcision
|title=Young Americans less supportive of circumcision at birth
|last=Moore
|first=Peter
|date=2015-02-03
|accessdate=2025-02-23
}}</ref> which increases the prevalence of men with [[intact]] [[foreskin]] to 38 percent of living American males of all ages. This percentage is expected to gradually but constantly decline, while the percentage of males who are [[intact]] due to the declining incidence of newborn boys receiving medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[circumcision]] is expected to increase. The percentage of males with [[intact]] [[foreskin]] is lowest with senior citizens and highest in the youngest age groups.

The distribution of [[foreskinned]] males varies widely by census region, state, and by locality. The percentage of [[intact]] males is highest in the West census region and lowest in the Midwest census region. Among the states, Washington is believed to have the highest percentage of [[intact]] males and West Virginia is believed to have the lowest percentage of [[intact]] males.

===Increasing percentages of foreskinned males===
Laumann et al. (1997) found that the incidence of neonatal [[circumcision]] in the [[United States]] reached its peak in 1965 at about 85 percent of boys being [[circumcised]].<ref name="laumann1997">{{REFjournal
|last=Laumann
|first=
|init=EO
|author-link=
|last2=Masi
|first2=
|init2=CM
|author2-link=
|last3=Zuckerman
|first3=
|init3=ER
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision in the United States. Prevalence, prophylactic effects, and sexual practice
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1997-04-02
|volume=277
|issue=13
|pages=1052-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/laumann/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=9091693
|pubmedCID=
|accessdate=2025-02-23
}}</ref> The incidence of [[circumcision]] has been declining slowly ever since, which means that one finds more [[intactness]] as age decreases. There also is more [[intactness]] among hispanic males.

Jacobsen et al. (2021) reported significant declines in the incidence of [[circumcision]] with an incidence of only 52.1 percent at the end of their study period in 2016. The corrolary is a [[foreskinned]] incidence of 47.9 percent among the boys born in 2016. Jacobsen et al. also reported that the incidence of [[intactness]] in the Midwest has increased from 1 boy in 10 (10%) to 1 boy in 4 (25%). The percentage of [[foreskinned]] newborn males increased at a rate of 4/10 of one percent per year during the study period.<ref name="jacobsen2021">{{REFjournal
|last=Jacobson
|first=Deborah L.
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=Balmert
|first2=Lauren C.
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Holl
|first3=Jane L.
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Rosoklija
|first4=Ilina
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Davis
|first5=Matthew M.
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=Johnson
|first6Emilie K.
|init6=
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=Nationwide Circumcision Trends: 2003 to 2016
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Urol
|location=
|date=2021-01
|volume=205
|issue=1
|pages=257-63
|url=https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|pubmedID=32716676
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|accessdate=2025-02-23
}}</ref> Yang et al. (2025) report that there is now a majority of [[intact]] boys in the newborn age group.<ref name="yang2025" />

[[Intact America]] is tracking the opposition to [[circumcision]] in the [[United States]]. It reports [https://www.instagram.com/p/DKVZQGTRl77/ steadily increasing opposition].

===Distribution of foreskinned males===
The red areas on the map below have the lowest prevalence of [[foreskin]] while the green areas have the highest prevalence of foreskin.
<div class='res-img'>https://i.pinimg.com/originals/03/f5/82/03f582e91f04b3b43e7750ab3af7d71a.jpg</div>

==History==
Excision of the [[foreskin]] is a relatively recent practice in America. The Founding Fathers of the United States were all [[foreskinned]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/constitutional-case-against-circumcision/
|title=Foreskins and Forefathers: A Constitutional Case Against Circumcision
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-01-24
|accessdate=2025-02-23
}}</ref> So were all the men from both North and South who fought and died in the Civil War (1861-1865).

The first recorded medical circumcision of a boy in the [[United States]] occurred in 1870 when [[Lewis Albert Sayre]], a prominent New York City doctor, [[circumcised]] a boy of five years of age for paralysis.<ref name="gollaher1994">{{GollaherDL 1994}}</ref>

There were medical doctors advocating [[circumcision]] on both the east coast and west coast of the [[United States]] at the beginning of the twentieth century.<ref name="gollaher1994" />

==Urologists==
One must exercise extreme caution if one consults a [[urologist]]. [[American urologists and the practice of male circumcision| American urologists]] love foreskins and foreskinned males. Urologists get a substantial fee for [[amputation]] of a [[foreskin]], so one may expect to get a sales pitch for a circumci$ion if one visits a urologist for any reason. Your friendly urologist will be happy to do a circumci$ion for you for any reason or no reason. Make certain that you do your independent research on irreversible [[adult circumcision]] and do not depend on statements from your urologist, which may be [[Bias| biased]] by self-interest. There are plenty of [[regret men]] who did not do their homework and who rue their decision to submit to circumcision.

==The next generation==
[[Foreskinned]] guys know from personal experience how wonderful it is to have a fully functional [[penis]] with all of its parts. Most want to have any son's infant [[intact]] [[foreskin]] protected. Unfortunately, most maternity hospitals in the [[United States]] are spring-loaded to the [[circumcision]] position. One must consider measures for [[protection of intact newborns in hospital]]. Your [[intact]] newborn son's [[foreskin]] will probably be safer when he gets home from the hospital.

A majority of newborn boys have left the birth facility [[intact]] since 2022.<ref name="yang2025" /> [[Foreskinned men]] are expected to be in the majority in future generations.

Nature designs the [[foreskin]] of boys so that they will stay in position where its [[immunological and protective function of the foreskin| protective and immunological functions]] can be effective. Your infant son's [[foreskin]] may not retract for many years, perhaps not until after [[puberty]], so no attempt should be made to retract it. Wash the outside of his [[foreskin]] like washing a finger.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/care-of-the-intact-penis/
|title=Care of the Intact Penis
|last=Geisheker
|first=
|init=JV
|author-link=John V. Geisheker
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|date=2023-06
|accessdate=2025-03-27
}}</ref> The first person to retract his foreskin should be the boy himself.<ref name="Wright1994">{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|init=JE
|title=Further to the "Further Fate of the Foreskin"
|journal=Med J Aust
|volume=160
|issue=
|pages=134-5
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright2/
|quote=
|pubmedID=8295581
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1994-02-07
|accessdate=2025-03-25
}}</ref>

See [[care of intact, foreskinned boys]] for more information.

==What does the future hold?==
The percentage of boys born in the [[United States]] who keep their [[foreskin]] has been very gradually and progressively increasing since 1965.<ref name="jacobson2021">{{REFjournal
|last=Jacobson
|first=Deborah L.
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=Balmert
|first2=Lauren C.
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Holl
|first3=Jane L.
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Rosoklija
|first4=Ilina
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Davis
|first5=Matthew M.
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=Johnson
|first6Emilie K.
|init6=
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=Nationwide Circumcision Trends: 2003 to 2016
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Urol
|location=
|date=2021-01
|volume=205
|issue=1
|pages=257-63
|url=https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|pubmedID=32716676
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|accessdate=2025-03-22
}}</ref> We are now at a "tipping point".<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/do-you-know-about-the-tipping-point/
|title=Do You Know: About the “Tipping Point?
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2016-11-01
|accessdate=2024-06-03
}}</ref> Although very unequally distributed geographically, Yang et al. (2025) report that, in the newborn age group, [[intact]] boys are now in the majority since 2022.<ref name="yang2025" /> As these young boys mature, one can expect to see more [[foreskin| foreskins]], first in schools, and later in the general population. Being [[foreskinned]] is expected to become the NORM in the [[United States]] as it already is in the other English-speaking nations.

==Common practice==
[[Foreskin play]] is said to be a common practice with [[intact]] American boys and men.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1n0cnh2/how_do_you_play_with_your_foreskin_not_sexually/
|title=How do you play with your foreskin? Not sexually, just casually
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-08
|accessdate=2025-11-28
}}</ref>

==Video==
===Happy intact student===
<youtube>v=fqiTBx5ve90</youtube>
===Foreskinned celebrities===
<youtube>v=zOoGFJANmYA</youtube>

==Finding other foreskinned guys==
The Internet has made it easier to find other [[foreskinned]] guys. Reddit has several sub-reddits where one may discuss matters of interest to [[intact]] guys.
===r/uncircumcised_talk===
This subreddit is a place where [[foreskinned]] men may discuss [[intactness]] and matters of mutual interest. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/
===r/balanitis===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is dedicated to the discussion of [[balanitis]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/balanitis/
===r/barehead===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is "a community for anyone who is [[intact]] and who loves to keep the [[glans penis| head]] of his [[penis]] exposed permanently or wants to achieve it, be it for any reason. You are welcome to share your stories, experiences, and doubts. Discussion and questions about autocircumcision and the autocirc movement are welcome."
===r/bxo===
This subreddit is "A support community for guys with [[Balanitis xerotica obliterans]] (BXO) — also known male genital or penile Lichen Sclerosus (LS)." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/bxo/

===r/Phimosis===
This subreddit is dedicated to the discussion of [[phimosis]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis/
===r/Phimosis_Care===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is a "place for men to share techniques, tools & tips on foreskin [[stretching]]. This group is for fixing or managing [[phimosis]] to AVOID [[adult circumcision| circumcision]]." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis_Care/
===r/Phimosishelp ===
This subreddit offers "advice and support for boys and men with [[phimosis]] (tight foreskin)." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosishelp/
===r/UncutAmericans===
This subreddit is {{NSFW}}. This is "a place to admire men from the USA with uncut dicks!" Caution is advised. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/UncutAmericans/
==BLOG==
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/ Intact Talk]
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Acroposthion]]
* [[Body pleasure]]
* [[Care of intact, foreskinned boys]]
* [[Care of intact elderly men]]
* [[Development of retractable foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin]]
* [[Gliding action]]
* [[Life Intact]]
* [[Long foreskins]]
* [[Longer foreskin is favored]]
* [[Masturbation]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Pheromone]]
* [[Phimosis]]
* [[Preputial sac]]
* [[Puberty]]
* [[The Accidental Intactivist Manifesto: Exposing the Monster We Agree Not to See – A Lifetime Reckoning]]
* [[Tissue expansion]]
* [[United States of America]]
* [[Urination by foreskinned men]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://peacefulbeginningsrosemary.wordpress.com/circ-information/having-a-foreskin/
|title=Having a foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Rosemary Romberg
|date=2012-07-17
|accessdate=2025-02-25
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://life-intact.tumblr.com/
|title=Life Intact
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Tumbir
|date=
|accessdate=2025-08-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/cultures-that-reject-circumcision/
|title=Cultures That Reject Circumcision—And Why They’re Right
|last=Alissa
|first=Kristel
|init=
|author-link=Kristel Alissa
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-02-23
|accessdate=2025-02-27
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/user/C4Charkey/comments/wu9rnd/growing_up_intact_in_the_us_why_im_done/
|title=Growing up Intact in the U.S.: Why I'm Done Pretending Circumcision Is Normal or Okay
|last=C4Charkey
|first=
|init=
|author-link=C4Charkey
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2022
|accessdate=2025-04-10
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=long%20foreskin&cId=6b4d5d99-d273-42f7-80ff-a8907bf148f9&iId=4a558737-94fe-4f22-bc72-0d3c97337702
|title=My own experience as an American with a long foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2023
|accessdate=2025-07-20
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1j3n4q8/uncircumcised_in_north_america/
|title=Uncircumcised in North America
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-03-04
|accessdate=2025-03-04
}}
*{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/DebunkingCircumcision/comments/1juyvzm/introducing_the_accidental_intactivist_manifesto/
|title=Introducing "The Accidental Intactivist Manifesto: Exposing the Monster We Agree Not to See" – A Lifetime Reckoning
|last=C4Charkey
|first=
|init=
|author-link=C4Charkey
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-04-08
|accessdate=2025-04-09
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://skininthegame.org/growing-up-intact/
|title=Growing up intact
|last=Kubat
|first=Jeremy
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Skin in the Game
|date=2025-07-31
|accessdate=2025-08-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1mctra5/does_your_foreskin_need_adjusting_randomly_during/
|title=Does your foreskin need adjusting randomly during the day?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-08
|accessdate=2026-04-03
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1nlptga/why_i_like_my_foreskin/
|title=Why I like my foreskin.
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-09-20
|accessdate=2025-09-20
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1o4xmmq/what_do_you_do_with_your_foreskin_when_your_penis/
|title=What do you do with your foreskin when your penis is soft?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10-12
|accessdate=2025-10-13
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1ocgez1/were_you_ever_picked_upon_by_your_peers_because/
|title=Were you ever picked upon by your peers because of your foreskin (or lack of it)?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10-21
|accessdate=2025-11-16
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1onm7n2/memorys_of_growing_up_uncircumcised_in_the_us/?chainedPosts=t3_1ooxau8%2Ct3_1oqofug
|title=Memory’s of growing up uncircumcised in the US.
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-11-03
|accessdate=2025-11-07
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pa41e8/uncircumcised_realization/
|title=Uncircumcised Realization
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-11-30
|accessdate=2025-12-07
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pmkb1x/foreskins_role_in_masturbating/
|title=Foreskin’s role in masturbating.
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-12-14
|accessdate=2025-12-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1qf8vb0/how_was_it_growing_up_as_an_uncut_guy_for_you/?sort=qa
|title=How was it growing up as an uncut guy for you?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-18
|accessdate=2026-01-22
}}

==Further reading==
* {{REFbook
|last=Allan
|first=
|init=JA
|author-link=Jonathan A. Allan
|year=2024
|title=Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskin
|url=https://uofrpress.ca/Books/U/Uncut
|scope=
|location=Regina
|publisher=University of Regina Press
|ISBN= 978-1779400307
|accessdate=2025-03-22
}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Educational]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

[[Category:USA]]

Living with a foreskin in circumcised America

2026-04-03T18:23:36Z

WikiModEn2: /* BLOG */ Add external link.

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a review of the experiences of [[foreskinned]] guys with a [[penis]] with an [[intact]] [[foreskin]] in the [[United States]], where the [[circumcised]] guy had been the norm.

Foreskinned guys frequently went to a school where they were the only [[foreskinned]] boy. The presence or absence of the [[foreskin]] is a big issue in [[puberty]].<ref name="allan2023">{{REFjournal
|last=Allan
|first=
|init=JA
|author-link=Jonathan A. Allan
|etal=no
|title=The Normal Foreskin: Puberty, Adolescence, and Growing Up
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Boyhood Studies
|location=
|date=2023
|volume=16
|issue=1
|pages=1-17
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371216922_The_Normal_Foreskin_Puberty_Adolescence_and_Growing_Up/fulltext/6478fa552cad460a1be945c3/The-Normal-Foreskin-Puberty-Adolescence-and-Growing-Up.pdf?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIn19
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.3167/bhs.2023.160102
|accessdate=2025-03-29
}}</ref> They were likely to be teased and may have had their [[intact]] [[penis]] derided and compared to an anteater or an elephant's trunk.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1j3n4q8/uncircumcised_in_north_america/
|title=Uncircumcised in North America
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-03-04
|accessdate=2025-03-04
}}
</ref> They may have been made to feel abnormal or deformed because of the presence of their normal, natural, healthy, complete, and fully functional [[foreskin]] covered [[penis]].<ref name="garrett2023-12-21">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/foreskin-phobia-intact-penis-shamed/
|title=Foreskin Phobia: How The Intact Penis Has Been Shamed
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2023-12-21
|accessdate=2025-02-25
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1krosat/uncut_in_us/
|title=Uncut in US
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-05-20
|accessdate=2025-05-22
}}</ref> [[Intact]] men usually come to appreciate the value of the [https://intactaus.org/information/functions-of-the-foreskin/ functions] of their [[foreskin]] later in life and become comfortable with their [[intactness]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1le8213/what_do_you_like_most_about_your_foreskin/
|title=What do you like most about your foreskin?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-06-17
|accessdate=2025-06-18
}}</ref>

==What is the real norm?==

In actuality, almost every male infant throughout the world is born with a [[foreskin]]. (There is a very rare birth defect called ''[[aposthia]]'' in which the foreskin does not develop normally.)

[[Charles Darwin]] established that evolution occurs because of "natural selection".<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Darwin
|first=Charles
|init=
|author-link=Charles Darwin
|year=1859
|title=The Origin of Species
|url=
|scope=
|location=London
|publisher=Murray
|ISBN=
|accessdate=
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFbook
|last=Darwin
|first=Charles
|init=
|author-link=Charles Darwin
|year=1871
|title=The Descent of Man
|url=
|scope=
|location=London
|publisher=Murray
|ISBN=
|accessdate=
}}</ref> The other primates also have a foreskin similar to that of humans.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Cold
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=McGraft
|first2=
|init2=KA
|author2-link=
|year=1999
|title=Anatomy and histology of the penile and clitoral prepuce in primates.
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/cold-mcgrath/
|work=Male and Female Circumcision
|editor=Denniston GC, Hodges FM, Milos MF (eds.)
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=
|scope=
|page=
|pages=
|location=New York
|publisher=Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
|ISBN=
|quote=
|accessdate=2025-02-23
|note=
}}</ref> The [[foreskin]] improves fitness for survival because of its many protective, immunological, sexual, and sensory functions.

Although 100 percent of males are born with a [[foreskin]], the [[World Health Organization]] estimated that about 70 percent of living males are [[intact]] and only about 30 percent are [[circumcised]]. The great majority of the [[circumcised]] men are found in the Muslim nations, stretching from Nigeria in the west to Indonesia in the east.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F5y3w6wht656a1.jpg
|title=Map of Islamic circumcision.
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2025-02-05
}}</ref> A majority of males in the [[United States]] and [[Israel]] are [[circumcised]], so these two nations are outliers. The [[foreskinned]] males are in the true majority world-wide and constitute the real norm, however the [[United States]] does not follow the norm.

Being [[foreskinned]] is the new normal among newborn boys in the [[USA]] since 2022.<ref name="yang2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Yang
|first=
|init=P
|author-link=
|last2=Zhu
|first2=
|init2=X
|author2-link=
|last3=Patel
|first3=
|init3=EU
|author3-link=
|last4=Quin
|first4=
|init4=PC
|author4-link=
|last5=Grabowski
|first5=
|init5=MK
|author5-link=
|last6=Tobian
|first6=
|init6=AAR
|author6-link=Aaron Tobian
|etal=no
|title=Trends in Circumcision Among Newborn Males in the US
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA Pediatrics
|location=
|date=2025-09-15
|volume=179
|issue=11
|article=e252464
|page=
|pages=
|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2838312
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40952753
|pubmedCID=12439174
|DOI=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.2464
|accessdate=2026-03-04
}}</ref>

==Health and well-being==
The American public has been lied to about the alleged advantages of [[circumcision]] by the [[circumcision industry]] for well over a century.<ref name="garrett2023-11-10">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/pros-and-cons-of-circumcision/
|title=Pros and Cons of Circumcision (Spoiler: You’ve Been Lied to)
|last=Garret
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2023-11-10
|accessdate=2025-03-22
}}</ref>
In reality, [[foreskinned]] American males may expect to enjoy higher levels of [[body pleasure]], health, and well-being than [[circumcised]] American males.<ref name="bollinger2025-08">{{REFdocument
|title=Policy Paper: Newborn Circumcision as a Negative Wellness Factor
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394517060_Policy_Paper_Newborn_Circumcision_as_a_Negative_Wellness_Factor
|contribution=
|last=Bollinger
|first=Dan
|init=
|author-link=Dan Bollinger
|publisher=Research Gate
|format=PDF
|date=2025-08
|accessdate=2025-08-19
}}</ref> The [[foreskin]] provides built-in [[immunological and protective function of the foreskin| protective functions]] that protects the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]].<ref name="vanhowe2006">{{REFjournal
|last=Van Howe
|init=RS
|author-link=
|title=Incidence of meatal stenosis following neonatal circumcision in a primary care setting
|journal=Clin Pediatr (Phila)
|volume=45
|issue=1
|pages=49-54
|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000992280604500108?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed
|quote=
|pubmedID=16429216
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1177/000992280604500108
|date=2006-01
|accessdate=2020-01-09
|note=Jan-Feb 2006
}}</ref> The [[foreskinned]] male may expect to enjoy [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| normal, natural sexual function]] and freedom from [[Psychological issues of male circumcision| circumcision related psychological issues]]. Many [[foreskinned]] males derive comfort and pleasure from touching their [[foreskin]] in a gentle, non-sexual way, which is distinguished from [[masturbation]] because [[erection]] and/or [[ejaculation]] is not the goal.<ref>{{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://acroposthion.com/foreskin-4play/
|title=Foreskin 4Play
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Acroposthion
|date=
|accessdate=2025-09-24
}}</ref>

Claims of increased [[infection]] in [[foreskinned]] men are myths started by the [[circumcision industry]].<ref name="garrett2023-11-10" /> The foreskin actually protects against infection.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref> Fendereski et al. (2024) reported a massive study using data from a private insurance company database that found that [[circumcised]] boys have three times as many penile issues as compared with [[intact]] boys through age 5.<ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2025-09-24
}}</ref>

[[Foreskinned]] guys also enjoy the benefit of having a [[preputial sac]] with sexually-stimulating [[Pheromone| pheromones]], which the [[circumcised]] guys lack.

==Distribution of foreskinned males in the United States==
===Percentage of foreskinned males in the United States===
Peter Moore (2015) reported that the prevalence of [[circumcision]] has declined to 62 percent of all American males,<ref name="moore2015">{{REFweb
|url=https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2015/02/03/younger-americans-circumcision
|title=Young Americans less supportive of circumcision at birth
|last=Moore
|first=Peter
|date=2015-02-03
|accessdate=2025-02-23
}}</ref> which increases the prevalence of men with [[intact]] [[foreskin]] to 38 percent of living American males of all ages. This percentage is expected to gradually but constantly decline, while the percentage of males who are [[intact]] due to the declining incidence of newborn boys receiving medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[circumcision]] is expected to increase. The percentage of males with [[intact]] [[foreskin]] is lowest with senior citizens and highest in the youngest age groups.

The distribution of [[foreskinned]] males varies widely by census region, state, and by locality. The percentage of [[intact]] males is highest in the West census region and lowest in the Midwest census region. Among the states, Washington is believed to have the highest percentage of [[intact]] males and West Virginia is believed to have the lowest percentage of [[intact]] males.

===Increasing percentages of foreskinned males===
Laumann et al. (1997) found that the incidence of neonatal [[circumcision]] in the [[United States]] reached its peak in 1965 at about 85 percent of boys being [[circumcised]].<ref name="laumann1997">{{REFjournal
|last=Laumann
|first=
|init=EO
|author-link=
|last2=Masi
|first2=
|init2=CM
|author2-link=
|last3=Zuckerman
|first3=
|init3=ER
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision in the United States. Prevalence, prophylactic effects, and sexual practice
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1997-04-02
|volume=277
|issue=13
|pages=1052-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/laumann/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=9091693
|pubmedCID=
|accessdate=2025-02-23
}}</ref> The incidence of [[circumcision]] has been declining slowly ever since, which means that one finds more [[intactness]] as age decreases. There also is more [[intactness]] among hispanic males.

Jacobsen et al. (2021) reported significant declines in the incidence of [[circumcision]] with an incidence of only 52.1 percent at the end of their study period in 2016. The corrolary is a [[foreskinned]] incidence of 47.9 percent among the boys born in 2016. Jacobsen et al. also reported that the incidence of [[intactness]] in the Midwest has increased from 1 boy in 10 (10%) to 1 boy in 4 (25%). The percentage of [[foreskinned]] newborn males increased at a rate of 4/10 of one percent per year during the study period.<ref name="jacobsen2021">{{REFjournal
|last=Jacobson
|first=Deborah L.
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=Balmert
|first2=Lauren C.
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Holl
|first3=Jane L.
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Rosoklija
|first4=Ilina
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Davis
|first5=Matthew M.
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=Johnson
|first6Emilie K.
|init6=
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=Nationwide Circumcision Trends: 2003 to 2016
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Urol
|location=
|date=2021-01
|volume=205
|issue=1
|pages=257-63
|url=https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|pubmedID=32716676
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|accessdate=2025-02-23
}}</ref> Yang et al. (2025) report that there is now a majority of [[intact]] boys in the newborn age group.<ref name="yang2025" />

[[Intact America]] is tracking the opposition to [[circumcision]] in the [[United States]]. It reports [https://www.instagram.com/p/DKVZQGTRl77/ steadily increasing opposition].

===Distribution of foreskinned males===
The red areas on the map below have the lowest prevalence of [[foreskin]] while the green areas have the highest prevalence of foreskin.
<div class='res-img'>https://i.pinimg.com/originals/03/f5/82/03f582e91f04b3b43e7750ab3af7d71a.jpg</div>

==History==
Excision of the [[foreskin]] is a relatively recent practice in America. The Founding Fathers of the United States were all [[foreskinned]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/constitutional-case-against-circumcision/
|title=Foreskins and Forefathers: A Constitutional Case Against Circumcision
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-01-24
|accessdate=2025-02-23
}}</ref> So were all the men from both North and South who fought and died in the Civil War (1861-1865).

The first recorded medical circumcision of a boy in the [[United States]] occurred in 1870 when [[Lewis Albert Sayre]], a prominent New York City doctor, [[circumcised]] a boy of five years of age for paralysis.<ref name="gollaher1994">{{GollaherDL 1994}}</ref>

There were medical doctors advocating [[circumcision]] on both the east coast and west coast of the [[United States]] at the beginning of the twentieth century.<ref name="gollaher1994" />

==Urologists==
One must exercise extreme caution if one consults a [[urologist]]. [[American urologists and the practice of male circumcision| American urologists]] love foreskins and foreskinned males. Urologists get a substantial fee for [[amputation]] of a [[foreskin]], so one may expect to get a sales pitch for a circumci$ion if one visits a urologist for any reason. Your friendly urologist will be happy to do a circumci$ion for you for any reason or no reason. Make certain that you do your independent research on irreversible [[adult circumcision]] and do not depend on statements from your urologist, which may be [[Bias| biased]] by self-interest. There are plenty of [[regret men]] who did not do their homework and who rue their decision to submit to circumcision.

==The next generation==
[[Foreskinned]] guys know from personal experience how wonderful it is to have a fully functional [[penis]] with all of its parts. Most want to have any son's infant [[intact]] [[foreskin]] protected. Unfortunately, most maternity hospitals in the [[United States]] are spring-loaded to the [[circumcision]] position. One must consider measures for [[protection of intact newborns in hospital]]. Your [[intact]] newborn son's [[foreskin]] will probably be safer when he gets home from the hospital.

A majority of newborn boys have left the birth facility [[intact]] since 2022.<ref name="yang2025" /> [[Foreskinned men]] are expected to be in the majority in future generations.

Nature designs the [[foreskin]] of boys so that they will stay in position where its [[immunological and protective function of the foreskin| protective and immunological functions]] can be effective. Your infant son's [[foreskin]] may not retract for many years, perhaps not until after [[puberty]], so no attempt should be made to retract it. Wash the outside of his [[foreskin]] like washing a finger.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/care-of-the-intact-penis/
|title=Care of the Intact Penis
|last=Geisheker
|first=
|init=JV
|author-link=John V. Geisheker
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|date=2023-06
|accessdate=2025-03-27
}}</ref> The first person to retract his foreskin should be the boy himself.<ref name="Wright1994">{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|init=JE
|title=Further to the "Further Fate of the Foreskin"
|journal=Med J Aust
|volume=160
|issue=
|pages=134-5
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright2/
|quote=
|pubmedID=8295581
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1994-02-07
|accessdate=2025-03-25
}}</ref>

See [[care of intact, foreskinned boys]] for more information.

==What does the future hold?==
The percentage of boys in the [[United States]] who keep their [[foreskin]] has been very gradually increasing since 1965.<ref name="jacobson2021">{{REFjournal
|last=Jacobson
|first=Deborah L.
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=Balmert
|first2=Lauren C.
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Holl
|first3=Jane L.
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Rosoklija
|first4=Ilina
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Davis
|first5=Matthew M.
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=Johnson
|first6Emilie K.
|init6=
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=Nationwide Circumcision Trends: 2003 to 2016
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Urol
|location=
|date=2021-01
|volume=205
|issue=1
|pages=257-63
|url=https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|pubmedID=32716676
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1097/JU.0000000000001316
|accessdate=2025-03-22
}}</ref> We are now at a "tipping point".<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/do-you-know-about-the-tipping-point/
|title=Do You Know: About the “Tipping Point?
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2016-11-01
|accessdate=2024-06-03
}}</ref> Although very unequally distributed geographically, Yang et al. (2025) report that, in the newborn age group, [[intact]] boys are now in the majority since 2022.<ref name="yang2025" /> As these young boys mature, one can expect to see more [[foreskin| foreskins]], first in schools, and later in the general population. Being [[foreskinned]] is expected to become the NORM in the [[United States]] as it already is in the other English-speaking nations.

==Common practice==
[[Foreskin play]] is said to be a common practice with [[intact]] American boys and men.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1n0cnh2/how_do_you_play_with_your_foreskin_not_sexually/
|title=How do you play with your foreskin? Not sexually, just casually
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-08
|accessdate=2025-11-28
}}</ref>

==Video==
===Happy intact student===
<youtube>v=fqiTBx5ve90</youtube>
===Foreskinned celebrities===
<youtube>v=zOoGFJANmYA</youtube>

==Finding other foreskinned guys==
The Internet has made it easier to find other [[foreskinned]] guys. Reddit has several sub-reddits where one may discuss matters of interest to [[intact]] guys.
===r/uncircumcised_talk===
This subreddit is a place where [[foreskinned]] men may discuss [[intactness]] and matters of mutual interest. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/
===r/balanitis===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is dedicated to the discussion of [[balanitis]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/balanitis/
===r/barehead===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is "a community for anyone who is [[intact]] and who loves to keep the [[glans penis| head]] of his [[penis]] exposed permanently or wants to achieve it, be it for any reason. You are welcome to share your stories, experiences, and doubts. Discussion and questions about autocircumcision and the autocirc movement are welcome."
===r/bxo===
This subreddit is "A support community for guys with [[Balanitis xerotica obliterans]] (BXO) — also known male genital or penile Lichen Sclerosus (LS)." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/bxo/

===r/Phimosis===
This subreddit is dedicated to the discussion of [[phimosis]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis/
===r/Phimosis_Care===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is a "place for men to share techniques, tools & tips on foreskin [[stretching]]. This group is for fixing or managing [[phimosis]] to AVOID [[adult circumcision| circumcision]]." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis_Care/
===r/Phimosishelp ===
This subreddit offers "advice and support for boys and men with [[phimosis]] (tight foreskin)." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosishelp/
===r/UncutAmericans===
This subreddit is {{NSFW}}. This is "a place to admire men from the USA with uncut dicks!" Caution is advised. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/UncutAmericans/
==BLOG==
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/ Intact Talk]
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Acroposthion]]
* [[Body pleasure]]
* [[Care of intact, foreskinned boys]]
* [[Care of intact elderly men]]
* [[Development of retractable foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin]]
* [[Gliding action]]
* [[Life Intact]]
* [[Long foreskins]]
* [[Longer foreskin is favored]]
* [[Masturbation]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Pheromone]]
* [[Phimosis]]
* [[Preputial sac]]
* [[Puberty]]
* [[The Accidental Intactivist Manifesto: Exposing the Monster We Agree Not to See – A Lifetime Reckoning]]
* [[Tissue expansion]]
* [[United States of America]]
* [[Urination by foreskinned men]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://peacefulbeginningsrosemary.wordpress.com/circ-information/having-a-foreskin/
|title=Having a foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Rosemary Romberg
|date=2012-07-17
|accessdate=2025-02-25
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://life-intact.tumblr.com/
|title=Life Intact
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Tumbir
|date=
|accessdate=2025-08-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/cultures-that-reject-circumcision/
|title=Cultures That Reject Circumcision—And Why They’re Right
|last=Alissa
|first=Kristel
|init=
|author-link=Kristel Alissa
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-02-23
|accessdate=2025-02-27
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/user/C4Charkey/comments/wu9rnd/growing_up_intact_in_the_us_why_im_done/
|title=Growing up Intact in the U.S.: Why I'm Done Pretending Circumcision Is Normal or Okay
|last=C4Charkey
|first=
|init=
|author-link=C4Charkey
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2022
|accessdate=2025-04-10
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=long%20foreskin&cId=6b4d5d99-d273-42f7-80ff-a8907bf148f9&iId=4a558737-94fe-4f22-bc72-0d3c97337702
|title=My own experience as an American with a long foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2023
|accessdate=2025-07-20
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1j3n4q8/uncircumcised_in_north_america/
|title=Uncircumcised in North America
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-03-04
|accessdate=2025-03-04
}}
*{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/DebunkingCircumcision/comments/1juyvzm/introducing_the_accidental_intactivist_manifesto/
|title=Introducing "The Accidental Intactivist Manifesto: Exposing the Monster We Agree Not to See" – A Lifetime Reckoning
|last=C4Charkey
|first=
|init=
|author-link=C4Charkey
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-04-08
|accessdate=2025-04-09
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://skininthegame.org/growing-up-intact/
|title=Growing up intact
|last=Kubat
|first=Jeremy
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Skin in the Game
|date=2025-07-31
|accessdate=2025-08-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1mctra5/does_your_foreskin_need_adjusting_randomly_during/
|title=Does your foreskin need adjusting randomly during the day?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-08
|accessdate=2026-04-03
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1nlptga/why_i_like_my_foreskin/
|title=Why I like my foreskin.
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-09-20
|accessdate=2025-09-20
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1o4xmmq/what_do_you_do_with_your_foreskin_when_your_penis/
|title=What do you do with your foreskin when your penis is soft?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10-12
|accessdate=2025-10-13
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1ocgez1/were_you_ever_picked_upon_by_your_peers_because/
|title=Were you ever picked upon by your peers because of your foreskin (or lack of it)?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10-21
|accessdate=2025-11-16
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1onm7n2/memorys_of_growing_up_uncircumcised_in_the_us/?chainedPosts=t3_1ooxau8%2Ct3_1oqofug
|title=Memory’s of growing up uncircumcised in the US.
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-11-03
|accessdate=2025-11-07
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pa41e8/uncircumcised_realization/
|title=Uncircumcised Realization
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-11-30
|accessdate=2025-12-07
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pmkb1x/foreskins_role_in_masturbating/
|title=Foreskin’s role in masturbating.
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-12-14
|accessdate=2025-12-14
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1qf8vb0/how_was_it_growing_up_as_an_uncut_guy_for_you/?sort=qa
|title=How was it growing up as an uncut guy for you?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-18
|accessdate=2026-01-22
}}

==Further reading==
* {{REFbook
|last=Allan
|first=
|init=JA
|author-link=Jonathan A. Allan
|year=2024
|title=Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskin
|url=https://uofrpress.ca/Books/U/Uncut
|scope=
|location=Regina
|publisher=University of Regina Press
|ISBN= 978-1779400307
|accessdate=2025-03-22
}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Educational]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

[[Category:USA]]

Forekin Appreciation Day

2026-04-03T18:09:28Z

WikiModEn2: Add text.

The fourth day of the fourth month has been designated as '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}'''.
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Foreskin Day]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://www.foreskin.day/}}

[[Category:USA]]

Forekin Appreciation Day

2026-04-03T18:08:38Z

WikiModEn2: Create page.

User talk:WikiModEn2

2026-04-03T17:58:08Z

WikiModEn2:

== IntactiWiki articles created by WikiModEn2 ==
[https://en.intactiwiki.org/w/index.php?limit=500&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=WikiModEn2&newOnly=1 Here you can see all articles created by User WikiModEn2]

== Current works ==
* [[Intactivist News & More]]
* [[Sonata Learning]]

* [[The social effects of mass circumcision]]

* [[Billy Ray Boyd]]

* [[West Virginia]]

* [[Forekin Appreciation Day]]

* [[Test]]

* [[αkroprint]]

== Requested articles ==
* [[Lack of medical record]] An IntactiWiki reader likes to suggest a wiki article dealing with the lack of medical recording when a circumcision is done outside a medical facility and by a non doctor. This seems to be a global issue. Thanks. --[[User:WikiAdmin|WikiAdmin]] ([[User talk:WikiAdmin|talk]]) 11:21, 13 May 2025 (CEST)

Foreskin Day

2026-04-03T17:56:27Z

WikiModEn2:

[[Georganne Chapin]] at [[Intact America]] has declared the fourth day of the fourth month (4 April 2026) as the first '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}'''.

The [[foreskin]], also known as the ''[[prepuce]]'', is the protective, erogenous, functional tissue of the [[penis]], that is irreversibly amputated by [[circumcision]].

== Claim ==
{{Citation
|Title=Foreskin = Funskin - Celebrate Foreskin Appreciation Day with Us!
|Text=Foreskin Appreciation Day is April 4! It is Four, Four, [[Foreskin]]! The purpose of this sex-positive day is to raise awareness and increase appreciation for this unique and valuable body part. 
What better way to positively change people’s attitudes towards [[foreskin]] than by showing our appreciation for it? We’re celebrating [[foreskin]] day today (and every day), because it is a vital step in re-envisioning America’s view of the [[intact]] [[penis]]. Everyone has a [[foreskin]], so why not celebrate it?
|Author=[[Intact America]]
|ref=<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://foreskin.day/
|title=Foreskin = Funskin
|accessdate=2023-04-07
}}</ref>
}}

==Video==
 
<youtube>v=cB8Iavyfr_U</youtube>
 
<youtube>v=pLA0yy62X6w</youtube>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[United States of America]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://foreskin.day/|2026-04-04}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Campaign day]]
[[Category:Penile anatomy]]
[[Category:USA]]

Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine

2026-04-03T16:04:31Z

WikiModEn2: /* 4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function. */

Osteopathic medicine is practiced in parallel alongside of allopathic medicine in the [[United States]].

The [https://osteopathic.org/ American Osteopathic Association] (AOA) is the [[medical trade association]] for osteopathic doctors (DOs). The AOA has not enunciated a position regarding male circumcision, however the AOA has adopted four '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' that may be applied to both [[child circumcision]] and [[adult circumcision]]. The Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine express the underlying philosophy of osteopathic medicine and were approved by the AOA House of Delegates as policy.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/aoa-governance-documents/tenets-of-osteopathic-medicine/
|title=Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> The tenets were last reaffirmed by resolution of the Ad Hoc Committee on 22 July 2023.<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Sunset Res. No. H608 - A/2023
|url=https://osteopathic.org/index.php?aam-media=/wp-content/uploads/past-resolutions/H608-A2023-SR-Tenets-of-Osteopathic-Medicine.pdf
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|format=PDF
|date=2023-07-22
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

It is estimated, that by 2030, 20 percent of U.S. physicians will be Doctors of Osteopathy.

==Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine==
The four tenets of osteopathic medicine provide for treatment and well-being of the whole person. Allopathic medicine has nothing comparable.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-wiki/allopathic-medicine/
|title=What is Allopathic medicine?
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com
|date=2024-06-03
|accessdate=2026-03-31
}}</ref>
===1. The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind and spirit.===
The harmful, adverse effects of [[circumcision]] upon the human person had, until recently, been ignored for many decades. Now there is increasing evidence of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and disability caused by [[amputation]] of the multi-functional [[foreskin]] portion of the [[penis]] upon the [[Sexual injury of circumcision| sexual]] and [[Psychological injury of male circumcision| psychological]] well-being of the human person.<ref name="hill2007">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=Finally, we must remember that males are the more vulnerableand sensitive of the two genders and, therefore, deserve the greater degree of protection from traumatic, invasive, injurious, and unnecessary surgery.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref><ref name="andersen2026">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
}}</ref> [[Amputation]] and lost of [https://circumcision.org/functions-of-the-foreskin/ function] may induce [[depression]] and even [[suicide]]. It is clear that unwanted [[circumcision]] makes many men very angry.<ref name="chapin2022">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022
|quote=But we need to listen to the growing number of men speaking out about having been violated as babies when an essential (i.e., of its essence) part of their penis was forcibly severed. And we must ask ourselves whether the nearly ubiquitous violation of baby boys as a class of people and the assembly-line acts of violence carried out upon individual newborns might be responsible for at least some of the rage, pain and feelings of impotence that underlie the epidemic of mass killings we are witnessing today.
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}</ref>

===2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.===
[[Charles Darwin]] (1859) observed that survival of the fittest caused evolution. The [[foreskin]] was created and improved by [[Evolution of the foreskin| evolution]] to provide protection of the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. [[Paul M. Fleiss| Fleiss]], [[Frederick M. Hodges| Hodges]] & [[Robert S. Van Howe| Van Howe]] (1998) enumerated numerous ways in which the foreskin protects against [[infection]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological Functions of the Human Prepuce
|journal= Sex Transm Infect
|date=1998-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/fleiss3/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref>

The [[foreskin]] [[Development of retractable foreskin| develops throughout childhood]] invariably without medical intervention. It could hardly be otherwise, since human genitalia evolved over 100,000+ years without medical assistance of any kind<ref name="agarwal2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Agarwal
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Mohta
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Anand
|first3=
|init3=RK
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Preputial retraction in children
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg
|location=
|date=2005-04
|season=
|volume=10
|issue=2
|article=
|pages=89-91
|url=https://journals.lww.com/jiap/fulltext/2005/10020/preputial_retraction_in_children.5.aspx
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.4103/0971-9261.16468
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref> [[Forced foreskin retraction]] is harmful, [[trauma| traumatic]], painful, injurious, inappropriate, and inconsistent with the tenets of osteopathic medicine. The practice frequently generates a parental complaint of gratuitous clinical injury filed with state and federal medical authorities. ([[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] offers a free service to help parents file complaints.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/help-with-forcible-foreskin-retraction/pffr-data-collection-form/
|title=PFFR Data Collection Form
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|accessdate=2026-03-24
}}</ref>)

===3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.===
The human [[penis]] and its [[foreskin]] are excellent examples of the truth of this tenet. The penis and foreskin consist of specialized tissues ideally suited for their functions.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

===4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function.===
When these basic principles are applied, it will quickly be seen that harmful, medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of boys is contraindicated.<ref name="tye2022"> {{REFjournal
|last=Tye
|first=
|init=MC
|author-link=
|last2=Sardi
|first2=
|init2=LM
|author2-link=Lauren Sardi
|etal=no
|title=Psychological, psychosocial, and psychosexual aspects of penile circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int J Impot Res
|date=2023-05
|volume=35
|issue=3
|pages=242-8
|url=https://www.galdef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tye-Sardi-Psycho-Aspects-of-Penile-Circumcision-IJIR-2022.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35347302
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00553-9
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-14
}}</ref> Boys are unable to grant consent due to their immaturity. Parental surrrogates must protect the interest and rights of the child patient. They are limited to granting [[surrogate consent]] for diagnosis and treatment of disease. There is no person who is empowered to grant consent for non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of a minor.<ref name="hill2002">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Informed Consent for Circumcision
|trans-title=
|journal=South Med J
|date=2002-08
|volume=95
|issue=8
|page=946
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George-Hill-3/publication/371599857_Can_Anyone_Authorize_the_Nontherapeutic_Permanent_Alteration_of_a_Child's_Body/links/648b8819c41fb852dd0949be/Can-Anyone-Authorize-the-Nontherapeutic-Permanent-Alteration-of-a-Childs-Body.pd
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=12190244
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> There are no valid indications for circumcision in the neonatal period.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Preston
|first=
|init=EN
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Whither the foreskin?
|trans-title=
|journal=JAMA
|date=1970-09-14
|volume=213
|issue=11
|article=
|page=
|pages=1853-58
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/preston/
|archived=
|quote=Routine circumcision of the newborn is an unnecessary procedure. It provides questionable benefits and is associated with a small but definite incidence of complications and hazards. These risks are preventable if the operation is not performed unless truly medically indicated. Circumcision of the newborn is a procedure that should no longer be considered routine.
|pubmedID=5468911
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.213.11.1853
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

Myers & [[Brian D. Earp| Earp]] (2020) concluded that the best age to circumcise is after the patient reached the age at which he could grant consent for his own circumcision.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-05-27
}}</ref>

[[Amputation]] of a healthy boy's [[foreskin]] without medical indication and without valid effective consent is equivalent to criminal battery.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/what-is-the-crime-of-battery.html
|title=What Is the Crime of Battery?
|last=Buckner
|first=Susan
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Findlaw
|date=2026-01-13
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> While there are no reports of an American provider being criminally charged, in the [[United Kingdom]] Dr. [[Mohammad Siddiqui]] has been struck off the Medical Register and has been criminally charged by the Crown Prosecution Service. The changing view of [[child circumcision]] has altered the atmosphere around [[child circumcision]], so a criminal charge may now be more likely than in the past.

It is more likely that a parent would bring a civil suit for injury caused by [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Adler
|first=Peter W.
|init=PW
|author-link=Peter W. Adler
|title=Is circumcision legal?
|journal=Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
|date=2013
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=439-86
|url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1265&context=jolpi
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

==PFFR in West Virginia==
Parents of a boy in [[West Virginia]] have alleged that an osteopathic physician prematurely forcibly retracted the healthy [[Foreskin#Foreskin_in_infancy_and_childhoo| foreskin of a boy]], causing great [[trauma]], [[pain]], and destructive injury to the [[synechia]] that secures the protective [[foreskin]] in place. [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] assisted the parents in the filing of a complaint against the osteopathic physician.

If true, then the osteopathic physician would appear to have violated the Second Tenet of Osteopathic Medicine.

==Videos==
===What is osteopathic medicine?===
<youtube>v=_q5U1_qudtM</youtube>
===What is Osteopathy?===
<youtube>v=OnYHanA5noU</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Forced foreskin retraction]]
* [[ICCPR]]
* [[Psychiatrist Discusses the Lasting Trauma of Circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|Osteopathic_medicine_in_the_United_States|Osteopathic medicine in the United States}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://osteopathic.org/|2026-03-18}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital surgery]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Osteopathy]]

[[Category:USA]]

Restoration

2026-04-03T15:16:34Z

WikiModEn2: /* Michael's foreskin restoration */

The restoration (recovery) of a [[circumcised]] [[foreskin]] is generally possible while in individual cases very cumbersome and tedious.

-----

''The following text is part of the [[Circumpendium]].''

== Foreskin restoration: methods and equipment ==

Ever since the days of classical antiquity, methods of restoring the [[foreskin]] after [[circumcision]], known as [[epispasm]], have been known.

They are based on the ability of the human [[skin]] to adapt to the needs of the body. In daily life it can be easily observed on the abdominal [[skin]], which adapts to the abdomen's circumference according to gain or loss of weight. If [[skin]] is subjected to tension over a period of time, the [[skin]] cells are stimulated to increase in number. This also holds true for the [[shaft skin]] of the [[penis]].

Depending on the circumcision style and individual cutaneous factors, it can take months or even years for the [[skin]] to cover the [[Glans penis|glans]] fully. There are single reports of growth of up to 5mm a month with intensive restoring, but reliable studies on this are not available.

The lost sensory tissue can not be restored - nerves that have been removed are permanently lost. There is, however, a significant regeneration of the remaining tissue. As soon as the remaining part of the inner [[foreskin]] and the any remaining frenulum are facing towards the [[Glans penis|glans]] again, the tissue starts to regenerate and reverts from its condition resembling external [[skin]], back to its original [[mucosa]]-like condition. The same can be observed with the surface of the [[Glans penis|glans]]. If it is once again covered on a regular basis — and be it only by an artificial cover or the restoration device - the layer of callus starts to vanish and the former leathery [[skin]] becomes soft and smooth again. The regeneration results in a distinct increase in sensitivity, which, even though it cannot equal that of an [[intact]] man, is still noticeably greater than that of an unrestored [[penis]]. These effects can be observed just a few weeks after starting to restore.

Some of the current, common devices and techniques will be listed below. Which one is preferable in any given case depends on the circumcision style, namely the amount of [[skin]] left, and the anatomy of the [[penis]] itself.

While the "[[Flesh Penis]]", or "[[Shower]]", already features most of its final length in a flaccid state, the "[[Blood Penis]]", or "[[Grower]]", is substantially shorter when flaccid and grows considerably during an [[erection]]. For the latter, restoration is often a bit easier, since there is more loose [[skin]] available for [[stretching]] in a flaccid state.

=== Manual stretching ===

If there is not enough reserve [[skin]] available to apply a restoration device, this has first to be created by [[stretching]] the [[shaft skin]]. To do this, it is pulled with one hand at the base of the [[penis]] towards the body, and with the other hand below the [[Glans penis|glans]] towards the tip. The [[skin]] in between is thus stretched and stimulated to grow. This procedure has to repeated several times a day for about 10 to 15 minutes.

=== Tapes ===

If the [[foreskin]] can be pulled over the [[Glans penis|glans]] while the [[penis]] is flaccid, if necessary by pushing the [[penis]] inwards, it can be secured in front of the [[Glans penis|glans]] with adhesive tape, generating a constant tug. There are also kits available that work with suspender-like straps.

===Weights===

[[File:Circumpendium-8-2-tapes-PUD.jpg|left|thumb|PUD]][[File:Circumpendium-8-2-tapes-Foreballs.jpg|right|thumb|Foreballs]]
The PUD (''Penile Uncircumcising Device'', left)<ref>Picture courtesy of American Bodycrafters Inc., inventor und patent holder of the PUD</ref> and the ''Foreballs'' (right)<ref>Picture courtesy of R. Wayne Griffiths, M.S., M.Ed., Cofounder and Executive Director of NORM www.norm.org</ref> are weights. With the first, the [[Glans penis|glans]] in positioned in a hollow at the upper side, the reserve [[skin]] pulled over the rim and secured with tape at the narrow point. This is the only device on this list that allows for [[urination]] while worn, since it has a tube bored through the centre from the hollow to the lower end. Using the foreballs, the smaller ball is placed against the [[Glans penis|glans]], the [[foreskin]] pulled over it and secured with tape at the connection bar. This method is based on gravity to generate the needed drag, and therefore is not very effective if worn under tight fitting clothing or when sitting. The foreballs device is no longer in production.

=== Tugger-methods ===
[[File:Circumpendium-8-3-TLC-X-Tugger.jpg|center|TLC-X-Tugger]]
The ''TLC-X-Tugger'' holds the [[foreskin]] between the outer and middle cones, with the inner cone touching the [[Glans penis|glans]] and pushing the two outer cones away from it. This generates a constant pull.<ref>Picture courtesy of Ron Low, http://tlctugger.com/</ref>
[[File:Circumpendium-8-3-DTR-Kit.jpg|center|DTR-Kit]]
The ''DTR-Kit'' works in the same way as the TLC-model, but it generates the pull not by an adjustable screw, but instead with the help of rubber bands.<ref>Picture courtesy of Chuck Torres, http://foreskinrestore.com/main.html</ref>

To keep the [[Glans penis|glans]] covered between the restoration phases, there are - among others - fabric pockets available made out of [[skin]]-friendly material, that support the regeneration of the surface of the [[Glans penis|glans]], even when there is not yet enough [[skin]] to apply a tugger. Devices based on the tuggers, which only hold the [[foreskin]] without applying pull, are also available.

-----

== Websites about foreskin restoration ==

* [http://www.cirp.org/pages/restore.html CIRP - Foreskin Restoration for Circumcised Men]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/austin_norm/ Austin NORM - Yahoo group for NORM of Austin, TX]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CircumcisedMenRestoringForeskins/ CircumcisedMenRestoringForeskins - Yahoo group created for support and advice for those restoring their foreskins]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dallas-NORM/ Dallas NORM - Yahoo group for NORM of Dallas, TX]
* [http://frcchat.org/ Foreskin Restoration Chat]
* [http://www.foreskin-restoration.net/forum/ Foreskin Restoration / Intactivism Network]
* [http://community.livejournal.com/keep_on_tugging/ Keep On Tugging! - LiveJournal community dedicated to foreskin restoration]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/midsouthNORM/ MidSouthNORM - Yahoo group for NORM of Memphis, TN and surrounding areas]
* [http://norm-denver.org/ NORM-Denver - NORM of Denver, CO]
* [http://http//www.norm-phoenix.org/ NORM-Phoenix - NORM of Phoenix, AZ]
* [http://www.norm-sa.co.za/ NORM South Africa - Network of foreskin restoration support groups in South Africa]
* [http://www.norm-socal.org/ NORM Southern California - NORM chapter based in Los Angeles, CA]

* [http://www.norm.org/ NORM - The National Organization of Restoring Men]
* [http://www.norm-uk.org/ NORM-UK — giving men a choice]
* [http://www.restoreforeskin2.org/ Restore Foreskin 2]
* [https://www.facebook.com/RestoringForeskin Restoring Foreskin - A Place For Man to Regain What They Lost]
* [http://www.restoringforeskin.org/ Restoring for Men - Your Foreskin Restoration Community]
* [http://www.restoringtally.com/ Restoring Tally - One man's journey through life]

== Suppliers of equipment for restoration ==
* [http://abody.com/ American Bodycrafters Inc., Huntington Beach (USA)]
* [http://foreskinrestore.com/main.html Foreskin Restore DTR, Chuck Torres, USA]
* [http://www.norm.org/ NORM - The National Organization of Restoring Men, Concord (USA)]
* [http://tlctugger.com/ TLC Tugger, Ron Low, Chicago (USA)]
==Michael's foreskin restoration==
Michael was a circumcised man who started his restoration in 2010 at the age of 20. He has been restoring his [[foreskin]] for 15 years in 2025. He has made an excellent photographic record of his restoration to date. He now appears to be fully restored. There are numerous photos of his [[penis]], which are of course {{NSFW}}. Discretion is advised.
* [https://www.michaelfour.com/home Michael's Foreskin Restoration]

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Basics of foreskin restoration]]
* [[Circumcision]]
* [[Epispasm]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin restoration]]
* [[Foreskin restoration information for circumcised teens]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Restored foreskin]]
* [[Surgical foreskin restoration]]
* [[Tissue expansion]]
* [[:Category:Film about foreskin restoration]]
* [[Literature about foreskin restoration]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1o6tzhq/why_acroposthion/
|title=Why Acroposthion?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-09
|accessdate=2026-04-03
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1k5fovh/how_and_why_i_got_into_foreskin_restoration/
|title=How and Why I Got Into Foreskin Restoration
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-03
|accessdate=2025-11-29
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1m3l9ee/does_anyone_wish_they_had_even_more_foreskin/
|title=Does anyone wish they had even more foreskin?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-08
|accessdate=2026-03-20
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1qwsfbk/foreskin_restoration_science_24_how_foreskin/
|title=Foreskin Restoration Science 2.4 - How foreskin restoration works & why it doesn't work for some people
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2026-02-06
|accessdate-2026-02-26}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Foreskin restoration]]
[[Category:Intactivism term]]

[[de:Restaurierung]]

West Virginia

2026-04-03T15:01:47Z

WikiModEn2:

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is adjacent to the "circumcision capital of America" that runs through the midwestern [[United States]].

==Circumcision popularity in West Virginia==
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) of harmful, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine

2026-04-03T14:44:11Z

WikiModEn2: /* PFFR in West Virginia */ Wikify.

Osteopathic medicine is practiced in parallel alongside of allopathic medicine in the [[United States]].

The [https://osteopathic.org/ American Osteopathic Association] (AOA) is the [[medical trade association]] for osteopathic doctors (DOs). The AOA has not enunciated a position regarding male circumcision, however the AOA has adopted four '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' that may be applied to both [[child circumcision]] and [[adult circumcision]]. The Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine express the underlying philosophy of osteopathic medicine and were approved by the AOA House of Delegates as policy.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/aoa-governance-documents/tenets-of-osteopathic-medicine/
|title=Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> The tenets were last reaffirmed by resolution of the Ad Hoc Committee on 22 July 2023.<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Sunset Res. No. H608 - A/2023
|url=https://osteopathic.org/index.php?aam-media=/wp-content/uploads/past-resolutions/H608-A2023-SR-Tenets-of-Osteopathic-Medicine.pdf
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|format=PDF
|date=2023-07-22
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

It is estimated, that by 2030, 20 percent of U.S. physicians will be Doctors of Osteopathy.

==Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine==
The four tenets of osteopathic medicine provide for treatment and well-being of the whole person. Allopathic medicine has nothing comparable.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-wiki/allopathic-medicine/
|title=What is Allopathic medicine?
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com
|date=2024-06-03
|accessdate=2026-03-31
}}</ref>
===1. The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind and spirit.===
The harmful, adverse effects of [[circumcision]] upon the human person had, until recently, been ignored for many decades. Now there is increasing evidence of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and disability caused by [[amputation]] of the multi-functional [[foreskin]] portion of the [[penis]] upon the [[Sexual injury of circumcision| sexual]] and [[Psychological injury of male circumcision| psychological]] well-being of the human person.<ref name="hill2007">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=Finally, we must remember that males are the more vulnerableand sensitive of the two genders and, therefore, deserve the greater degree of protection from traumatic, invasive, injurious, and unnecessary surgery.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref><ref name="andersen2026">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
}}</ref> [[Amputation]] and lost of [https://circumcision.org/functions-of-the-foreskin/ function] may induce [[depression]] and even [[suicide]]. It is clear that unwanted [[circumcision]] makes many men very angry.<ref name="chapin2022">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022
|quote=But we need to listen to the growing number of men speaking out about having been violated as babies when an essential (i.e., of its essence) part of their penis was forcibly severed. And we must ask ourselves whether the nearly ubiquitous violation of baby boys as a class of people and the assembly-line acts of violence carried out upon individual newborns might be responsible for at least some of the rage, pain and feelings of impotence that underlie the epidemic of mass killings we are witnessing today.
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}</ref>

===2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.===
[[Charles Darwin]] (1859) observed that survival of the fittest caused evolution. The [[foreskin]] was created and improved by [[Evolution of the foreskin| evolution]] to provide protection of the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. [[Paul M. Fleiss| Fleiss]], [[Frederick M. Hodges| Hodges]] & [[Robert S. Van Howe| Van Howe]] (1998) enumerated numerous ways in which the foreskin protects against [[infection]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological Functions of the Human Prepuce
|journal= Sex Transm Infect
|date=1998-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/fleiss3/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref>

The [[foreskin]] [[Development of retractable foreskin| develops throughout childhood]] invariably without medical intervention. It could hardly be otherwise, since human genitalia evolved over 100,000+ years without medical assistance of any kind<ref name="agarwal2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Agarwal
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Mohta
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Anand
|first3=
|init3=RK
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Preputial retraction in children
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg
|location=
|date=2005-04
|season=
|volume=10
|issue=2
|article=
|pages=89-91
|url=https://journals.lww.com/jiap/fulltext/2005/10020/preputial_retraction_in_children.5.aspx
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.4103/0971-9261.16468
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref> [[Forced foreskin retraction]] is harmful, [[trauma| traumatic]], painful, injurious, inappropriate, and inconsistent with the tenets of osteopathic medicine. The practice frequently generates a parental complaint of gratuitous clinical injury filed with state and federal medical authorities. ([[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] offers a free service to help parents file complaints.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/help-with-forcible-foreskin-retraction/pffr-data-collection-form/
|title=PFFR Data Collection Form
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|accessdate=2026-03-24
}}</ref>)

===3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.===
The human [[penis]] and its [[foreskin]] are excellent examples of the truth of this tenet. The penis and foreskin consist of specialized tissues ideally suited for their functions.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

===4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function.===
When these basic principles are applied, it will quickly be seen that harmful, medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of boys is contraindicated.<ref name="tye2022"> {{REFjournal
|last=Tye
|first=
|init=MC
|author-link=
|last2=Sardi
|first2=
|init2=LM
|author2-link=Lauren Sardi
|etal=no
|title=Psychological, psychosocial, and psychosexual aspects of penile circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int J Impot Res
|date=2023-05
|volume=35
|issue=3
|pages=242-8
|url=https://www.galdef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tye-Sardi-Psycho-Aspects-of-Penile-Circumcision-IJIR-2022.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35347302
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00553-9
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-14
}}</ref> Boys are unable to grant consent due their immaturity. Parental surrrogates must protect the interest of the child patient. They are limited to granting [[surrogate consent]] for diagnosis and treatment of disease. There is no person who is empowered to grant consent for non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of a minor.<ref name="hill2002">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Informed Consent for Circumcision
|trans-title=
|journal=South Med J
|date=2002-08
|volume=95
|issue=8
|page=946
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George-Hill-3/publication/371599857_Can_Anyone_Authorize_the_Nontherapeutic_Permanent_Alteration_of_a_Child's_Body/links/648b8819c41fb852dd0949be/Can-Anyone-Authorize-the-Nontherapeutic-Permanent-Alteration-of-a-Childs-Body.pd
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=12190244
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> There are no valid indications for circumcision in the neonatal period.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Preston
|first=
|init=EN
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Whither the foreskin?
|trans-title=
|journal=JAMA
|date=1970-09-14
|volume=213
|issue=11
|article=
|page=
|pages=1853-58
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/preston/
|archived=
|quote=Routine circumcision of the newborn is an unnecessary procedure. It provides questionable benefits and is associated with a small but definite incidence of complications and hazards. These risks are preventable if the operation is not performed unless truly medically indicated. Circumcision of the newborn is a procedure that should no longer be considered routine.
|pubmedID=5468911
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.213.11.1853
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

Myers & [[Brian D. Earp| Earp]] (2020) concluded that the best age to circumcise is after the patient reached the age at which he could grant consent for his own circumcision.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-05-27
}}</ref>

[[Amputation]] of a healthy boy's [[foreskin]] without medical indication and without valid effective consent is equivalent to criminal battery.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/what-is-the-crime-of-battery.html
|title=What Is the Crime of Battery?
|last=Buckner
|first=Susan
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Findlaw
|date=2026-01-13
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> While there are no reports of an American provider being criminally charged, in the [[United Kingdom]] Dr. [[Mohammad Siddiqui]] has been struck off the Medical Register and has been criminally charged by the Crown Prosecution Service. The changing view of [[child circumcision]] has altered the atmosphere around [[child circumcision]], so a criminal charge may now be more likely than in the past.

It is more likely that a parent would bring a civil suit for injury caused by [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Adler
|first=Peter W.
|init=PW
|author-link=Peter W. Adler
|title=Is circumcision legal?
|journal=Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
|date=2013
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=439-86
|url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1265&context=jolpi
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

==PFFR in West Virginia==
Parents of a boy in [[West Virginia]] have alleged that an osteopathic physician prematurely forcibly retracted the healthy [[Foreskin#Foreskin_in_infancy_and_childhoo| foreskin of a boy]], causing great [[trauma]], [[pain]], and destructive injury to the [[synechia]] that secures the protective [[foreskin]] in place. [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] assisted the parents in the filing of a complaint against the osteopathic physician.

If true, then the osteopathic physician would appear to have violated the Second Tenet of Osteopathic Medicine.

==Videos==
===What is osteopathic medicine?===
<youtube>v=_q5U1_qudtM</youtube>
===What is Osteopathy?===
<youtube>v=OnYHanA5noU</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Forced foreskin retraction]]
* [[ICCPR]]
* [[Psychiatrist Discusses the Lasting Trauma of Circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|Osteopathic_medicine_in_the_United_States|Osteopathic medicine in the United States}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://osteopathic.org/|2026-03-18}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital surgery]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Osteopathy]]

[[Category:USA]]

West Virginia

2026-04-03T14:36:23Z

WikiModEn2: Add content.

{{Construction Site}}
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a small U.S. state in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern [[United States]]. The state is adjacent to the "circumcision belt" that runs through the midwestern United States.

==Circumcision popularity in West Virginia==
West Virginia has long enjoyed the dubious distinction of having the [[Circumcision prevalence| highest incidence]] (87%) of harmful, non-medically-indicated [[child circumcision]] in the [[United States]].
{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|West_Virginia|West Virginia}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:USA]]

West Virginia

2026-04-03T14:35:35Z

WikiModEn2: Create page.

User talk:WikiModEn2

2026-04-02T20:47:29Z

WikiModEn2:

== IntactiWiki articles created by WikiModEn2 ==
[https://en.intactiwiki.org/w/index.php?limit=500&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=WikiModEn2&newOnly=1 Here you can see all articles created by User WikiModEn2]

== Current works ==
* [[Intactivist News & More]]
* [[Sonata Learning]]

* [[The social effects of mass circumcision]]

* [[Billy Ray Boyd]]

* [[West Virginia]]

* [[Test]]

* [[αkroprint]]

== Requested articles ==
* [[Lack of medical record]] An IntactiWiki reader likes to suggest a wiki article dealing with the lack of medical recording when a circumcision is done outside a medical facility and by a non doctor. This seems to be a global issue. Thanks. --[[User:WikiAdmin|WikiAdmin]] ([[User talk:WikiAdmin|talk]]) 11:21, 13 May 2025 (CEST)

Puberty

2026-04-01T21:02:09Z

WikiModEn2: Add external link.

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is the period in human development when a child gradually changes into an adult, during which physical growth and sexual maturation occurs.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/puberty
|title=Puberty
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Farlex Medical Dictionary
|date=
|accessdate=2025-09-28
}}</ref>

==Start of puberty==
Puberty begins when the hypothalumus, which is part of the brain, produces a hormone that stimulates the pituitary gland, which then produces hormones called gonadotrophins that stimulate the gonads and adrenals. Gonads are the testes in males and the ovaries in females. The gonads then produce a flood of sexual hormones that stimulate growth and development of the sexual organs in both genders and in the breasts of females.

Females usually start puberty at about 10.5 years of age, and males start about a year later.<ref name="cleveland2024">{{REFweb
|url=https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/puberty
|title=Puberty
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Cleveland Clinic
|date=2024-08-26
|accessdate=2025-09-28
}}</ref>

===Precocious puberty===
Puberty sometimes starts early. When it does, it is called ''precocious puberty''. Puberty that starts before eight years in girls and nine years in boys is considered to be [https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21064-precocious-early-puberty precocious puberty].<ref name="cleveland2024" />

==Onset of sexual function==
Menstruation usually occurs at about 12.5 years of age, while first [[ejaculation]] usually occurs at about 13 years of age.

If a [[foreskinned]] boy's [[foreskin]] has not become retractable prior to puberty, then it will almost certainly become retractable during puberty.<ref name="Øster1968">{{OesterJ 1968}}</ref> <ref name="kayaba1996">{{REFjournal
|last=Kayaba
|init=H
|last2=Tamura
|init2=H
|last3=Kitajima
|init3=S
|etal=yes
|title=Analysis of shape and retractability of the prepuce in 603 Japanese boys
|journal=J Urol
|volume=156
|issue=5
|pages=1813-1815
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/kayaba/
|quote=
|pubmedID=8863623
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1996-11-01
|accessdate=2025-09-28
}}</ref> <ref name="agarwal2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Agarwal
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Mohta
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Anand
|first3=
|init3=RK
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Preputial retraction in children
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg
|location=
|date=2005-04
|season=
|volume=10
|issue=2
|article=
|pages=89-91
|url=https://journals.lww.com/jiap/fulltext/2005/10020/preputial_retraction_in_children.5.aspx
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.4103/0971-9261.16468
|accessdate=2025-09-28
}}</ref>

==Tanner stages==
Dr [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mourilyan_Tanner James Mourilyan Tanner], a British paediatric endocrinologist, created [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanner_scale Tanner stages], which describe the progress of puberty through five stages.<ref name="cleveland2024" /> <ref>{{REFbook
|last=Emmanuel
|first=Mickey
|init=
|last2=Bokor
|first2=Brooke R
|init2=
|year=2022
|title=Tanner Stages
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470280/
|scope=
|location=
|publisher=StatPearls
|ISBN=
|accessdate=2025-09-29
}}</ref>

==End of puberty==
Puberty typically lasts for 2 to 5 years. It usually ends for girls at age 15 to 17, and for boys at age 16 to 17.<ref name="cleveland2024" />

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Development of retractable foreskin]]
* [[Fusions and adhesions]]
* [[Masturbation]]
* [[Puberty books for teen boys]]
* [[Stretching]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|Puberty|Puberty}}
* {{REFweb
|title=How Long Does Puberty Last For Boys
|url=https://wikionlymen.com/how-long-does-puberty-last-for-boys/
|archived=
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=Wiki Only Men
|website=https://wikionlymen.com/
|date=2022-09-12
|accessdate=2026-01-28
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://growingupboys.info/tanner-stage-calculator-for-boys/
|title=Tanner Stage Calculator for Boys
|last=Hamilton
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Growing Up in the Lord for Boys
|date=2020
|accessdate=2026-04-01
}}
* {{REFweb
|title=Puberty info for boys blog.
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/pubertyinfoforboys/
|publisher=Reddit
|accessdate=2026-02-22
}}

==Dedication==
This page is dedicated to Ethan, who inspired its creation.

{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Educational]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Teen]]

Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine

2026-04-01T19:49:43Z

WikiModEn2: /* 4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function. */ Revise text and Wikify.

Osteopathic medicine is practiced in parallel alongside of allopathic medicine in the [[United States]].

The [https://osteopathic.org/ American Osteopathic Association] (AOA) is the [[medical trade association]] for osteopathic doctors (DOs). The AOA has not enunciated a position regarding male circumcision, however the AOA has adopted four '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' that may be applied to both [[child circumcision]] and [[adult circumcision]]. The Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine express the underlying philosophy of osteopathic medicine and were approved by the AOA House of Delegates as policy.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/aoa-governance-documents/tenets-of-osteopathic-medicine/
|title=Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> The tenets were last reaffirmed by resolution of the Ad Hoc Committee on 22 July 2023.<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Sunset Res. No. H608 - A/2023
|url=https://osteopathic.org/index.php?aam-media=/wp-content/uploads/past-resolutions/H608-A2023-SR-Tenets-of-Osteopathic-Medicine.pdf
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|format=PDF
|date=2023-07-22
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

It is estimated, that by 2030, 20 percent of U.S. physicians will be Doctors of Osteopathy.

==Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine==
The four tenets of osteopathic medicine provide for treatment and well-being of the whole person. Allopathic medicine has nothing comparable.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-wiki/allopathic-medicine/
|title=What is Allopathic medicine?
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com
|date=2024-06-03
|accessdate=2026-03-31
}}</ref>
===1. The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind and spirit.===
The harmful, adverse effects of [[circumcision]] upon the human person had, until recently, been ignored for many decades. Now there is increasing evidence of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and disability caused by [[amputation]] of the multi-functional [[foreskin]] portion of the [[penis]] upon the [[Sexual injury of circumcision| sexual]] and [[Psychological injury of male circumcision| psychological]] well-being of the human person.<ref name="hill2007">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=Finally, we must remember that males are the more vulnerableand sensitive of the two genders and, therefore, deserve the greater degree of protection from traumatic, invasive, injurious, and unnecessary surgery.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref><ref name="andersen2026">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
}}</ref> [[Amputation]] and lost of [https://circumcision.org/functions-of-the-foreskin/ function] may induce [[depression]] and even [[suicide]]. It is clear that unwanted [[circumcision]] makes many men very angry.<ref name="chapin2022">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022
|quote=But we need to listen to the growing number of men speaking out about having been violated as babies when an essential (i.e., of its essence) part of their penis was forcibly severed. And we must ask ourselves whether the nearly ubiquitous violation of baby boys as a class of people and the assembly-line acts of violence carried out upon individual newborns might be responsible for at least some of the rage, pain and feelings of impotence that underlie the epidemic of mass killings we are witnessing today.
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}</ref>

===2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.===
[[Charles Darwin]] (1859) observed that survival of the fittest caused evolution. The [[foreskin]] was created and improved by [[Evolution of the foreskin| evolution]] to provide protection of the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. [[Paul M. Fleiss| Fleiss]], [[Frederick M. Hodges| Hodges]] & [[Robert S. Van Howe| Van Howe]] (1998) enumerated numerous ways in which the foreskin protects against [[infection]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological Functions of the Human Prepuce
|journal= Sex Transm Infect
|date=1998-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/fleiss3/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref>

The [[foreskin]] [[Development of retractable foreskin| develops throughout childhood]] invariably without medical intervention. It could hardly be otherwise, since human genitalia evolved over 100,000+ years without medical assistance of any kind<ref name="agarwal2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Agarwal
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Mohta
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Anand
|first3=
|init3=RK
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Preputial retraction in children
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg
|location=
|date=2005-04
|season=
|volume=10
|issue=2
|article=
|pages=89-91
|url=https://journals.lww.com/jiap/fulltext/2005/10020/preputial_retraction_in_children.5.aspx
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.4103/0971-9261.16468
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref> [[Forced foreskin retraction]] is harmful, [[trauma| traumatic]], painful, injurious, inappropriate, and inconsistent with the tenets of osteopathic medicine. The practice frequently generates a parental complaint of gratuitous clinical injury filed with state and federal medical authorities. ([[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] offers a free service to help parents file complaints.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/help-with-forcible-foreskin-retraction/pffr-data-collection-form/
|title=PFFR Data Collection Form
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|accessdate=2026-03-24
}}</ref>)

===3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.===
The human [[penis]] and its [[foreskin]] are excellent examples of the truth of this tenet. The penis and foreskin consist of specialized tissues ideally suited for their functions.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

===4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function.===
When these basic principles are applied, it will quickly be seen that harmful, medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of boys is contraindicated.<ref name="tye2022"> {{REFjournal
|last=Tye
|first=
|init=MC
|author-link=
|last2=Sardi
|first2=
|init2=LM
|author2-link=Lauren Sardi
|etal=no
|title=Psychological, psychosocial, and psychosexual aspects of penile circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int J Impot Res
|date=2023-05
|volume=35
|issue=3
|pages=242-8
|url=https://www.galdef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tye-Sardi-Psycho-Aspects-of-Penile-Circumcision-IJIR-2022.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35347302
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00553-9
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-14
}}</ref> Boys are unable to grant consent due their immaturity. Parental surrrogates must protect the interest of the child patient. They are limited to granting [[surrogate consent]] for diagnosis and treatment of disease. There is no person who is empowered to grant consent for non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of a minor.<ref name="hill2002">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Informed Consent for Circumcision
|trans-title=
|journal=South Med J
|date=2002-08
|volume=95
|issue=8
|page=946
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George-Hill-3/publication/371599857_Can_Anyone_Authorize_the_Nontherapeutic_Permanent_Alteration_of_a_Child's_Body/links/648b8819c41fb852dd0949be/Can-Anyone-Authorize-the-Nontherapeutic-Permanent-Alteration-of-a-Childs-Body.pd
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=12190244
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> There are no valid indications for circumcision in the neonatal period.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Preston
|first=
|init=EN
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Whither the foreskin?
|trans-title=
|journal=JAMA
|date=1970-09-14
|volume=213
|issue=11
|article=
|page=
|pages=1853-58
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/preston/
|archived=
|quote=Routine circumcision of the newborn is an unnecessary procedure. It provides questionable benefits and is associated with a small but definite incidence of complications and hazards. These risks are preventable if the operation is not performed unless truly medically indicated. Circumcision of the newborn is a procedure that should no longer be considered routine.
|pubmedID=5468911
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.213.11.1853
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

Myers & [[Brian D. Earp| Earp]] (2020) concluded that the best age to circumcise is after the patient reached the age at which he could grant consent for his own circumcision.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-05-27
}}</ref>

[[Amputation]] of a healthy boy's [[foreskin]] without medical indication and without valid effective consent is equivalent to criminal battery.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/what-is-the-crime-of-battery.html
|title=What Is the Crime of Battery?
|last=Buckner
|first=Susan
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Findlaw
|date=2026-01-13
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> While there are no reports of an American provider being criminally charged, in the [[United Kingdom]] Dr. [[Mohammad Siddiqui]] has been struck off the Medical Register and has been criminally charged by the Crown Prosecution Service. The changing view of [[child circumcision]] has altered the atmosphere around [[child circumcision]], so a criminal charge may now be more likely than in the past.

It is more likely that a parent would bring a civil suit for injury caused by [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Adler
|first=Peter W.
|init=PW
|author-link=Peter W. Adler
|title=Is circumcision legal?
|journal=Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
|date=2013
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=439-86
|url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1265&context=jolpi
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

==PFFR in West Virginia==
Parents of a boy in West Virginia have alleged that an osteopathic physician prematurely forcibly retracted the healthy [[Foreskin#Foreskin_in_infancy_and_childhoo| foreskin of a boy]], causing great [[trauma]], [[pain]], and destructive injury to the [[synechia]] that secures the protective [[foreskin]] in place. [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] assisted the parents in the filing of a complaint against the osteopathic physician.

If true, then the osteopathic physician would appear to have violated the Second Tenet of Osteopathic Medicine.

==Videos==
===What is osteopathic medicine?===
<youtube>v=_q5U1_qudtM</youtube>
===What is Osteopathy?===
<youtube>v=OnYHanA5noU</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Forced foreskin retraction]]
* [[ICCPR]]
* [[Psychiatrist Discusses the Lasting Trauma of Circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|Osteopathic_medicine_in_the_United_States|Osteopathic medicine in the United States}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://osteopathic.org/|2026-03-18}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital surgery]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Osteopathy]]

[[Category:USA]]

Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine

2026-04-01T19:33:30Z

WikiModEn2: /* 2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance. */

Osteopathic medicine is practiced in parallel alongside of allopathic medicine in the [[United States]].

The [https://osteopathic.org/ American Osteopathic Association] (AOA) is the [[medical trade association]] for osteopathic doctors (DOs). The AOA has not enunciated a position regarding male circumcision, however the AOA has adopted four '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' that may be applied to both [[child circumcision]] and [[adult circumcision]]. The Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine express the underlying philosophy of osteopathic medicine and were approved by the AOA House of Delegates as policy.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/aoa-governance-documents/tenets-of-osteopathic-medicine/
|title=Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> The tenets were last reaffirmed by resolution of the Ad Hoc Committee on 22 July 2023.<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Sunset Res. No. H608 - A/2023
|url=https://osteopathic.org/index.php?aam-media=/wp-content/uploads/past-resolutions/H608-A2023-SR-Tenets-of-Osteopathic-Medicine.pdf
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|format=PDF
|date=2023-07-22
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

It is estimated, that by 2030, 20 percent of U.S. physicians will be Doctors of Osteopathy.

==Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine==
The four tenets of osteopathic medicine provide for treatment and well-being of the whole person. Allopathic medicine has nothing comparable.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-wiki/allopathic-medicine/
|title=What is Allopathic medicine?
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com
|date=2024-06-03
|accessdate=2026-03-31
}}</ref>
===1. The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind and spirit.===
The harmful, adverse effects of [[circumcision]] upon the human person had, until recently, been ignored for many decades. Now there is increasing evidence of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and disability caused by [[amputation]] of the multi-functional [[foreskin]] portion of the [[penis]] upon the [[Sexual injury of circumcision| sexual]] and [[Psychological injury of male circumcision| psychological]] well-being of the human person.<ref name="hill2007">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=Finally, we must remember that males are the more vulnerableand sensitive of the two genders and, therefore, deserve the greater degree of protection from traumatic, invasive, injurious, and unnecessary surgery.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref><ref name="andersen2026">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
}}</ref> [[Amputation]] and lost of [https://circumcision.org/functions-of-the-foreskin/ function] may induce [[depression]] and even [[suicide]]. It is clear that unwanted [[circumcision]] makes many men very angry.<ref name="chapin2022">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022
|quote=But we need to listen to the growing number of men speaking out about having been violated as babies when an essential (i.e., of its essence) part of their penis was forcibly severed. And we must ask ourselves whether the nearly ubiquitous violation of baby boys as a class of people and the assembly-line acts of violence carried out upon individual newborns might be responsible for at least some of the rage, pain and feelings of impotence that underlie the epidemic of mass killings we are witnessing today.
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}</ref>

===2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.===
[[Charles Darwin]] (1859) observed that survival of the fittest caused evolution. The [[foreskin]] was created and improved by [[Evolution of the foreskin| evolution]] to provide protection of the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. [[Paul M. Fleiss| Fleiss]], [[Frederick M. Hodges| Hodges]] & [[Robert S. Van Howe| Van Howe]] (1998) enumerated numerous ways in which the foreskin protects against [[infection]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological Functions of the Human Prepuce
|journal= Sex Transm Infect
|date=1998-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/fleiss3/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref>

The [[foreskin]] [[Development of retractable foreskin| develops throughout childhood]] invariably without medical intervention. It could hardly be otherwise, since human genitalia evolved over 100,000+ years without medical assistance of any kind<ref name="agarwal2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Agarwal
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Mohta
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Anand
|first3=
|init3=RK
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Preputial retraction in children
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg
|location=
|date=2005-04
|season=
|volume=10
|issue=2
|article=
|pages=89-91
|url=https://journals.lww.com/jiap/fulltext/2005/10020/preputial_retraction_in_children.5.aspx
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.4103/0971-9261.16468
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref> [[Forced foreskin retraction]] is harmful, [[trauma| traumatic]], painful, injurious, inappropriate, and inconsistent with the tenets of osteopathic medicine. The practice frequently generates a parental complaint of gratuitous clinical injury filed with state and federal medical authorities. ([[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] offers a free service to help parents file complaints.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/help-with-forcible-foreskin-retraction/pffr-data-collection-form/
|title=PFFR Data Collection Form
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|accessdate=2026-03-24
}}</ref>)

===3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.===
The human [[penis]] and its [[foreskin]] are excellent examples of the truth of this tenet. The penis and foreskin consist of specialized tissues ideally suited for their functions.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

===4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function.===
When these basic principles are applied, it will quickly be seen that harmful, medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of boys is contraindicated.<ref name="tye2022"> {{REFjournal
|last=Tye
|first=
|init=MC
|author-link=
|last2=Sardi
|first2=
|init2=LM
|author2-link=Lauren Sardi
|etal=no
|title=Psychological, psychosocial, and psychosexual aspects of penile circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int J Impot Res
|date=2023-05
|volume=35
|issue=3
|pages=242-8
|url=https://www.galdef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tye-Sardi-Psycho-Aspects-of-Penile-Circumcision-IJIR-2022.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35347302
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00553-9
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-14
}}</ref> Boys are unable to grant consent due their immaturity. Parental surrrogates must protect the interest of the child patient. They are limited to granting [[surrogate consent]] for diagnosis and treatment of disease. There is no person who is empowered to grant consent for non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of a minor.<ref name="hill2002">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Informed Consent for Circumcision
|trans-title=
|journal=South Med J
|date=2002-08
|volume=95
|issue=8
|page=946
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George-Hill-3/publication/371599857_Can_Anyone_Authorize_the_Nontherapeutic_Permanent_Alteration_of_a_Child's_Body/links/648b8819c41fb852dd0949be/Can-Anyone-Authorize-the-Nontherapeutic-Permanent-Alteration-of-a-Childs-Body.pd
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=12190244
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> There are no valid indications for circumcision in the neonatal period.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Preston
|first=
|init=EN
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Whither the foreskin?
|trans-title=
|journal=JAMA
|date=1970-09-14
|volume=213
|issue=11
|article=
|page=
|pages=1853-58
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/preston/
|archived=
|quote=Routine circumcision of the newborn is an unnecessary procedure. It provides questionable benefits and is associated with a small but definite incidence of complications and hazards. These risks are preventable if the operation is not performed unless truly medically indicated. Circumcision of the newborn is a procedure that should no longer be considered routine.
|pubmedID=5468911
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.213.11.1853
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

Myers & [[Brian D. Earp| Earp]] (2020) concluded that the best age to circumcise is after the patient reached the age at which he could grant consent for his own circumcision.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-05-27
}}</ref>

[[Amputation]] of a healthy boy's [[foreskin]] without medical indication and without valid effective consent is equivalent to criminal battery.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/what-is-the-crime-of-battery.html
|title=What Is the Crime of Battery?
|last=Buckner
|first=Susan
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Findlaw
|date=2026-01-13
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> While there are no reports of a provider being criminally charged, the changing view of [[child circumcision]] has altered the atmosphere around [[child circumcision]], so a criminal charge may now be more likely than in the past.

It is more likely that a parent would bring a civil suit for injury caused by [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Adler
|first=Peter W.
|init=PW
|author-link=Peter W. Adler
|title=Is circumcision legal?
|journal=Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
|date=2013
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=439-86
|url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1265&context=jolpi
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

==PFFR in West Virginia==
Parents of a boy in West Virginia have alleged that an osteopathic physician prematurely forcibly retracted the healthy [[Foreskin#Foreskin_in_infancy_and_childhoo| foreskin of a boy]], causing great [[trauma]], [[pain]], and destructive injury to the [[synechia]] that secures the protective [[foreskin]] in place. [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] assisted the parents in the filing of a complaint against the osteopathic physician.

If true, then the osteopathic physician would appear to have violated the Second Tenet of Osteopathic Medicine.

==Videos==
===What is osteopathic medicine?===
<youtube>v=_q5U1_qudtM</youtube>
===What is Osteopathy?===
<youtube>v=OnYHanA5noU</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Forced foreskin retraction]]
* [[ICCPR]]
* [[Psychiatrist Discusses the Lasting Trauma of Circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|Osteopathic_medicine_in_the_United_States|Osteopathic medicine in the United States}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://osteopathic.org/|2026-03-18}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital surgery]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Osteopathy]]

[[Category:USA]]

Erogenous sensation of the foreskin

2026-04-01T14:03:27Z

WikiModEn2: /* No Foreskin (Johnny’s Song) */ Add external link.

Anatomical investigations have identified the prepuce as a primary erogenous zone in humans.<ref name="ErogenousZones">{{WinkelmannRK 1959}}</ref>

Morgan (1967) addressed the issue in the ''Medical Journal of Australia'':
<blockquote>
The subcutaneous tissue of the [[glans]] is provided with special sensory receptors that are concerned with appreciating the pleasurable sensations that occur during coitus. They are stimulated normally only when the glans is exposed. In the [[circumcised]] subject these receptors are constantly stimulated and lose their sensitivity. During the act of coitus, the [[uncircumcised]] phallus penetrates smoothly and without friction, the prepuce gradually retracting as the organ advances. In contrast, when the [[circumcised]] organ is introduced during coitus, friction develops between the glans and the vaginal [[mucosa]].<ref name="morgan1967">{{REFjournal
|last=Morgan
|first=William Keith C.
|init=WKC
|author-link=William Keith Campbell Morgan
|etal=No
|title=Penile Plunder
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Med J Aust
|location=
|date=1967-05-27
|volume=1
|issue=21
|pages=1102-3
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/general/morgan2/
|quote=
|pubmedID=4226264
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2024-08-18
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Falliers (1970) commented on the "sensory pleasure induced by tactile stimulation of the foreskin."<ref name="falliers1970">{{REFjournal
|last=Falliers
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1970-12
|volume=214
|issue=12
|article=
|page=2194
|pages=
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/general/falliers1/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=5536586
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2021-11-17
}}</ref> Even vibrations and bumps in car rides can stimulate the foreskin.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1j1y3dx/vibrations_from_bass/
|title=Vibrations from Bass
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-03-02
|accessdate=2025-03-05
}}</ref>

For over a hundred years, anatomical research has confirmed that both the penile and clitoral prepuce ([[foreskin]]) are richly innervated, specific erogenous tissue with specialised encapsulated (corpuscular) sensory receptors, such as [[Meissner's corpuscles]],<ref name="garcía-mesa2021">{{REFjournal
|last=García-Mesa
|first=Yolanda
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=García-Piqueras
|first2=Jorge
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Cobo
|first3=Ramón
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Martín-Cruces
|first4=José
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Suazo
|first5=Iván
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Suárez
|first6=Olivia
|init6=
|author6-link=
|last7=Feito
|first7=Jorge
|init7=
|author7-link=
|last8=
|first8=Vega
|init8=José A.
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Anatomy
|location=
|date=2021-10
|volume=239
|issue=4
|article=
|page=
|pages=892-902
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joa.13481
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=34120333
|pubmedCID=8450466
|DOI=10.1111/joa.13481
|accessdate=2021-11-15
}}</ref> Pacinian corpuscles, genital corpuscles, Krause end bulbs, Ruffini corpuscles, and mucocutaneous corpuscles. These receptors transmit sensations of fine touch, pressure, proprioception, and temperature.<ref name="Nervenendigungen">{{REFjournal
|last=Dogiel
|init=AS
|title=Die Nervenendigungen in der Schleimhaut der äusseren Genitalorgane des Menschen
|trans-title=Nerve endings in a mucous membrane of external genital organs of the human
|language=German
|journal=Archiv für Mikroskopische Anatomie
|volume=41
|issue=
|pages=585-612
|url=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1893
|accessdate=2021-06-21
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Dogiel
|init=AS
|title=Über die Nervenendapparate in der Haut des Menschen
|trans-title=About the nerve end apparatuses in the human [[skin]]
|language=German
|journal=Ztschr Wiss Zool
|volume=75
|issue=
|pages=46-111
|url=h
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1903
|accessdate=2021-06-21
}}</ref><ref name="Ohmori">{{REFjournal
|last=Ohmori
|init=D
|title=Über die Entwicklung der Innervation der Genitalapparate als peripheren Aufnahmeapperat der genitalen Reflexe
|trans-title=About development of the innervation of the genital apparatuses as a peripheral recording device of the genital reflexes
|language=German
|journal=Zeitschrift für Anatomie und Entwicklungsgeschichte
|volume=70
|issue=1
|pages=347-410
|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02117201
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1924
|accessdate=2021-06-21
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Yamada
|init=K
|title=Studies in the innervation in tenth month human embryo
|journal=Tohoku J Exper Med
|date=1951
|volume=54
|page=151
|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/tjem1920/54/2/54_2_151/_pdf
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Yamada
|init=K
|title=On the sensory nerve terminations in clitoris in human adult
|journal=Tohoku J Exper Med
|year=1951
|volume=54
|pages=163-174
|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/tjem1920/54/2/54_2_163/_article/-char/ja/
}}</ref><ref name="CutaneousInnervation">{{REFjournal
|last=Winkelmann
|init=RK
|title=The cutaneous innervation of human newborn prepuce
|journal=Journal of investigative dermatology
|volume=26
|issue=1
|pages=53–67
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/winkelmann2/
|quote=
|pubmedID=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13295637?dopt=Abstract
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1956
|accessdate=2020-04-30
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Winkelmann
|init=RK
|title=The mucocutaneous end-organ
|journal=Arch Dermatol
|volume=76
|issue=
|pages=225-235
|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/525127
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1957
|accessdate=2021-06-21
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Krantz
|init=KE
|title=Innervation of the human vulva and vagina: a microscopic study
|journal=Obstet Gynecol
|volume=12
|issue=
|pages=382-96
|url=https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Citation/1958/10000/Innervation_of_the_Human_Vulva_and_Vagina__A.4.aspx
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1958
|accessdate=2021-06-21
}}</ref><ref name="ErogenousZones"/><ref>{{REFbook
|last=Butler
|init=AB
|last2=Hodos
|init2=W
|year=1996
|title=Comparative Vertebrate Neuroanatomy: Evolution and Adaptation
|url=
|work=
|editor=
|edition=26
|volume=
|chapter=
|pages=
|location=
|publisher=Wiley-Liss
|isbn=0471210056
|quote=
|accessdate=
|note=
}}</ref>

== Nerve types ==

The two primary sensory receptors in primate [[skin]] are free nerve endings and encapsulated or corpuscular receptors. While free nerve endings (pain, itch, and temperature receptors) are found in most [[skin]], the encapsulated receptors are concentrated in regions that require specialised touch sensitivity, such as at the fingertips, lips, external genitalia, perianal [[skin]], and transition areas between [[skin]] and [[Mucosa| mucous membranes]].<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Stenn
|first=K.S.
|init=KS
|last2=Bhawan
|first2=J.
|init2=J
|chapter=The normal histology of the skin
|editors=Farmer E.R. / Hood A.F.
|title=Pathology of the Skin
|location=Norwalk, CT
|publisher=Appleton and Lange
|year=1990
}}</ref>

Handler & Ginty (2021) described four types of low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) found in glabrous skin — the Merkel cell complex, Meissner corpuscle, Pacinian corpuscle, and Ruffini ending.<ref name="handler2021">{{REFjournal
|last=Handler
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Ginty
|first2=
|init2=DD
|author2-link=David D. Ginty
|etal=no
|title=The mechanosensory neurons of touch and their mechanisms of activation
|journal=Nat Rev Neurosci
|date=2021-09
|volume=22
|issue=9
|pages=521-37
|url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8485761/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=34312536
|pubmedCID=8485761
|DOI=10.1038/s41583-021-00489-x
|accessdate=2026-01-15
}}</ref>

The innervation of the [[foreskin]] is impressive <ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Moldwin
|init=RM
|last2=Valderrama
|init2=E
|title=Immunohistochemical analysis of nerve distribution patterns within preputial tissues
|journal=J Urol
|date=1989-04
|volume=141
|issue=4
|page=499A
}}</ref> The [[foreskin]] is what's known as a ''specific erogenous zone''.<ref name="ErogenousZones"/> This means that it is richly equipped with a high density and concentration of specialized and sophisticated nerve receptors that convey pleasure.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021" /> The presence of specialized nerves, nerves that do no not exist elsewhere, make this part of the [[penis]] especially important. Consequently, this has been studied in detail by respected anatomists for over a century, who have transformed their knowledge by detailed empirical observation of the nerves that are present in the [[foreskin]].

As the most richly innervated part of the [[penis]], the [[foreskin]] has the largest number of nerve receptors, as well as the greatest variety of nerve receptors.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021"/> These specialized nerve endings include:

* [[Meissner's corpuscles]],<ref name="garcía-mesa2021"/><ref name="Mucosa">{{TaylorJR LockwoodAP TaylorAJ 1996}}</ref>

* free nerve endings, end bulbs of Krause,<ref name="Nervenendigungen"/><ref name="Depth">{{REFjournal
|last=Bazett
|init=HC
|last2=McGlone
|init2=B
|last3=Williams
|init3=RG
|last4=Lufkin
|init4=HM
|title=Depth, distribution and probable identification in the prepuce of sensory end-organs concerned in sensations of temperature and touch; thermometric conductivity
|journal=Archives of Neurology and psychiatry
|volume=27
|issue=3
|pages=489-517
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/bazett/
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=March 1932
|accessdate=2020-04-27
}}</ref>

* Corpuscles of Ruffini,<ref name="Depth"/>

* Pacinian corpuscles,<ref name="Ohmori"/>

* genital end bulbs <ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Halata
|init=Z
|last2=Munger
|init2=BL
|title=The neuroanatomical basis for the protopathic sensibility of the human glans penis
|journal=Brain Res
|date=1986-04-23
|volume=371
|issue=2
|pages=205-230
}}</ref>

* Genital bodies,<ref name="Ohmori"/>

* Merkels disks, Golgi-Mazzoni corpuscles,<ref name="Ohmori"/>

* and Vater-Pacinian corpuscles.<ref name="CutaneousInnervation"/>

[[Bud Berkeley| Berkeley]] (1993) reported that the [[foreskin]] hangs quietly without generating much sensation until motion occurs, when it comes alive with pleasurable sensations.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Berkeley
|first=Bud
|init=
|year=1993
|title=Foreskin: A Closer Look
|url=https://www.amazon.com/Foreskin-Closer-Look-Bud-Berkeley/dp/1555832121/
|scope=
|location=
|publisher=Alyson Books
|ISBN=78-1555832124
|accessdate=2025-01-21
}}</ref>

These remarkable organs provide the [[foreskin]] with its amazing ability to detect the slightest sensations of touch, motion, temperature, and pressure. We are still unaware of all the facts about these fascinating structures. Future research may discover even more nerve receptors in the foreskin and help clarify what purposes they serve. The primary zones of erogenous sensitivity are the [[frenulum]], [[ridged band]] of [[Preputial mucosa|mucosa]], and the preputial orifice and the external fold of the [[foreskin]]. All of these zones are orgasmic triggers. Continuous gentle stimulation of any one of these areas can elicit pleasure, [[erection]], orgasm, and [[ejaculation]]. Some men report that simple retraction of their [[foreskin]] causes [[erection]].

== Meissner's corpuscles ==

[[Image:Meissner's corpuscle.jpg|right|thumb|Meissner's corpuscle.]]

Distributed on various areas of the [[skin]], but concentrated in areas especially sensitive to light touch, such as the fingers, lips, nipples and foreskin.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Cauna
|first=Nikolajs
|init=N
|last2=Ross
|first2=Leonard L.
|init2=LL
|title=The fine structure of [[Meissner's corpuscles|Meissner's touch corpuscles]] of human fingers
|journal=Journal of Cell Biology
|volume=8
|issue=2
|date=1960
|pages=467-482
|DOI=10.1083/jcb.8.2.467
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Hoffmann
|etal=yes
|title=Meissner corpuscles and somatosensory acuity
|journal=Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol
|date=2004
|pages=1138.1147
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Bongiorno
|etal=yes
|title=Neurofibromatosis of the nipple-areolar area: a case series
|journal=Journal of Medical Case Reports
|volume=4
|issue=22
|date=2010-12-27
|DOI=10.1186/1752-1947-4-22
}}</ref><ref>{{REFbook
|last=Martini
|last2=Bartholomew
|title=Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology
|edition=3
|publisher=Pearson Benjamin Cummings
|year=2010
}}</ref><ref>{{REFbook
|last=Afifi
|last2=Bergman
|title=Functional neuroanatomy: text and atlas
|publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional
|year=1998
|edition=16
|isbn=0070015899
}}</ref> They are concentrated in areas of the body denoted as erogenous zones, which include the foreskin, [[clitoris]], lip and nipple.<ref name="ErogenousZones"/> J. R. Taylor (1996) noted their presence in the foreskin,<ref name="Mucosa"/> and C.J. Cold & Taylor (1999) reported "Most of the encapsulated receptors of the foreskin are [[Meissner's corpuscles|Meissner corpuscles]], as they contact the epithelial basement membrane."<ref>{{
REFjournal
|last=Cold
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=Taylor
|init2=JR
|title=The prepuce
|journal=British Journal of Urology International
|volume=83
|date=1999
|pages=34-44
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/cold-taylor/
|pubmedID=10349413
}}</ref> Early observations were noted by A.S. Dogiel (1893),<ref name="Nervenendigungen"/> D. Ohmori (1924),<ref name="Ohmori"/> and H. C. Bazett (1935),<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Bazett
|init=HC
|title=Methods of investigation of sensation in man and the theoretical value of the results obtained
|journal=Proc A Research Nerv Ment Dis
|volume=15
|date=1935
|pages=83-97
}}</ref> reported the presence of [[Meissner's corpuscles]] in the foreskin. Haiyang et al. (2005) found and measured the density of [[Meissner's corpuscles]] on the foreskin.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Haiyang
|etal=yes
|title=Observation of Meissner's corpuscle in abundant prepuce and phimosis
|journal=Journal of Modern Urology
|url=http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-MNWK200504018.htm
|date=2005
}}</ref> Dong et al. (2007) reported that the quantity of [[Meissner's corpuscles]] on the fused smooth [[mucosa]] of the foreskin decline with age, but not on the ridged band.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Dong
|etal=yes
|title=Observation of Meissner's corpuscle on fused phimosis
|journal=Journal of Guangdong Medical College
|url=http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-GDYY200701004.htm
|date=2007
|ISSN=1005-4057.0.2007-01-004
}}</ref>

Meissner's corpuscles receive additional stimulation when the [[foreskin]] is moved or stretched.<ref name="hill2003">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|url=https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/30/foreskin-motion-generates-meissner-corpuscle-stimulation
|title=Foreskin motion generates Meissner corpuscle stimulation
|journal=BMJ
|date=2003-12-16
|volume=309
|pages=679
|accessdate=2024-12-06
}}</ref>

== Ridged Band ==

In 1991 the [[ridged band]] of the male prepuce was identified as a concentrated area of corpuscular receptors.<ref name="Mucosa"/>

== Fine-touch sensitivity ==

[[Image:Fine-Touch-Pressure-Thresholds-in-the-Adult-Penis_IntactWiki.gif|right|thumb|Fine Touch Pressure Thresholds in the Adult Penis.]]

The [[foreskin]] has important sexual nerve receptors that are removed during [[circumcision]].<ref name="CutaneousInnervation"/><ref name="ErogenousZones"/><ref name="Mucosa"/><ref name="cold1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Cold
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=Taylor
|init2=JR
|title=The prepuce
|journal=British Journal of Urology International
|volume=83
|date=1999
|pages=34-44
|url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10349413?dopt=Abstract
|pubmedID=10349413
}}</ref> [[Circumcision]] excises the most sensitive part of a man's [[penis]]. The five most sensitive areas of the [[penis]] are on the [[foreskin]]. The transitional region from the external to the internal foreskin is the most sensitive region of the fully [[intact]] penis, and more sensitive than the most sensitive region of the [[circumcised]] [[penis]].<ref name="FineTouchPressure">{{REFjournal
|last=Sorrells
|first=Morris L.
|init=ML
|author-link=Morris L. Sorrells
|last2=Snyder
|first2=James L.
|init2=JD
|author2-link=James L. Snyder
|title=Fine-touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis
|journal=BJU International
|volume=99
|issue=4
|pages=864–869
|url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17378847?dopt=Abstract
|quote=
|pubmedID=17378847
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=2007-10-22
|accessdate=2019-09-10
}}</ref>

In a 2007 study, which was published in ''BJU International'', The researchers physically measured the sensitivity of all the parts of the [[penis]]. They used a very accurate pressure sensing probe while the test subject, who’s view was blocked with a screen, reported a sensation of touch. To demonstrate precision they took each measurement multiple times. To no surprise, their results corroborated with the neuro-anatomy that has been discussed previously.<ref name="FineTouchPressure" />

"Five locations on the [[foreskinned]] [[penis]] that are routinely removed at [[circumcision]] were more sensitive than the most sensitive location on the circumcised penis[...] The [[glans]] in the [[circumcised]] male is less sensitive to fine-touch pressure than the glans of the [[uncircumcised]] male[...]The most sensitive location on the circumcised penis is the [[circumcision scar]] on the ventral surface [...] When compared to the most sensitive area of the [[circumcised]] [[penis]], several locations on the [[uncircumcised]] penis that are missing from the [[circumcised]] [[penis]] were significantly more sensitive."<ref name="FineTouchPressure"/>

[[Image:Sorrells_AAP.jpg|right|thumb|AAP skepticism that loss of foreskin could actually affect sex.]]

==Sorrells study of penis fine-touch sensation.==

At right is an easy-to-understand illustration of the Sorrells study<ref name="FineTouchPressure" /> showing the loss of tissues. Tissues show in color their relative sensitivity thresholds to light touch. sensitive tissue. On the infographic's opposite side: The AAP's expressed skepticism (quotes from their now expired 2012 Circumcision task force report) on whether loss of all that erogenous tissue could really affect sexual enjoyment.

Arguably, claiming there's no evidence that circumcision diminishes sexual enjoyment is essentially implying the obverse: that it's perfectly safe and reasonable to assume that the human foreskin, despite evolving over millions of years, has no anatomical significance in sexual mechanics, and has zero relevance to sexual pleasure and satisfaction. That statement sounds immediately absurd, however.

García-Mesa et al. (2021) reported: "[s]timulation of genital
Meissner's corpuscles gives rise to sexual sensations."<ref name="garcía-mesa2021" />
==The circumcised penis==
The nerves and other structures mentioned in this article are largely missing on the [[circumcised]] [[penis]]. Moreover, it is more difficult to stimulate the circumcised penis because of the lack of [[gliding action]].

[[Foreskinned]] men who elect to be [[circumcised]] frequently report very substantial loss of sensation after [[Adolescent and adult circumcision| circumcision]] and may become [[regret men]].

==Conflict between medical literature and personal reports of foreskin sensation==
[[Jonathan A. Allan| Allan]] (2024) reviewed the medical literature and the various sex manuals. He found a serious discrepancy between the medical literature, which does not find increased sexual sensation in the foreskin, and the sex manuals, which report a very substantial increase in sexual sensation when the [[foreskin]] is present.<ref name="allan2024">{{REFbook
|last=Allan
|first=
|init=JA
|author-link=Jonathan A. Allan
|year=2024
|title=Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskin
|url=https://uofrpress.ca/Books/U/Uncut
|work=
|editor=
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter Five: The Joy of Foreskin
|scope=
|page=
|pages=180-7
|location=Regina
|publisher=University of Regina Press
|ISBN=9781779400321
|quote=
|accessdate=2024-12-08
|note=
}}</ref> The discrepancy occurs because medical science is unable to measure and quantify the increase in sensation caused by the motion and stretching of the foreskin that occurs during the [[gliding action]].<ref name="hill2003" />

==Preliminary report from survey of circumcised, restoring, and intact men==
[[C4Charkey]] has published the first results from the first 250 men surveyed were reported on 27 July 2025 in graph and text form. The findings overwhelmingly indicate the superiority of the erogenous sensation of the [[intact]] [[penis]] and the satisfaction enjoyed by the intact males as compared with [[circumcised]] males and [[restored]] males.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/FriendsOfTheFrenulum/comments/1ma5zqc/the_data_is_in_the_silence_is_broken_a_first_look/
|title=The Data is In. The Silence is Broken. A First Look at Our Survey's Staggering Results.
|last=Intactivist
|first=Accidental
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-07-26
|accessdate=2025-07-27
}}</ref>

==Video==
===Foreskin sensation===
<youtube>v=_t7uduP9egk&t=31s</youtube>
===No Foreskin (Johnny’s Song)===
<youtube>v=ZmNZQcgw7m8</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Acroposthion]]
* [[American urologists and the practice of male circumcision]]
* [[Circumcision: Effect upon erectile function]]
* [[Circumcision - Penis SensitivityTest]]
* [[Foreskin play]]
* [[Gliding action]]
* [[Israel#Loss_of_sexual_sensation| Loss of sexual sensation]]
* [[Masturbation]]
* [[Pre-ejaculate]]
* [[Regret men]]
* [[Sexual effects of circumcision]]
* [[Sex with phimosis]]
* [[The Penis - Sex Education 101]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/garcia/
|title=What exactly is circumcision and what is it not?
|last=Garcia
|first=Francisco
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Circumcision Information Pages
|date=1995-12-11
|accessdate=2025-06-29
}}
* {{REFbook
|last=Ball
|first=Peter
|init=
|author-link=Peter Ball
|year=2006
|title=A Survey of Subjective Foreskin Sensation in 600 Intact Men
|url=http://eknygos.lsmuni.lt/springer/59/177-188.pdf
|work=Bodily Integrity and the Politics of Circumcision
|editors=[[George C. Denniston]], [[Pia Grassivaro Gallo]], [[Frederick M. Hodges]], [[Marilyn Fayre Milos]], and [[Franco Viviani]]
|edition=First
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter 16
|pages=177-188
|location=
|publisher=Springer
|ISBN=9789048172252
|quote=I believe that many women and most circumcised men are totally unaware of the role that the foreskin plays in the enjoyment of sex.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2022-02-23
|note=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactaus.org/information/functions-of-the-foreskin/
|archived=
|title=Functions of the Foreskin
|trans-title=
|language=English
|last=Helard
|first=Lou
|author-link=
|publisher=Intact Australia
|website=
|date=2014-08-01
|accessdate=2020-05-29
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.circumstitions.com/tantra.html
|archived=
|title=The Tantric Intact Penis
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=Anonnymous
|first=
|author-link=
|publisher=Circumstitions
|website=
|date=
|accessdate=2022-01-08
|format=
|quote=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WS4pmFCoHkq3UloORfSWi4VgnM11m_5-/edit
|title=Unwarranted Presumption
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Google
|date=2022-12-10
|accessdate=2025-02-20
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-do-the-eyelids-lips-fingertips-the-intact-penis-have-in-common/
|title=What Do The Eyelids, Lips, Fingertips & The Intact Penis Have in Common?
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-02-17
|accessdate=2024-02-18
}}

* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1lyb30y/amazing_how_quick_we_can_cum_being_uncut/
|title=Amazing how quick we can cum being uncut
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-07
|accessdate=2025-07-14
}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Otero-Alén
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Gándara-Cortés
|first4=
|init4=M
|author4-link=
|last5=García-Caballero
|first5=
|init5=T
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=R
|author6-link=
|last7=García-Caballero
|first7=
|init7=L
|author7-link=
|etal=no
|title=The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation
|trans-title=
|journal=Andrology
|date=2025-09-19
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|pages=1-41
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/andr.70118
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40970806
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/andr.70118
|accessdate=2025-09-29
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1ibaw4y/which_is_more_pleasurable_if_you_are_intact/
|title=Which is more pleasurable if you are intact?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025
|accessdate=2026-04-01
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1p67xlp/circumcision_ended_my_life/
|title=Circumcision ended my life
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-11-24
|accessdate=2025-11-25
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pwvms4/whats_something_about_foreskin_that_more_people/
|title=What's something about foreskin that more people should know?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-12-27
|accessdate=2025-12-29
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/intactinfo/comments/1qe1kkl/the_neurological_cost_of_circumcision_a_breakdown/
|title=The Neurological Cost of Circumcision, A Breakdown of What's Removed
|last=Anonymous
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-15
|accessdate=2026-01-24
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Intactivists/comments/1rdq7r1/the_purpose_of_circumcision_was_chastity_but_it/
|title=The Purpose of Circumcision was Chastity, but it ironically makes men hypersexual
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2026-02-24
|accessdate=2026-02-26
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Sexuality]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Penile function]]
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:From Intactipedia]]
[[Category:From IntactWiki]]

[[de:Vorhaut-Empfindlichkeit]]

Long foreskin

2026-04-01T12:10:47Z

WikiModEn2: /* Conclusion */ Add text.

According to Laumann et al. (1997), the incidence of [[circumcision]] in the [[United States]] hit its maximum point in 1965 at about 88 percent of newborn boys.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Laumann
|first=
|init=EO
|author-link=
|last2=Masi
|first2=
|init2=CM
|author2-link=
|last3=Zuckerman
|first3=
|init3=EW
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision in the United States
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1997
|volume=277
|issue=13
|page=
|pages=1052-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/laumann/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=9091693
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=
|accessdate=2026-01-21
}}</ref> The incidence of [[circumcision of the newborn]] has been slowly declining ever since. This has resulted in ever-increasing numbers of adult males in the [[United States]] with an [[intact]] [[foreskin]], a portion of which are classifed as '''long foreskins'''.

These men are seeking more and more information about [[foreskin]]. Unfortunately, it appears that most of the information provided about the [[foreskin]] is provided by [[Circumcised doctors| medical doctors]] who were [[circumcised]] as infants and who may profit from the performance of [[circumcision]], so it frequently is inaccurate and contains [[bias]].

This article seeks to answer questions about '''long foreskins'''. Foreskins naturally come in a wide variety of lengths from very short to very long. '''Long forekins''' are in the normal range. Treatment or surgery is ''not'' indicated.

==Definition==
For the purpose of this discussion, a '''long foreskin''' is defined as a foreskin that is long enough to cover the [[glans penis]] even when the [[penis]] has a full [[erection]]. They may also be defined as a [[foreskin]] that is classified as CI-9 or CI-10 on the coverage index used by foreskin restorers.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://archive.is/20121231212745/http://www.newforeskin.biz/CI/CIchart.htm
|title=Coverage Index
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=NewForeskin
|date=2008
|accessdate=2026-01-21
}}</ref> A '''long foreskin''' may have an [[acroposthion]].

==Health benefits==
The foreskin provides protective health benefits, which are increased by having full coverage.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological functions of the human prepuce
|journal=Sex Transm Infect
|date=1997-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1758142/pdf/v074p00364.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=1758142
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-01-27
}}</ref>

==Can it be manually retracted?==
'''Long foreskins''' do not spontaneously retract, but some can be manually retracted while others will not manually retract, usually due to a narrow tip of the [[foreskin]] that will not pass over the [[glans penis]].

If a foreskin cannot be manually retracted, then this may indicate the existence of a natural variant condition that is called [[phimosis]] or another one called [[frenulum breve]].

When a retractble '''long foreskin''' is retracted, folds typically form at the base of the [[penis]] that try to unfold and push the [[foreskin]] forward into its normal position.

A manually retractable [[foreskin]] may spontaneously [[gliding action| glide]] forward to recover and [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| protect]] the [[glans penis]] by itself when it is released.

==Urination==
If a '''long foreskin''' is of the non-retractable variant, its owner, by necessity, will discharge [[urine]] through the tip of the [[foreskin]].

There is much controversy regarding [[urination]] with a retractable [[foreskin]]. [[Urination by foreskinned men| Urination with either retraction of the foreskin or non-retraction of the foreskin is possible]]. Some believe that it is harmful in some way to have [[urine]] in the [[foreskin]]. There is no scientific basis for this view. The foreskin developed over about 1 million years of evolution based on survival of the fittest. If the foreskin made men less fit to survive, the principal of natural selection would have eliminated the foreskin, but it did not do so. The inside of the [[preputial sac]] of the foreskin is covered with mucosa, not skin, so it well tolerates the moisture provided by [[urine]].

Some men with a '''long foreskin''' report that it is awkward to retract the foreskin for [[urination]], because the '''long foreskin''' is constantly pushing forward to return to its normal position, so they prefer to not retract their '''long foreskin''' when urinating.

Either way is okay.

==Sex with a long foreskin==
The reliable coverage and protection provided by the full length [[foreskin]] prevents [[keratinization]] and maintains the normal sensation of the [[glans penis]].

The tissue in the [[vagina]] is lubricated [[mucosa]], so it is usually comfortable for the sensitive, non-keratinized [[glans penis]] of men with a '''long foreskin'''.

The [[foreskin]] was provided by nature to facilitate sexual intercourse and the manually retractable '''long foreskin''' is not different. The [[gliding action]] eases penetration of the [[vagina]] and increases pleasurable [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sensation]].

Sexual intercourse with a non-retractable ''' long foreskin''' may require special preparation. See [[sex with phimosis]] for more information.

==Lengthening a foreskin==
A [[foreskin]] may be lengthened over time by the application of manual traction to cause [[tissue expansion]] by [[mitosis]]. It is a slow process. Dedication and perseverance are required.
==Shortening a foreskin==
Shortening a [[foreskin]] requires surgery. Chinese researchers recommend removing skin at the base of the [[penis]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Tang
|first=
|init=Y
|author-link=
|last2=Li
|first2=
|init2=y
|author2-link=
|last3=Li
|first3=
|init3=Q
|author3-link=
|last4=Young
|first4=
|init4=Z
|author4-link=
|last5=Liu
|first5=
|init5=X
|author5-link=
|last6=Li
|first6=
|init6=P
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=[New concept of the treatment for redundant prepuce]
|trans-title=
|language=Chinese
|journal=Zhonghua Zheng Xing Wai Ke Za Zhi
|date=2008-07
|volume=24
|issue=4
|pages=294-6
|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18950025/
|archived=
|quote=Removal of the excess skin at the root of the penis should be preferred to the conventional circumcision for treatment of redundant prepuce.
|pubmedID=18950025
|accessdate=2026-03-30
}}</ref>

==Images==
The Acroposthion website maintains a gallery of images of '''long foreskins''' that may not be suitable for all viewers. Viwer discretion is advised.<ref>{{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://acroposthion.com/gallery/
|title=Gallery
|publisher=Acroposthion
|accessdate=2026-01-22
}}</ref>
==Conclusion==
The article entitled "Redundant Prepuce", provided by the Cleveland Clinic, is filled with Midwestern [[bias]] against the [[foreskin]], and lacks understanding of the nature and function of the [[foreskin]]. It is NOT recommended. "Redundant prepuce" is a false diagnosis that has been claimed by certain doctors who generate additional income by performing [[adult circumcision]].

'''Long foreskins''' should not be described as "redundant", "excess", or "extra". It is a multi-functional, protective, sensitive, erogenous part of the normal [[penis]].<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

[[Foreskinned]] men should be wary and cautious regarding false claims by urologic surgeons, who [[financial incentive| profit from circumcision]], that a long [[foreskin]] is somehow unhealthy and should have an [[amputation]].
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Acroposthion]]
* [[Frenulum]]
* [[Living with a foreskin in circumcised America]]
* [[Longer foreskin is favored]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Preputial sac]]
* [[Urination by foreskinned men]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/askgaybros/comments/ps79b6/i_have_an_extra_long_foreskin_foreskin_overhang/
|title=I have an extra long foreskin (foreskin overhang) and an insecure about it. Would this be a turnoff for you?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2022
|accessdate=2026-01-27
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1az31y5/guys_with_longer_foreskins_how_far_can_you_pull/
|title=Guys with longer foreskins, How far can you pull yours?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2024
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/OneY/comments/1hsjyx6/tight_foreskin_when_when_erect_is_it_a_concern/
|title=Tight foreskin when erect. Is it a concern?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025
|accessdate=2026-02-07
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1fkpkoj/is_sex_different_if_you_have_a_very_long_foreskin/
|title=Is sex different if you have a very long foreskin?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1kx5iv2/men_with_long_foreskin/
|title=Men with long foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-05
|accessdate=2026-03-17
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1nu0hau/i_have_super_long_foreskin_overhang_ama_d/
|title=I have super long foreskin / overhang. AMA :D
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-09
|accessdate=2026-03-17
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1o9yphg/i_want_a_longer_foreskin/
|title=I want a longer foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pztjcr/longer_foreskin/
|title=Longer foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-12-30
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/intactinfo/comments/1qkbj2h/a_long_foreskin_is_normal_information_and/
|title=A Long Foreskin is Normal: Information and Reassurance
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-22
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}

* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1rabhfs/guys_with_noticeable_foreskin_overhang_what_does/?sort=top
|title=Guys with noticeable foreskin overhang: What does it actually feel like day-to-day? (Walking, sitting, underwear, etc.)
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-02-20
|accessdate=2026-02-21
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1s1a8ey/foreskin_length/
|title=Foreskin length
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-03-23
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Teen]]

Protection of intact newborns in hospital

2026-03-31T20:27:15Z

WikiModEn2: /* The dangers in the hospital */ Add external link.

<big>To: Expectant Parents in the [[United States]]:</big>

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is an important but frequently overlooked parental duty for parents of a newborn [[intact]] boy in an American maternity hospital. An American hospital is likely be a dangerous place for the [[foreskin]] of an [[intact]] boy.<ref name="morgan1965">{{REFjournal
|last=Morgan
|first=
|init=WKC
|author-link=William Keith Campbell Morgan
|etal=no
|title=The rape of the phallus
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1965-07-19
|volume=193
|issue=3
|pages=123-4
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/morgan/
|archived=
|quote=This ritual, however, has become so widespread in the [[United States]] that it is no longer much of a status symbol, and a situation has arisen where any recently delivered mother who is eccentric enough to wish her child to retain his [[prepuce]], would be well advised to maintain permanent guard over the boy until such time as they both leave the hospital.
|pubmedID=14310332
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.1965.03090030045013
|accessdate=2024-05-21
}}</ref> Non-therapeutic [[circumcision]] of newborn boys remains a common practice despite its harmful and unethical nature. Circumcision is a profit center for hospitals, so many will promote harmful [[circumcision]] in various ways. It is easy for a nursery attendant to make a mistake and bring an [[intact]] boy for an unwanted [[circumcision]]. A [[circumcision]] that has been performed without valid [[informed consent]] is a [[wrongful circumcision]].

Mansfield et al. (1995) reported, when a newborn is to be [[circumcised]], both mother and newborn remain in hospital an average of six hours longer, which substantially increases revenue to the hospital, not only for the circumcision charges, but also for all hospital charges.<ref name="mansfield1995">{{REFjournal
|last=Mansfield
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=
|last2=Heuston
|first2=
|init2=WF
|author2-link=
|last3=Rudy
|first3=
|init3=M
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Neonatal circumcision: associated factors and length of hospital stay
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Fam Pract
|location=
|date=1995-10
|volume=41
|issue=4
|article=
|pages=370-6
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/mansfield/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=7561711
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2023-05-22
}}</ref> [[Dan Bollinger| Bollinger]] (2012) estimated the gross profit from harmful, unnecessary [[circumcision of the newborn]] to be $3.6 billion annually,<ref name="bollinger2012">{{REFweb
|url=https://www.academia.edu/6442587/High_Cost_of_Circumcision_3.6_Billion_Annually
|title=High Cost of Circumcision: $3.6 Billion Annually
|last=Bollinger
|first=Dan
|init=D
|author-link=Dan Bollinger
|publisher=Academia
|website=https://www.academia.edu
|date=2012
|accessdate=2024-06-21
|format=
|quote=As the saying goes, follow the money. Now you know why neither the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]], American Medical Association, [[American Academy of Family Physicians]], or the [[American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists]] haven’t condemned this unnecessary surgery, and why their physician members are quick to recommend the procedure to expectant parents.
}}</ref> so hospitals encourage and promote [[circumcision]] regardless of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], loss of [[Foreskin| tissue]] and function, and permanent irreversible harm to the newborn.
== Precautionary steps for parents ==
There are a number of steps that parents may take to lessen the chance of a wrongful, unwanted, painful, harmful [[circumcision]].
* Review information on circumcision, so as not to be deceived by false or deceptive information that may be presented in hospital.
* If the maternity facility allows a birth plan, then specify [[intactness]] in the birth plan.<ref name="garrett2023-11-15">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/birth-plan-checklist/
|title=Birth Plan Checklist: Don’t Forget to Specify No Circumcision
|last=Garrett
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2023-11-15
|accessdate=2024-07-09
}}</ref>
* Discuss your desire for an [[intact]] son with your attending physician.
* Prepare yourself by viewing [https://www.amazon.com/Circumcision-Movie-Ryan-McAllister/dp/B084M9C34S/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=circumcision+movie&link_code=qs&qid=1656789467&sr=8-3 The Circumcision Movie].<ref name="milos2022-07-11">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/ask-marilyn-why-do-they-keep-asking-me-about-circumcising-my-baby-boy/
|title=Ask Marilyn – Why do they keep asking me about circumcising my baby boy?
|last=Milos
|first=
|init=MF
|author-link=Marilyn Fayre Milos
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022-07-11
|accessdate=2024-10-24
}}</ref>
* Type out, print, and sign a letter to the hospital to prohibit [[circumcision]] of your newborn infant son. Take it to the hospital and add it to the file.
* There will be a lot of papers to sign upon admission. There usually would be a circumcision consent form provided whether the baby is a boy or girl. Be careful to ''NOT'' sign a consent for circumcision form. Granting of consent by a surrogate for non-therapeutic circumcision (all newborn circumcision is non-therapeutic) is an unethical practice.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Biosoc Sci
|location=
|date=2020-09
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=560-72
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bioe.12714
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/bioe.12714
|accessdate=2023-05-22
}}</ref>
* The latest stratagem to obtain consent is to send nurses into the room to ask the mother if she wants her newborn [[circumcised]]. This is done repeatedly, in hope of breaking a mother's will.<ref name="chapin2020">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/press-release-having-a-baby-boy-get-ready-for-the-circumcision-sellers/
|title=Press Release: Having a Baby Boy? Get Ready for the Circumcision Sellers!
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2020-11-16
|accessdate=2023-05-22
}}</ref> Reports indicate that parents have been asked as many as twelve times. Promotion of unnecessary surgery is highly unethical. Awareness of this unethical practice will help parents to avoid caving in to the hospital's tactics. When this happens parents may file a complaint through the free [[DoNoHarm.report]] service of [[Intact America]].
* Rooming in — Keeping the newborn in the mother's room — offers significant advantages in facilitating initiation of [[breastfeeding]], protection from infectious diseases that may be present in the newborn nursery, and last but certainly not least, protection from [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=LLewellyn
|init=
|author-link=David J. Llewellyn
|last2=David J.
|init2=
|author2-link=
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/legal/USA/llewellyn/
|title=Legal Remedies for Penile Torts
|journal=The Compleat Mother
|date=1995
|volume=40 
|issue=winter
|pages=16
|accessdate=2023-05-22
}}</ref>

==Solicitation for circumcision surgery==

[[Intact America]] commissioned a survey by Qualtrics of the number of times that parents are solicited for a consent for non-therapeutic infant circumcision. The average was 8 times, which resulted in a 143 percent increase in the number of non-therapeutic, medically-unnecessary circumcisions carried out.<ref name="intactamerica2020">{{REFweb
|url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/having_a_baby_boy_intact_america_warns_get_ready_for_the_circumcision_sellers/prweb17552844.htm
|archived=
|title=Having a Baby Boy? Intact America Warns, ‘Get Ready for the Circumcision Sellers!'
|trans-title=
|language=English
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|website=prweb
|date=2019-11-18
|accessdate=2020-12-15
|format=
|quote=Each year, an estimated 1.5 million baby boys are [[circumcised]] in American medical settings. Intact America estimates that if circumcision solicitations were to cease, 600,000 boys—and the men they will become—would be spared every year from the [[trauma]] and lifelong consequences of the procedure.
}} </ref> Giving in to the constant solicitation means that three additional charges will be incurred:

# A hospital service charge or facility fee.
# A physician's fee.
# Additional room and board fee.
Parents are reminded that neonatal [[circumcision]] has no [[medical indication]], does not treat or prevent disease, causes [[trauma]], is non-therapeutic, unnecessary, causes extreme [[pain]], and causes life-long irreversible harm because of the loss of the [[Foreskin#Physiological_functions| multi-functional foreskin]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Green
|first=Lawrence
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=McAllister
|first2=Ryan
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Peterson
|first3=Kent
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Travis
|first4=John
|init4=
|author4-link=
|etal=no
|title=Medicaid coverage of circumcision spreads harm to the poor.
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Am J Public Health
|location=
|date=2009-04
|volume=99
|issue=4
|article=
|page=584
|pages=
|url=https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2008.156463
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=19150892
|pubmedCID=2661476
|DOI=10.2105/AJPH.2008.156463
|accessdate=2021-04-14
}}</ref> Circumcision is a high-profit service, so hospitals push parents to grant consent for circumcision, regardless of the lifetime harm to the child.

There is no need to decide immediately. A circumcision operation may be performed at any age. If a medical indication for circumcision develops later, then a circumcision may be performed at that time.

When approached about consent for non-therapeutic circumcision in hospital, parents may state:
<blockquote>
The foreskin of my baby boy belongs to him and not to me. He has a legal right to bodily integrity. I do not have a right to grant consent for a medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic circumcision.

Granting of consent for circumcision is his right, not mine. He may make that decision when he reaches the age of majority.
</blockquote>

== Video ==
 
<youtube>v=9f_iwuzaJ1g&list=PL9xT8CDa49tCXrql9UQdmU5_zUdGEtzOj&index=11</youtube>
===The dangers in the hospital===
<youtube>v=HyVoiGAJwJE&t=402s</youtube>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Care of intact, foreskinned boys]]
* [[Circumcision of the newborn]]
* [[Cole Jordan Groth]]
* [[Intact-friendly doctors list]]
* [[Wrongful circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]
{{LINKS}}
This older article is somewhat out-of-date but still has some useful information:
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/protection/
|title=Protection of Infant Boys from Wrongful Circumcision in American Hospitals
|last=Hill
|first=George
|author-link=George Hill
|publisher=Circumcision Information and Resource Pages
|date=2002-03-16
|accessdate=2023-05-22
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.cirp.org/pages/riley/mother.php
|title=Naturally uncircumcised
|publisher=CIRP
|date=2006
|accessdate=026-01-29
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/ask-marilyn-why-do-they-keep-asking-me-about-circumcising-my-baby-boy/
|title=Ask Marilyn – Why do they keep asking me about circumcising my baby boy?
|last=Milos
|first=
|init=M
|author-link=Marilyn Fayre Milos
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022-07-11
|accessdate=2024-06-21
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.yourwholebaby.org/at-the-hospital
|title=At the hospital
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Your Whole Baby
|date=
|accessdate=2024-09-26
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/protecting-intact-boys-from-harm/
|title=Where Circumcision Advocates Strike: Protecting Intact Boys From Harm
|last=Alissa
|first=Kristel
|init=
|author-link=Kristel Alissa
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-12-23
|accessdate=2025-02-24
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionGrief/comments/1rnk1pv/saved_my_son_from_this_abysmal_practice_and_it/
|title=Saved my son from this abysmal practice and it feels great. This is how it all went down
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2026-03-07
|accessdate=2026-03-31
}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Parental information]]

[[Category:USA]]

[[de:Schutz intakter Neugeborener im Krankenhaus]]

Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine

2026-03-31T13:52:26Z

WikiModEn2: /* Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine */ Add text and citation.

Osteopathic medicine is practiced in parallel alongside of allopathic medicine in the [[United States]].

The [https://osteopathic.org/ American Osteopathic Association] (AOA) is the [[medical trade association]] for osteopathic doctors (DOs). The AOA has not enunciated a position regarding male circumcision, however the AOA has adopted four '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' that may be applied to both [[child circumcision]] and [[adult circumcision]]. The Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine express the underlying philosophy of osteopathic medicine and were approved by the AOA House of Delegates as policy.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/aoa-governance-documents/tenets-of-osteopathic-medicine/
|title=Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> The tenets were last reaffirmed by resolution of the Ad Hoc Committee on 22 July 2023.<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Sunset Res. No. H608 - A/2023
|url=https://osteopathic.org/index.php?aam-media=/wp-content/uploads/past-resolutions/H608-A2023-SR-Tenets-of-Osteopathic-Medicine.pdf
|publisher=American Osteopathic Association
|format=PDF
|date=2023-07-22
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

It is estimated, that by 2030, 20 percent of U.S. physicians will be Doctors of Osteopathy.

==Tenets of Osteopathic Medicine==
The four tenets of osteopathic medicine provide for treatment and well-being of the whole person. Allopathic medicine has nothing comparable.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-wiki/allopathic-medicine/
|title=What is Allopathic medicine?
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com
|date=2024-06-03
|accessdate=2026-03-31
}}</ref>
===1. The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind and spirit.===
The harmful, adverse effects of [[circumcision]] upon the human person had, until recently, been ignored for many decades. Now there is increasing evidence of the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and disability caused by [[amputation]] of the multi-functional [[foreskin]] portion of the [[penis]] upon the [[Sexual injury of circumcision| sexual]] and [[Psychological injury of male circumcision| psychological]] well-being of the human person.<ref name="hill2007">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=Finally, we must remember that males are the more vulnerableand sensitive of the two genders and, therefore, deserve the greater degree of protection from traumatic, invasive, injurious, and unnecessary surgery.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref><ref name="andersen2026">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
}}</ref> [[Amputation]] and lost of [https://circumcision.org/functions-of-the-foreskin/ function] may induce [[depression]] and even [[suicide]]. It is clear that unwanted [[circumcision]] makes many men very angry.<ref name="chapin2022">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022
|quote=But we need to listen to the growing number of men speaking out about having been violated as babies when an essential (i.e., of its essence) part of their penis was forcibly severed. And we must ask ourselves whether the nearly ubiquitous violation of baby boys as a class of people and the assembly-line acts of violence carried out upon individual newborns might be responsible for at least some of the rage, pain and feelings of impotence that underlie the epidemic of mass killings we are witnessing today.
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}</ref>

===2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.===
[[Charles Darwin]] (1859) observed that survival of the fittest caused evolution. The [[foreskin]] was created and improved by [[Evolution of the foreskin| evolution]] to provide protection of the [[penis]] from both [[trauma]] and [[infection]]. [[Paul M. Fleiss| Fleiss]], [[Frederick M. Hodges| Hodges]] & [[Robert S. Van Howe| Van Howe]] (1998) enumerated numerous ways in which the foreskin protects against [[infection]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological Functions of the Human Prepuce
|journal= Sex Transm Infect
|date=1998-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/fleiss3/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref>

The [[foreskin]] [[Development of retractable foreskin| develops throughout childhood]] invariably without medical intervention. It could hardly be otherwise, since human genitalia evolved over 100,000+ years without medical assistance of any kind<ref name="agarwal2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Agarwal
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Mohta
|first2=
|init2=A
|author2-link=
|last3=Anand
|first3=
|init3=RK
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Preputial retraction in children
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg
|location=
|date=2005-04
|season=
|volume=10
|issue=2
|article=
|pages=89-91
|url=https://journals.lww.com/jiap/fulltext/2005/10020/preputial_retraction_in_children.5.aspx
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.4103/0971-9261.16468
|accessdate=2026-03-18
}}</ref> [[Forced foreskin retraction]] is harmful, inappropriate, [[trauma| traumatic]], painful, injurious, and inconsistent with the tenets of osteopathic medicine. The practice frequently generates a parental complaint of gratuitous clinical injury filed with state and federal medical authorities. ([[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] offers a free service to help parents file complaints.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-parents/help-with-forcible-foreskin-retraction/pffr-data-collection-form/
|title=PFFR Data Collection Form
|publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision
|accessdate=2026-03-24
}}</ref>)

===3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.===
The human [[penis]] and its [[foreskin]] are excellent examples of the truth of this tenet. The penis and foreskin consist of specialized tissues ideally suited for their functions.<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

===4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function.===
When these basic principles are applied, it will quickly be seen that harmful, medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of boys is contraindicated.<ref name="tye2022"> {{REFjournal
|last=Tye
|first=
|init=MC
|author-link=
|last2=Sardi
|first2=
|init2=LM
|author2-link=Lauren Sardi
|etal=no
|title=Psychological, psychosocial, and psychosexual aspects of penile circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Int J Impot Res
|date=2023-05
|volume=35
|issue=3
|pages=242-8
|url=https://www.galdef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tye-Sardi-Psycho-Aspects-of-Penile-Circumcision-IJIR-2022.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35347302
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00553-9
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name=fendereski2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Fendereski
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|last2=Horns
|first2=
|init2=JJ
|author2-link=
|last3=Driggs
|first3=
|init3=N
|author3-link=
|last4=Lau
|first4=
|init4=G
|author4-link=
|last5=Shaeffer
|first5=
|init5=AJ
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=Comparing Penile Problems in Circumcised vs. Uncircumcised Boys: Insights From a Large Commercial Claims Database With a Focus on Provider Type Performing Circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Pediatr Surg
|date=2024-11
|volume=59
|issue=11
|article=161614
|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002234682400407X
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=39084960
|pubmedCID=11486584
|DOI=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.06.022
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> <ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-14
}}</ref> Boys are unable to grant consent due their immaturity. Parental surrrogates must protect the interest of the child patient. They are limited to granting [[surrogate consent]] for diagnosis and treatment of disease. There is no person who is empowered to grant consent for non-therapeutic [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] of a minor.<ref name="hill2002">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Informed Consent for Circumcision
|trans-title=
|journal=South Med J
|date=2002-08
|volume=95
|issue=8
|page=946
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George-Hill-3/publication/371599857_Can_Anyone_Authorize_the_Nontherapeutic_Permanent_Alteration_of_a_Child's_Body/links/648b8819c41fb852dd0949be/Can-Anyone-Authorize-the-Nontherapeutic-Permanent-Alteration-of-a-Childs-Body.pd
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=12190244
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> There are no valid indications for circumcision in the neonatal period.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Preston
|first=
|init=EN
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Whither the foreskin?
|trans-title=
|journal=JAMA
|date=1970-09-14
|volume=213
|issue=11
|article=
|page=
|pages=1853-58
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/preston/
|archived=
|quote=Routine circumcision of the newborn is an unnecessary procedure. It provides questionable benefits and is associated with a small but definite incidence of complications and hazards. These risks are preventable if the operation is not performed unless truly medically indicated. Circumcision of the newborn is a procedure that should no longer be considered routine.
|pubmedID=5468911
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.213.11.1853
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

Myers & [[Brian D. Earp| Earp]] (2020) concluded that the best age to circumcise is after the patient reached the age at which he could grant consent for his own circumcision.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-05-27
}}</ref>

[[Amputation]] of a healthy boy's [[foreskin]] without medical indication and without valid effective consent is equivalent to criminal battery.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/what-is-the-crime-of-battery.html
|title=What Is the Crime of Battery?
|last=Buckner
|first=Susan
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Findlaw
|date=2026-01-13
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref> While there are no reports of a provider being criminally charged, the changing view of [[child circumcision]] has altered the atmosphere around [[child circumcision]], so a criminal charge may now be more likely than in the past.

It is more likely that a parent would bring a civil suit for injury caused by [[wrongful circumcision]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Adler
|first=Peter W.
|init=PW
|author-link=Peter W. Adler
|title=Is circumcision legal?
|journal=Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
|date=2013
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=439-86
|url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1265&context=jolpi
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-19
}}</ref>

==PFFR in West Virginia==
Parents of a boy in West Virginia have alleged that an osteopathic physician prematurely forcibly retracted the healthy [[Foreskin#Foreskin_in_infancy_and_childhoo| foreskin of a boy]], causing great [[trauma]], [[pain]], and destructive injury to the [[synechia]] that secures the protective [[foreskin]] in place. [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]] assisted the parents in the filing of a complaint against the osteopathic physician.

If true, then the osteopathic physician would appear to have violated the Second Tenet of Osteopathic Medicine.

==Videos==
===What is osteopathic medicine?===
<youtube>v=_q5U1_qudtM</youtube>
===What is Osteopathy?===
<youtube>v=OnYHanA5noU</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Forced foreskin retraction]]
* [[ICCPR]]
* [[Psychiatrist Discusses the Lasting Trauma of Circumcision]]
* [[United States of America]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URLwikipedia|Osteopathic_medicine_in_the_United_States|Osteopathic medicine in the United States}}
* {{URLwebsite|https://osteopathic.org/|2026-03-18}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Genital surgery]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Osteopathy]]

[[Category:USA]]

Long foreskin

2026-03-30T19:18:39Z

WikiModEn2: /* Lengthening a foreskin */ Add section.

According to Laumann et al. (1997), the incidence of [[circumcision]] in the [[United States]] hit its maximum point in 1965 at about 88 percent of newborn boys.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Laumann
|first=
|init=EO
|author-link=
|last2=Masi
|first2=
|init2=CM
|author2-link=
|last3=Zuckerman
|first3=
|init3=EW
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision in the United States
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=JAMA
|location=
|date=1997
|volume=277
|issue=13
|page=
|pages=1052-7
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/general/laumann/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=9091693
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=
|accessdate=2026-01-21
}}</ref> The incidence of [[circumcision of the newborn]] has been slowly declining ever since. This has resulted in ever-increasing numbers of adult males in the [[United States]] with an [[intact]] [[foreskin]], a portion of which are classifed as '''long foreskins'''.

These men are seeking more and more information about [[foreskin]]. Unfortunately, it appears that most of the information provided about the [[foreskin]] is provided by [[Circumcised doctors| medical doctors]] who were [[circumcised]] as infants and who may profit from the performance of [[circumcision]], so it frequently is inaccurate and contains [[bias]].

This article seeks to answer questions about '''long foreskins'''. Foreskins naturally come in a wide variety of lengths from very short to very long. '''Long forekins''' are in the normal range. Treatment or surgery is ''not'' indicated.

==Definition==
For the purpose of this discussion, a '''long foreskin''' is defined as a foreskin that is long enough to cover the [[glans penis]] even when the [[penis]] has a full [[erection]]. They may also be defined as a [[foreskin]] that is classified as CI-9 or CI-10 on the coverage index used by foreskin restorers.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://archive.is/20121231212745/http://www.newforeskin.biz/CI/CIchart.htm
|title=Coverage Index
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=NewForeskin
|date=2008
|accessdate=2026-01-21
}}</ref> A '''long foreskin''' may have an [[acroposthion]].

==Health benefits==
The foreskin provides protective health benefits, which are increased by having full coverage.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fleiss
|first=
|init=PM
|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss
|last2=Hodges
|first2=
|init2=FM
|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Immunological functions of the human prepuce
|journal=Sex Transm Infect
|date=1997-10
|volume=74
|issue=5
|pages=364-7
|url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1758142/pdf/v074p00364.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10195034
|pubmedCID=1758142
|DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
|accessdate=2026-01-27
}}</ref>

==Can it be manually retracted?==
'''Long foreskins''' do not spontaneously retract, but some can be manually retracted while others will not manually retract, usually due to a narrow tip of the [[foreskin]] that will not pass over the [[glans penis]].

If a foreskin cannot be manually retracted, then this may indicate the existence of a natural variant condition that is called [[phimosis]] or another one called [[frenulum breve]].

When a retractble '''long foreskin''' is retracted, folds typically form at the base of the [[penis]] that try to unfold and push the [[foreskin]] forward into its normal position.

A manually retractable [[foreskin]] may spontaneously [[gliding action| glide]] forward to recover and [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| protect]] the [[glans penis]] by itself when it is released.

==Urination==
If a '''long foreskin''' is of the non-retractable variant, its owner, by necessity, will discharge [[urine]] through the tip of the [[foreskin]].

There is much controversy regarding [[urination]] with a retractable [[foreskin]]. [[Urination by foreskinned men| Urination with either retraction of the foreskin or non-retraction of the foreskin is possible]]. Some believe that it is harmful in some way to have [[urine]] in the [[foreskin]]. There is no scientific basis for this view. The foreskin developed over about 1 million years of evolution based on survival of the fittest. If the foreskin made men less fit to survive, the principal of natural selection would have eliminated the foreskin, but it did not do so. The inside of the [[preputial sac]] of the foreskin is covered with mucosa, not skin, so it well tolerates the moisture provided by [[urine]].

Some men with a '''long foreskin''' report that it is awkward to retract the foreskin for [[urination]], because the '''long foreskin''' is constantly pushing forward to return to its normal position, so they prefer to not retract their '''long foreskin''' when urinating.

Either way is okay.

==Sex with a long foreskin==
The reliable coverage and protection provided by the full length [[foreskin]] prevents [[keratinization]] and maintains the normal sensation of the [[glans penis]].

The tissue in the [[vagina]] is lubricated [[mucosa]], so it is usually comfortable for the sensitive, non-keratinized [[glans penis]] of men with a '''long foreskin'''.

The [[foreskin]] was provided by nature to facilitate sexual intercourse and the manually retractable '''long foreskin''' is not different. The [[gliding action]] eases penetration of the [[vagina]] and increases pleasurable [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sensation]].

Sexual intercourse with a non-retractable ''' long foreskin''' may require special preparation. See [[sex with phimosis]] for more information.

==Lengthening a foreskin==
A [[foreskin]] may be lengthened over time by the application of manual traction to cause [[tissue expansion]] by [[mitosis]]. It is a slow process. Dedication and perseverance are required.
==Shortening a foreskin==
Shortening a [[foreskin]] requires surgery. Chinese researchers recommend removing skin at the base of the [[penis]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Tang
|first=
|init=Y
|author-link=
|last2=Li
|first2=
|init2=y
|author2-link=
|last3=Li
|first3=
|init3=Q
|author3-link=
|last4=Young
|first4=
|init4=Z
|author4-link=
|last5=Liu
|first5=
|init5=X
|author5-link=
|last6=Li
|first6=
|init6=P
|author6-link=
|etal=no
|title=[New concept of the treatment for redundant prepuce]
|trans-title=
|language=Chinese
|journal=Zhonghua Zheng Xing Wai Ke Za Zhi
|date=2008-07
|volume=24
|issue=4
|pages=294-6
|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18950025/
|archived=
|quote=Removal of the excess skin at the root of the penis should be preferred to the conventional circumcision for treatment of redundant prepuce.
|pubmedID=18950025
|accessdate=2026-03-30
}}</ref>

==Images==
The Acroposthion website maintains a gallery of images of '''long foreskins''' that may not be suitable for all viewers. Viwer discretion is advised.<ref>{{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://acroposthion.com/gallery/
|title=Gallery
|publisher=Acroposthion
|accessdate=2026-01-22
}}</ref>
==Conclusion==
The article entitled "Redundant Prepuce", provided by the Cleveland Clinic, is filled with Midwestern [[bias]] against the [[foreskin]], and lacks understanding of the nature and function of the [[foreskin]]. It is NOT recommended.

'''Long foreskins''' should not be described as "redundant", "excess", or "extra". It is a multi-functional, protective, sensitive, erogenous part of the normal [[penis]].<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref>

[[Foreskinned]] men should be wary and cautious regarding false claims by urologic surgeons, who [[financial incentive| profit from circumcision]], that a long [[foreskin]] is somehow unhealthy and should have an [[amputation]].
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Acroposthion]]
* [[Frenulum]]
* [[Living with a foreskin in circumcised America]]
* [[Longer foreskin is favored]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Preputial sac]]
* [[Urination by foreskinned men]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/askgaybros/comments/ps79b6/i_have_an_extra_long_foreskin_foreskin_overhang/
|title=I have an extra long foreskin (foreskin overhang) and an insecure about it. Would this be a turnoff for you?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2022
|accessdate=2026-01-27
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1az31y5/guys_with_longer_foreskins_how_far_can_you_pull/
|title=Guys with longer foreskins, How far can you pull yours?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2024
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/OneY/comments/1hsjyx6/tight_foreskin_when_when_erect_is_it_a_concern/
|title=Tight foreskin when erect. Is it a concern?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025
|accessdate=2026-02-07
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1fkpkoj/is_sex_different_if_you_have_a_very_long_foreskin/
|title=Is sex different if you have a very long foreskin?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1kx5iv2/men_with_long_foreskin/
|title=Men with long foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-05
|accessdate=2026-03-17
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1nu0hau/i_have_super_long_foreskin_overhang_ama_d/
|title=I have super long foreskin / overhang. AMA :D
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-09
|accessdate=2026-03-17
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1o9yphg/i_want_a_longer_foreskin/
|title=I want a longer foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1pztjcr/longer_foreskin/
|title=Longer foreskin
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-12-30
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/intactinfo/comments/1qkbj2h/a_long_foreskin_is_normal_information_and/
|title=A Long Foreskin is Normal: Information and Reassurance
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-01-22
|accessdate=2026-01-23
}}

* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1rabhfs/guys_with_noticeable_foreskin_overhang_what_does/?sort=top
|title=Guys with noticeable foreskin overhang: What does it actually feel like day-to-day? (Walking, sitting, underwear, etc.)
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-02-20
|accessdate=2026-02-21
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1s1a8ey/foreskin_length/
|title=Foreskin length
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2026-03-23
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Teen]]

Christopher J. Cold

2026-03-30T18:51:19Z

WikiModEn2:

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''', {{MD}}, is an American pathologist, who practices at the [https://www.marshfieldclinic.org/ Marshfield Clinic] in Marshfield, {{USSC|WI}}. Cold also is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology at {{UNI|University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health|UWSMPH}} in Madison, {{USSC|WI}}.

Dr. Cold has published several works relating to the anatomy and physiology of the [[foreskin]] and [[penis]].

{{STANDARDWORK}}
* {{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}

{{PUB}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Cold
|first=
|init=CR
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=Storms
|first2=
|init2=MR
|author2-link=Michelle Storms
|last3=Van Howe
|first3=
|init3=RS
|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|etal=no
|title=Carcinoma in situ of the penis in a 76-year-old circumcised man
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Fam Pract
|location=
|date=1997-04
|volume=44
|issue=
|article=
|page=
|pages=407-10
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/vanhowe/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=9108839
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=
}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Cold
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=Van Howe
|first2=
|init2=RS
|author2-link=Robert S. Van Howe
|last3=Storms
|first3=
|init3=MR
|author3-link=Michelle Storms
|etal=no
|title=Anesthesia for neonatal circumcision
|journal= J Am Board Fam Pract
|date=1997-07
|volume=10
|issue=4
|pages=310-1
|url=
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=9228632
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=
|accessdate=2024-05-10
}}
* {{REFbook
|last=Cold
|first=Christopher J.
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=McGraft
|init2=KA
|author2-link=
|year=1999
|title=Male and Female Circumcision
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/cold-mcgrath/
|editors=[[George C. Denniston|Denniston GC]], [[Frederick M. Hodges|Hodges FM]], [[Marilyn Fayre Milos|Milos MF]]
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=[http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/cold-mcgrath/ Anatomy and histology of the penile and clitoral prepuce in primates]
|pages=
|location=New York
|publisher= Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
|isbn=
|quote=
|accessdate=2021-07-08
|note=
}}
* {{REFjournal
|last=Yang
|init=CC
|last2=Cold
|init2=CJ
|author2-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last3=Yilmaz
|init3=U
|last4=Maravilla
|init4=KR
|url=https://bjui-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2005.05961.x
|title=Sexually responsive vascular tissue of the vulva
|journal=BJU Int
|date=2006-04-01
|volume=97
|issue=4
|pages=766-72
}}
* {{REFbook
|last=Velazquez
|init=EF
|last2=Barreto
|init2=JE
|last3=Cold
|init3=CJ
|author3-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last4=Cubilla
|init4=AL
|chapter=Penis and distal urethra
|title=Histology for Pathologists
|location=Philadelphia, PA
|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
|year=2007
|pages=955-80
}}

PubMed lists 29 publications.<ref name="pubmed">{{REFweb
|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Cold%20CJ&page=3
|title=PubMed
|last=Cold
|first=CJ
|accessdate=2021-07-09
}}</ref>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[United States of America]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://pathology.wisc.edu/staff/cold-christopher-j/
|title=Christopher J. Cold, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor
|last=
|first=
|author-link=
|publisher=University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
|website=University of Wisconsin
|date=
|accessdate=2021-07-08
}}

{{ABBR}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Person]]
[[Category:Male]]

[[Category:Physician]]
[[Category:Author]]

[[Category:USA]]

[[de:{{FULLPAGENAME}}]]

Penis

2026-03-30T18:44:23Z

WikiModEn2: /* Foreskin */

The '''penis''' is the external male organ of [[urination]] and copulation.<ref name="farlex2003">{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/penis
|archived=
|title=penis
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=
|first=
|author-link=
|publisher=The Free Dictionary by Farlex.
|website=
|date=2003
|accessdate=2022-05-23
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref> The penis is also known as the '''phallus'''.
==Description==
The body of the penis consists of three cylindrical-shaped masses of erectile tissue which run the length of the penis. Two of the masses lie alongside each other and end behind the head of the penis. The third mass lies underneath them. This latter mass contains the [[urethra]]. The penis terminates in an oval or cone-shaped body, the [[glans penis]], which contains the exterior opening of the [[urethra]], or [[meatus]].<ref name="farlex2003"/> The final part of the penis is the [[foreskin]], also called the prepuce.
==The four functions of the penis==
The four functions of the penis are:
# to be a handy tool for [[urination]] without disrobing.
# to be a a vehicle for reproduction.
# to provide [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sexual pleasure and sensory function]].
# to provide partner satisfaction and friction reduction.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/key-functions-of-the-penis/
|title=Understanding the Key Functions of the Penis
|last=Cartwright-Smith
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-09-18
|accessdate=2025-10-02
}}</ref>

==Foreskin==

The normal [[intact]], [[foreskinned]] penis is enveloped in its tube of folded loose, highly innervated, movable, protective, erogenous skin,<ref name="winklemann1959">{{WinkelmannRK 1959}}</ref> the [[foreskin]] or prepuce, which unfolds to enable the penis to fully expand during [[erection]].<ref name="earp2018">{{REFjournal
|last=Earp
|first=
|init=BD
|author-link=Brian D. Earp
|last2=Steinfeld
|first2=
|init2=R
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Genital autonomy and sexual well-being
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Current Sexual Health Reports
|location=
|date=2018
|volume=10
|issue=1
|article=
|pages=7-17
|url=https://www.academia.edu/35660699/Genital_autonomy_and_sexual_well_being?email_work_card=view-paper
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1007/s11930-018-0141-x
|accessdate=2024-01-02
}}</ref> The two layers of the foreskin contain [[lymph]] between them to allow lubricated, frictionless [[gliding action]] of the outer skin over the inner skin. The skin ends just behind the [[glans penis]] but folds forward to cover it, this forming the [[preputial sac]] and, if long enough, the [[acroposthion]]. The moist [[preputial sac]] may harmlessly collect oil-bearing [[smegma]], which is helpful in preventing dermatitis.<ref name="birley1993">{{REFjournal
|last=Birley
|init=HDL
|author-link=
|last2=Walker
|init2=MM
|author2-link=
|last3=Luzzi
|init3=GA
|author3-link=
|last4=Bell
|init4=R
|author4-link=
|etal=yes
|title=Clinical Features and management of recurrent balanitis; association with atopy and genital washing]
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Genitourin Med
|location=
|date=1993-10
|volume=69
|issue=5
|pages=400-3
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195128/pdf/genitmed00029-0074.pdf
|quote=
|format=PDF
|pubmedID=8244363
|pubmedCID=1195128
|DOI=10.1136/sti.69.5.400
|accessdate=2023-11-29
}}</ref>

The skin of the adult penis normally is somewhat darker than the rest of the body. This condition is called ''hyperpigmentation''<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hyperpigmentation
|title=hyperpigmentation
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions
|date=2012
|accessdate=2024-09-25
}}</ref> and occurs after [[puberty]].

Protection of the penis in childhood is important, so nature provides two ways to prevent retraction. Cold & Taylor (1999) report:
<blockquote>
The embryology of the penile prepuce has been controversial since the original account given by Schweigger-Seidel in 1866, who described a preputial fold that
progressively extended and fused with the epithelial covering of the glans. Glenister cited Retterer(1885–1915) as the first to show that the prepuce was formed by a combination of preputial folding and the ingrowth of a cellular lamella. This ingrowth creates the prepuce, glans, corona and coronal sulcus mucosa. This results in a common mucosal epithelium of the glans penis and the inner mucosal lining of the prepuce. The squamous mucosa of the glans penis, coronal sulcus and prepuce should be considered as one tissue compartment with a common cytokeratin polypeptide pattern.

The fused mucosa of the glans penis and the inner lining of the prepuce separates gradually over years, as a spontaneous biological process. Topical steroid
and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory ointments are known to accelerate the glans-prepuce separation. In male rhesus monkeys exposed to intrauterine diethyl-stilbestrol, the normal separation of the glans/prepuce is delayed from a normal age of 2.5–3 years to 4.5–5.5 years. Despite this research, the hormones and/or growth factors responsible for this separation of the glans-prepuce are poorly understood. Gairdner found that 96% of newborn males have a fused mucosa; in
20% of boys aged 5–13 years, he reported that the prepuce could not be completely retracted. Oster confirmed in a large study that preputial non-separation (adhesions) is very common in children and teenagers. The separation of the prepuce/glans penis mucosa is usually complete by about age 17 years, as confirmed by later Chinese studies (Fig. 2). Recent work by Kayaba et al. verified that the preputial orifice may be tight in young boys, but resolves over time (Fig. 3). Without knowledge of the normal development of the penis, some physicians advocate childhood circumcision as a surgical treatment of normal anatomy. One study stated that microscopic examination of the prepuce circumcised for phimosis showed normal histology in 46% of cases. As the mean age in that study group was 8.7 years, almost half of these boys were circumcised for a normal stage of penile development; a tight preputial orifice with normal histology is not pathological in young boys, but should be considered a normal stage of penile development. Neonatal circumcision, before the prepuce has naturally separated, involves tearing the common prepuce/glans penis mucosa apart, with the concomitant risk of glanular excoriation and injury. Manipulation and retraction of the immature prepuce must be avoided to prevent scarring, bleeding, phimosis and psychological trauma.<ref name="cold1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Cold
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=Taylor
|first2=
|init2=JR
|author2-link=John R. Taylor
|etal=no
|title=The prepuce
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=1999-01
|volume=83, Suppl. 1
|pages=34-44
|url=https://pool.intactiwiki.org/w/images/Cold_and_Taylor_-_1999_-_The_prepuce.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10349413
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1034.x.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-30
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

== Innervation ==
The normal [[foreskinned]] penis — the organ of copulation — is heavily innervated with afferent<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/afferent
|title=Afferent
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=The Free Dictionary by Farlex
|date=2003
|accessdate=2023-11-24
}}</ref> nerves — meaning that sensation, which is needed for male sexual function, is transmitted to the spinal cord and/or central nervous system. The penis is also innervated by the sympathetic autonomic nervous system (SAMS) and parasympathetic autonomic nervous system (PAMS).<ref name="cepeda2023">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Gándara-Cortés
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Otero-Alén
|first3=
|init3=M
|author3-link=
|last4=García
|first4=
|init4=H
|author4-link=
|last5=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first5=
|init5=J
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=T
|author6-link=
|last7=Gallego
|first7=
|init7=R
|author7-link=
|last8=García-Caballero
|first8=
|init8=R
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Immunohistological study of the density and distribution of human penile neural tissue: gradient hypothesis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Int J Impot Res
|location=
|date=2023-05-02
|volume=35
|issue=3
|article=
|page=
|pages=286-305
|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41443-022-00561-9
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35501394
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00561-9
|accessdate=2023-11-24
}}</ref> The penis is innervated by both dorsal and perineal nerves.<ref name="cepeda2023"/>

The innervation in the tube of [[foreskin]] translates movement and stretching into pleasurable, erogenous sensation.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021">{{REFjournal
|last=García-Mesa
|first=Yolanda
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=García-Piqueras
|first2=Jorge
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Cobo
|first3=Ramón
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Martín-Cruces
|first4=José
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Suazo
|first5=Iván
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Suárez
|first6=Olivia
|init6=
|author6-link=
|last7=Feito
|first7=Jorge
|init7=
|author7-link=
|last8=
|first8=Vega
|init8=José A.
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Anatomy
|location=
|date=2021-10
|volume=239
|issue=4
|article=
|page=
|pages=892-902
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joa.13481
|pubmedID=34120333
|pubmedCID=8450466
|DOI=10.1111/joa.13481
|accessdate=2023-11-26
}}</ref><ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-do-the-eyelids-lips-fingertips-the-intact-penis-have-in-common/
|title=What Do The Eyelids, Lips, Fingertips & The Intact Penis Have in Common?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-02-17
|accessdate=2024-02-18
}}</ref>

===The frenular delta===
[[Ken McGrath| McGrath]] (2001) described the frenular delta on the ventral side of the penis as the most sensitive part of the penis.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=McGrath
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|year=2001
|title= The frenular delta: a new preputial structure
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/mcgrath1/
|work=Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem.
|editor=Denniston GC, Hodges FM, Milos MF, editors.
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter 11
|pages=199-206
|location=New York
|publisher=Kluwer/Plenum
|ISBN=
|quote=The frenular delta is noted by men as the most sensitive area of their penis, especially in the mid-line nearest the frenulum, and the frenulum itself.
|accessdate=2025-09-30
|note=
}}</ref>

[[Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani| Cepeda-Emiliani]] et al. (2025) published the most complete review of penile innervation thus far. They confirmed that the frenulal delta is the most erogenously sensitive part of the penis and compared it to the female "G-spot".<ref name="cepeda2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Otero-Alén
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Gándara-Cortés
|first4=
|init4=M
|author4-link=
|last5=García-Caballero
|first5=
|init5=T
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=R
|author6-link=
|last7=García-Caballero
|first7=
|init7=L
|author7-link=
|etal=no
|title=The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation
|trans-title=
|journal=Andrology
|date=2025-09-19
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|pages=1-41
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/andr.70118
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40970806
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/andr.70118
|accessdate=2025-09-30
}}</ref>

The New Scientist is now making the same claim.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Klein
|init=A
|author-link=
|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520982-surprising-male-g-spot-found-in-most-detailed-study-of-the-penis-yet/
|title=Surprising male G-spot found in most detailed study of the penis yet
|journal=New Scientist
|date=2026-03-27
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=
|accessdate=2026-03-29
}}</ref>

==Parts==

* Root of the penis (radix): It is the attached part, consisting of the bulb of penis in the middle and the crus of penis, one on either side of the bulb. It lies within the superficial perineal pouch.
* Body of the penis (corpus): It has two surfaces: dorsal (posterosuperior in the erect penis), and ventral or urethral (facing downwards and backwards in the flaccid penis). The ventral surface is marked by a groove in a lateral direction.
* Epithelium of the penis consists of the [[shaft skin]], the [[foreskin]], and the [[preputial mucosa]] on the inside of the foreskin and covering the [[glans penis]]. The epithelium is not attached to the underlying shaft so it is free to [[Gliding action| glide to and fro]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=http://www.circumstitions.com/completeman/sidegif.gif
|title=How the foreskin works
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=Young
|first=Hugh
|publisher=
|website=Circumstitions
|date=
|accessdate=2019-10-02
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref>

----

''The following content is part of the [[Circumpendium]].''

== Anatomy and development of the male genital organ ==

Up to the ninth week of pregnancy, both male and female genital organs develop identically. Genital tubercle, labioscrotal swelling, genital fold and urogenital membrane have developed.

Only after that do the different external features emerge in the [[fetus]]. Between the 11th and 17th week the genital tubercle becomes the [[clitoris]] in females, and the glans in males.

In girls, the genital fold remains open, in boys it grows together. It transforms into the inner labia and the clitoral hood in girls, and into the [[foreskin]] in boys. The labioscrotal swelling becomes the outer labia and scrotum respectively.

The growing together of the folds results in the seam that runs from the underside of the scrotum and the penile shaft up to the tip of the foreskin. The penis now consists of the shaft containing the erectile tissue, with the glans at the top. The shaft is surrounded by the [[shaft skin]] which, however, is not knitted to it. This mobility, combined with the [[stretching]] capabilities of the [[skin]], allows for the growth in dimension of the penis during an [[erection]]. During an [[erection]] the erectile tissue fills with blood, giving the penis its stiffness and enlarged size.

In the area of the [[glans]] the [[shaft skin]] transitions into the outer layer of the [[foreskin]], which extends past the tip of the [[glans]]. Parallel to that runs the inner layer of the [[foreskin]]. It is attached behind the rim of the [[glans]], and runs between the [[glans]] and the outer [[foreskin]] layer, also past the tip of the [[glans]]. At the tip, the inner and outer [[foreskin]] layers are joined together.

This junction makes up the [[ridged band]]. At the underside of the penis, in the area of the seam, the inner foreskin layer is connected to the glans by the [[frenulum]].

[[File:Circumpendium-2-penis-1-English.jpg|center|400px]]

Like the [[shaft skin]], the [[foreskin]] layers are neither fused to the penis, nor to each other, but are moveable against each other. This enables the foreskin to be retracted all the way past the glans until it is stopped by the [[frenulum]].

[[File:Circumpendium-2-penis-2-English.jpg|center|400px]]

At the time of birth, the development of the external male genital organs is not completely finished. At this stage, the [[foreskin]] and [[glans]] share an epithelium (mucous layer, the balano-preputial membrane) that fuses the two together. It serves to protect the [[glans]] during infancy, and dissolves as the child develops. Premature forcible [[retraction of the foreskin]] will tear this membrane, causing great [[pain]] and injury to the boy, who suffers this abuse. The child, himself, should be the first person to retract his foreskin.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|init=JE
|title=Further to the <q>Further Fate of the Foreskin</q>
|journal=Med J Aust
|date=1994
|volume=160
|issue=
|pages=134-5
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright2/
|quote=The normal prepuce should be left alone, with no attempt to retract it until the boy is able to do it himself, at the earliest at three years of age.
|pubmedID=8295581
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-01
}}</ref> <ref name="NOCIRCpretract">{{REFdocument
|url=http://www.nocirc.org/publish/6pam.pdf
|title=Answers to Your Questions About Premature (Forcible) Retraction of Your Son's Foreskin
|location=San Anselmo
|publisher=NOCIRC
|date=2000
|format=PDF
}}</ref>

Only then the [[foreskin]] can be retracted. The age at which this occurs is subject to the child's individual development. If the foreskin is retracted prematurely, before it has fully separated, that can result in painful tears and infections.

The widening of the [[foreskin]] also depends on age. A child's [[foreskin]] may be too tight to be retracted all the way past the [[glans]], even though it has already completely separated from the glans. This early [[foreskin]] tightness, frequently confused with ([[phimosis]]), is a normal stage of development and vanishes with increasing age in most boys.

A study by the Danish paediatrician and school doctor, [[Jakob Øster]], of 9,545 examinations of pupils, published in 1968, led to the following results<ref>{{OesterJ 1968}}</ref>:

{|border='1' style='text-align:right' cellpadding='2'
!width='15%'|Age
!width='15%'|[[Phimosis]]
!width='15%'|Tightness
!width='15%'|Incomplete separation
!width='15%'|Not retractable
!width='15%'|Fully retractable
|-
| 6 to 7 || 8% || 1% || 63% || 77% || 23%
|-
| 8 to 9 || 6% || 2% || 58% || 66% || 34%
|-
| 10 to 11 || 6% || 2% || 48% || 56% || 44%
|-
| 12 to 13 || 3% || 3% || 34% || 40% || 60%
|-
| 14 to 15 || 1% || 1% || 13% || 15% || 85%
|-
| 16 to 17 || 1% || 1% || 3% || 5% || 95%
|}

<blockquote>
'''''Classification according to Øster:'''''

''[[phimosis]]: Foreskin tightness prohibiting retraction''
''Tightness: Foreskin tightness hampering retraction''</blockquote>

Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff (2005) conducted a survey of 4000 young men in [[Denmark]]. They report that the mean age of first foreskin retraction is 10.4 years in [[Denmark]].<ref name="Thorvaldsen2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Thorvaldsen
|init=MA
|last2=Meyhoff
|init2=H
|title=Patologisk eller fysiologisk fimose?
|journal=Ugeskr Læger
|volume=167
|issue=17
|pages=1858-1862
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/thorvaldsen1/
|quote=
|pubmedID=15929334
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=2005
|accessdate=2019-10-01
}}</ref> Non-retractile foreskin is the more common condition until about 10-11 years of age.

== Penis size ==
The average length of the adult penis is 5.5 inches or 14 centimeters. The average girth is 4.6 inches or 11.7 centimeters.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://unravelingsize.wordpress.com/
|title=Unravelling size
|last=
|first=
|init=
|publisher=
|website=wordpress.com
|date=
|accessdate=2023-12-29
}}</ref>

==Effect of foreskin restoration==
Previously [[circumcised]] men who have [[restored]] their [[foreskin]] report that their penis has much more [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sensation]] with a foreskin. Restored men report being surprised by unexpected pleasurable sensations.

== Videos ==
=== The Penis ===
<youtube>v=4qbUdVk-QvE</youtube>

=== What Happens to Your Penis As You Age? A Doctor Explains===
<youtube>v=2ixNxjJOJu0</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Body pleasure]]
* [[Circumcision - Penis SensitivityTest]]
* [[Erection]]
* [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin sensitivity]]
* [[Glans penis]]
* [[Gliding action]]
* [[Long foreskins]]
* [[Jojoba]]
* [[Meissner's corpuscles]]
* [[Preputial sac]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFbook
|last=Quartey
|first=
|init=JKM
|author-link=
|year=2006
|title=Anatomy and Blood Supply of the Urethra and Penis
|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/3-540-29385-X_3.pdf
|work=Urethral reconstructive surgery
|editor=
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter Three
|scope=
|page=
|pages=12-17
|location=
|publisher=Springer
|ISBN=
|quote=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-11-08
|note=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactaus.org/information/functions-of-the-foreskin/
|title=Functions of the Foreskin
|last=
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact Australia
|date=
|accessdate=2025-07-27
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/key-functions-of-the-penis/
|title=The Four Functions of the Penis
|last=Cartwright-Smith
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=Jeffrey Cartwright-Smith
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-09-28
|accessdate=2025-10-08
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.yourwholebaby.org/the-intact-male-body/
|title=Why is an Intact Penis Important?
|publisher=Your Whole Baby
|accessdate=2026-01-29
}}
* {{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/penisquestion/
|title=Penis question blog
|publisher=Reddit
|accessdate=2026-02-22
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Genital]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Medical_term]]
[[Category:Penile anatomy]]
[[Category:Physiology]]

[[de:Penis]]

Penis

2026-03-30T18:40:06Z

WikiModEn2: /* Foreskin */

The '''penis''' is the external male organ of [[urination]] and copulation.<ref name="farlex2003">{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/penis
|archived=
|title=penis
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=
|first=
|author-link=
|publisher=The Free Dictionary by Farlex.
|website=
|date=2003
|accessdate=2022-05-23
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref> The penis is also known as the '''phallus'''.
==Description==
The body of the penis consists of three cylindrical-shaped masses of erectile tissue which run the length of the penis. Two of the masses lie alongside each other and end behind the head of the penis. The third mass lies underneath them. This latter mass contains the [[urethra]]. The penis terminates in an oval or cone-shaped body, the [[glans penis]], which contains the exterior opening of the [[urethra]], or [[meatus]].<ref name="farlex2003"/> The final part of the penis is the [[foreskin]], also called the prepuce.
==The four functions of the penis==
The four functions of the penis are:
# to be a handy tool for [[urination]] without disrobing.
# to be a a vehicle for reproduction.
# to provide [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sexual pleasure and sensory function]].
# to provide partner satisfaction and friction reduction.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/key-functions-of-the-penis/
|title=Understanding the Key Functions of the Penis
|last=Cartwright-Smith
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-09-18
|accessdate=2025-10-02
}}</ref>

==Foreskin==

The normal [[intact]], [[foreskinned]] penis is enveloped in its tube of folded loose, highly innervated, movable, protective, erogenous skin,<ref name="winklemann1959">{{WinkelmannRK 1959}}</ref> the [[foreskin]] or prepuce, which unfolds to enable the penis to fully expand during [[erection]].<ref name="earp2018">{{REFjournal
|last=Earp
|first=
|init=BD
|author-link=Brian D. Earp
|last2=Steinfeld
|first2=
|init2=R
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Genital autonomy and sexual well-being
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Current Sexual Health Reports
|location=
|date=2018
|volume=10
|issue=1
|article=
|pages=7-17
|url=https://www.academia.edu/35660699/Genital_autonomy_and_sexual_well_being?email_work_card=view-paper
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1007/s11930-018-0141-x
|accessdate=2024-01-02
}}</ref> The two layers of the foreskin contain [[lymph]] between them to allow lubricated, frictionless [[gliding action]] of the outer skin over the inner skin. The skin ends just behind the [[glans penis]] but folds forward to cover it, this forming the [[preputial sac]] and, if long enough, the [[acroposthion]]. The moist [[preputial sac]] may harmlessly collect oil-bearing [[smegma]], which is helpful in preventing dermatitis.<ref name="birley1993">{{REFjournal
|last=Birley
|init=HDL
|author-link=
|last2=Walker
|init2=MM
|author2-link=
|last3=Luzzi
|init3=GA
|author3-link=
|last4=Bell
|init4=R
|author4-link=
|etal=yes
|title=Clinical Features and management of recurrent balanitis; association with atopy and genital washing]
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Genitourin Med
|location=
|date=1993-10
|volume=69
|issue=5
|pages=400-3
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195128/pdf/genitmed00029-0074.pdf
|quote=
|format=PDF
|pubmedID=8244363
|pubmedCID=1195128
|DOI=10.1136/sti.69.5.400
|accessdate=2023-11-29
}}</ref>

The skin of the adult penis normally is somewhat darker than the rest of the body. This condition is called ''hyperpigmentation''<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hyperpigmentation
|title=hyperpigmentation
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions
|date=2012
|accessdate=2024-09-25
}}</ref> and occurs after [[puberty]].

Protection of the penis in childhood is important, so nature provides two ways to prevent retraction. Cold & Taylor (1999) report:
<blockquote>
The embryology of the penile prepuce has been controversial since the original account given by Schweigger-Seidel in 1866, who described a preputial fold that
progressively extended and fused with the epithelial covering of the glans. Glenister cited Retterer(1885–1915) as the first to show that the prepuce was formed by a combination of preputial folding and the ingrowth of a cellular lamella. This ingrowth creates the prepuce, glans, corona and coronal sulcus mucosa. This results in a common mucosal epithelium of the glans penis and the inner mucosal lining of the prepuce. The squamous mucosa of the glans penis, coronal sulcus and prepuce should be considered as one tissue compartment with a common cytokeratin polypeptide pattern.

The fused mucosa of the glans penis and the inner lining of the prepuce separates gradually over years, as a spontaneous biological process. Topical steroid
and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory ointments are known to accelerate the glans-prepuce separation. In male rhesus monkeys exposed to intrauterine diethyl-stilbestrol, the normal separation of the glans/prepuce is delayed from a normal age of 2.5–3 years to 4.5–5.5 years. Despite this research, the hormones and/or growth factors responsible for this separation of the glans-prepuce are poorly understood. Gairdner found that 96% of newborn males have a fused mucosa; in
20% of boys aged 5–13 years, he reported that the prepuce could not be completely retracted. Oster confirmed in a large study that preputial non-separation (adhesions) is very common in children and teenagers. The separation of the prepuce/glans penis mucosa is usually complete by about age 17 years, as confirmed by later Chinese studies (Fig. 2). Recent work by Kayaba et al. verified that the preputial orifice may be tight in young boys, but resolves over time (Fig. 3) [22]. Without knowledge of the normal development of the penis, some physicians advocate childhood circumcision as a surgical treatment of normal anatomy [5]. One study stated that microscopic examination of the prepuce circumcised for phimosis showed normal histology in 46% of cases. As the mean age in that study group was 8.7 years, almost half of these boys were circumcised for a normal stage of penile development; a tight preputial orifice with normal histology is not pathological in young boys, but should be considered a normal stage of penile development. Neonatal circumcision, before the prepuce has naturally separated, involves tearing the common prepuce/glans penis mucosa apart, with the concomitant risk of glanular excoriation and injury. Manipulation and retraction of the immature prepuce must be avoided to prevent scarring, bleeding, phimosis and psychological trauma.<ref name="cold1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Cold
|first=
|init=CJ
|author-link=Christopher J. Cold
|last2=Taylor
|first2=
|init2=JR
|author2-link=John R. Taylor
|etal=no
|title=The prepuce
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=1999-01
|volume=83, Suppl. 1
|pages=34-44
|url=https://pool.intactiwiki.org/w/images/Cold_and_Taylor_-_1999_-_The_prepuce.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=10349413
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1034.x.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-30
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

== Innervation ==
The normal [[foreskinned]] penis — the organ of copulation — is heavily innervated with afferent<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/afferent
|title=Afferent
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=The Free Dictionary by Farlex
|date=2003
|accessdate=2023-11-24
}}</ref> nerves — meaning that sensation, which is needed for male sexual function, is transmitted to the spinal cord and/or central nervous system. The penis is also innervated by the sympathetic autonomic nervous system (SAMS) and parasympathetic autonomic nervous system (PAMS).<ref name="cepeda2023">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Gándara-Cortés
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Otero-Alén
|first3=
|init3=M
|author3-link=
|last4=García
|first4=
|init4=H
|author4-link=
|last5=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first5=
|init5=J
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=T
|author6-link=
|last7=Gallego
|first7=
|init7=R
|author7-link=
|last8=García-Caballero
|first8=
|init8=R
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Immunohistological study of the density and distribution of human penile neural tissue: gradient hypothesis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Int J Impot Res
|location=
|date=2023-05-02
|volume=35
|issue=3
|article=
|page=
|pages=286-305
|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41443-022-00561-9
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35501394
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00561-9
|accessdate=2023-11-24
}}</ref> The penis is innervated by both dorsal and perineal nerves.<ref name="cepeda2023"/>

The innervation in the tube of [[foreskin]] translates movement and stretching into pleasurable, erogenous sensation.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021">{{REFjournal
|last=García-Mesa
|first=Yolanda
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=García-Piqueras
|first2=Jorge
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Cobo
|first3=Ramón
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Martín-Cruces
|first4=José
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Suazo
|first5=Iván
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Suárez
|first6=Olivia
|init6=
|author6-link=
|last7=Feito
|first7=Jorge
|init7=
|author7-link=
|last8=
|first8=Vega
|init8=José A.
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Anatomy
|location=
|date=2021-10
|volume=239
|issue=4
|article=
|page=
|pages=892-902
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joa.13481
|pubmedID=34120333
|pubmedCID=8450466
|DOI=10.1111/joa.13481
|accessdate=2023-11-26
}}</ref><ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-do-the-eyelids-lips-fingertips-the-intact-penis-have-in-common/
|title=What Do The Eyelids, Lips, Fingertips & The Intact Penis Have in Common?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-02-17
|accessdate=2024-02-18
}}</ref>

===The frenular delta===
[[Ken McGrath| McGrath]] (2001) described the frenular delta on the ventral side of the penis as the most sensitive part of the penis.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=McGrath
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|year=2001
|title= The frenular delta: a new preputial structure
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/mcgrath1/
|work=Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem.
|editor=Denniston GC, Hodges FM, Milos MF, editors.
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter 11
|pages=199-206
|location=New York
|publisher=Kluwer/Plenum
|ISBN=
|quote=The frenular delta is noted by men as the most sensitive area of their penis, especially in the mid-line nearest the frenulum, and the frenulum itself.
|accessdate=2025-09-30
|note=
}}</ref>

[[Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani| Cepeda-Emiliani]] et al. (2025) published the most complete review of penile innervation thus far. They confirmed that the frenulal delta is the most erogenously sensitive part of the penis and compared it to the female "G-spot".<ref name="cepeda2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Otero-Alén
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Gándara-Cortés
|first4=
|init4=M
|author4-link=
|last5=García-Caballero
|first5=
|init5=T
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=R
|author6-link=
|last7=García-Caballero
|first7=
|init7=L
|author7-link=
|etal=no
|title=The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation
|trans-title=
|journal=Andrology
|date=2025-09-19
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|pages=1-41
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/andr.70118
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40970806
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/andr.70118
|accessdate=2025-09-30
}}</ref>

The New Scientist is now making the same claim.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Klein
|init=A
|author-link=
|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520982-surprising-male-g-spot-found-in-most-detailed-study-of-the-penis-yet/
|title=Surprising male G-spot found in most detailed study of the penis yet
|journal=New Scientist
|date=2026-03-27
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=
|accessdate=2026-03-29
}}</ref>

==Parts==

* Root of the penis (radix): It is the attached part, consisting of the bulb of penis in the middle and the crus of penis, one on either side of the bulb. It lies within the superficial perineal pouch.
* Body of the penis (corpus): It has two surfaces: dorsal (posterosuperior in the erect penis), and ventral or urethral (facing downwards and backwards in the flaccid penis). The ventral surface is marked by a groove in a lateral direction.
* Epithelium of the penis consists of the [[shaft skin]], the [[foreskin]], and the [[preputial mucosa]] on the inside of the foreskin and covering the [[glans penis]]. The epithelium is not attached to the underlying shaft so it is free to [[Gliding action| glide to and fro]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=http://www.circumstitions.com/completeman/sidegif.gif
|title=How the foreskin works
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=Young
|first=Hugh
|publisher=
|website=Circumstitions
|date=
|accessdate=2019-10-02
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref>

----

''The following content is part of the [[Circumpendium]].''

== Anatomy and development of the male genital organ ==

Up to the ninth week of pregnancy, both male and female genital organs develop identically. Genital tubercle, labioscrotal swelling, genital fold and urogenital membrane have developed.

Only after that do the different external features emerge in the [[fetus]]. Between the 11th and 17th week the genital tubercle becomes the [[clitoris]] in females, and the glans in males.

In girls, the genital fold remains open, in boys it grows together. It transforms into the inner labia and the clitoral hood in girls, and into the [[foreskin]] in boys. The labioscrotal swelling becomes the outer labia and scrotum respectively.

The growing together of the folds results in the seam that runs from the underside of the scrotum and the penile shaft up to the tip of the foreskin. The penis now consists of the shaft containing the erectile tissue, with the glans at the top. The shaft is surrounded by the [[shaft skin]] which, however, is not knitted to it. This mobility, combined with the [[stretching]] capabilities of the [[skin]], allows for the growth in dimension of the penis during an [[erection]]. During an [[erection]] the erectile tissue fills with blood, giving the penis its stiffness and enlarged size.

In the area of the [[glans]] the [[shaft skin]] transitions into the outer layer of the [[foreskin]], which extends past the tip of the [[glans]]. Parallel to that runs the inner layer of the [[foreskin]]. It is attached behind the rim of the [[glans]], and runs between the [[glans]] and the outer [[foreskin]] layer, also past the tip of the [[glans]]. At the tip, the inner and outer [[foreskin]] layers are joined together.

This junction makes up the [[ridged band]]. At the underside of the penis, in the area of the seam, the inner foreskin layer is connected to the glans by the [[frenulum]].

[[File:Circumpendium-2-penis-1-English.jpg|center|400px]]

Like the [[shaft skin]], the [[foreskin]] layers are neither fused to the penis, nor to each other, but are moveable against each other. This enables the foreskin to be retracted all the way past the glans until it is stopped by the [[frenulum]].

[[File:Circumpendium-2-penis-2-English.jpg|center|400px]]

At the time of birth, the development of the external male genital organs is not completely finished. At this stage, the [[foreskin]] and [[glans]] share an epithelium (mucous layer, the balano-preputial membrane) that fuses the two together. It serves to protect the [[glans]] during infancy, and dissolves as the child develops. Premature forcible [[retraction of the foreskin]] will tear this membrane, causing great [[pain]] and injury to the boy, who suffers this abuse. The child, himself, should be the first person to retract his foreskin.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|init=JE
|title=Further to the <q>Further Fate of the Foreskin</q>
|journal=Med J Aust
|date=1994
|volume=160
|issue=
|pages=134-5
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright2/
|quote=The normal prepuce should be left alone, with no attempt to retract it until the boy is able to do it himself, at the earliest at three years of age.
|pubmedID=8295581
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-01
}}</ref> <ref name="NOCIRCpretract">{{REFdocument
|url=http://www.nocirc.org/publish/6pam.pdf
|title=Answers to Your Questions About Premature (Forcible) Retraction of Your Son's Foreskin
|location=San Anselmo
|publisher=NOCIRC
|date=2000
|format=PDF
}}</ref>

Only then the [[foreskin]] can be retracted. The age at which this occurs is subject to the child's individual development. If the foreskin is retracted prematurely, before it has fully separated, that can result in painful tears and infections.

The widening of the [[foreskin]] also depends on age. A child's [[foreskin]] may be too tight to be retracted all the way past the [[glans]], even though it has already completely separated from the glans. This early [[foreskin]] tightness, frequently confused with ([[phimosis]]), is a normal stage of development and vanishes with increasing age in most boys.

A study by the Danish paediatrician and school doctor, [[Jakob Øster]], of 9,545 examinations of pupils, published in 1968, led to the following results<ref>{{OesterJ 1968}}</ref>:

{|border='1' style='text-align:right' cellpadding='2'
!width='15%'|Age
!width='15%'|[[Phimosis]]
!width='15%'|Tightness
!width='15%'|Incomplete separation
!width='15%'|Not retractable
!width='15%'|Fully retractable
|-
| 6 to 7 || 8% || 1% || 63% || 77% || 23%
|-
| 8 to 9 || 6% || 2% || 58% || 66% || 34%
|-
| 10 to 11 || 6% || 2% || 48% || 56% || 44%
|-
| 12 to 13 || 3% || 3% || 34% || 40% || 60%
|-
| 14 to 15 || 1% || 1% || 13% || 15% || 85%
|-
| 16 to 17 || 1% || 1% || 3% || 5% || 95%
|}

<blockquote>
'''''Classification according to Øster:'''''

''[[phimosis]]: Foreskin tightness prohibiting retraction''
''Tightness: Foreskin tightness hampering retraction''</blockquote>

Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff (2005) conducted a survey of 4000 young men in [[Denmark]]. They report that the mean age of first foreskin retraction is 10.4 years in [[Denmark]].<ref name="Thorvaldsen2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Thorvaldsen
|init=MA
|last2=Meyhoff
|init2=H
|title=Patologisk eller fysiologisk fimose?
|journal=Ugeskr Læger
|volume=167
|issue=17
|pages=1858-1862
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/thorvaldsen1/
|quote=
|pubmedID=15929334
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=2005
|accessdate=2019-10-01
}}</ref> Non-retractile foreskin is the more common condition until about 10-11 years of age.

== Penis size ==
The average length of the adult penis is 5.5 inches or 14 centimeters. The average girth is 4.6 inches or 11.7 centimeters.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://unravelingsize.wordpress.com/
|title=Unravelling size
|last=
|first=
|init=
|publisher=
|website=wordpress.com
|date=
|accessdate=2023-12-29
}}</ref>

==Effect of foreskin restoration==
Previously [[circumcised]] men who have [[restored]] their [[foreskin]] report that their penis has much more [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sensation]] with a foreskin. Restored men report being surprised by unexpected pleasurable sensations.

== Videos ==
=== The Penis ===
<youtube>v=4qbUdVk-QvE</youtube>

=== What Happens to Your Penis As You Age? A Doctor Explains===
<youtube>v=2ixNxjJOJu0</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Body pleasure]]
* [[Circumcision - Penis SensitivityTest]]
* [[Erection]]
* [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin sensitivity]]
* [[Glans penis]]
* [[Gliding action]]
* [[Long foreskins]]
* [[Jojoba]]
* [[Meissner's corpuscles]]
* [[Preputial sac]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFbook
|last=Quartey
|first=
|init=JKM
|author-link=
|year=2006
|title=Anatomy and Blood Supply of the Urethra and Penis
|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/3-540-29385-X_3.pdf
|work=Urethral reconstructive surgery
|editor=
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter Three
|scope=
|page=
|pages=12-17
|location=
|publisher=Springer
|ISBN=
|quote=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-11-08
|note=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactaus.org/information/functions-of-the-foreskin/
|title=Functions of the Foreskin
|last=
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact Australia
|date=
|accessdate=2025-07-27
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/key-functions-of-the-penis/
|title=The Four Functions of the Penis
|last=Cartwright-Smith
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=Jeffrey Cartwright-Smith
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-09-28
|accessdate=2025-10-08
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.yourwholebaby.org/the-intact-male-body/
|title=Why is an Intact Penis Important?
|publisher=Your Whole Baby
|accessdate=2026-01-29
}}
* {{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/penisquestion/
|title=Penis question blog
|publisher=Reddit
|accessdate=2026-02-22
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Genital]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Medical_term]]
[[Category:Penile anatomy]]
[[Category:Physiology]]

[[de:Penis]]

Penis

2026-03-30T18:19:50Z

WikiModEn2: /* Foreskin */

The '''penis''' is the external male organ of [[urination]] and copulation.<ref name="farlex2003">{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/penis
|archived=
|title=penis
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=
|first=
|author-link=
|publisher=The Free Dictionary by Farlex.
|website=
|date=2003
|accessdate=2022-05-23
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref> The penis is also known as the '''phallus'''.
==Description==
The body of the penis consists of three cylindrical-shaped masses of erectile tissue which run the length of the penis. Two of the masses lie alongside each other and end behind the head of the penis. The third mass lies underneath them. This latter mass contains the [[urethra]]. The penis terminates in an oval or cone-shaped body, the [[glans penis]], which contains the exterior opening of the [[urethra]], or [[meatus]].<ref name="farlex2003"/> The final part of the penis is the [[foreskin]], also called the prepuce.
==The four functions of the penis==
The four functions of the penis are:
# to be a handy tool for [[urination]] without disrobing.
# to be a a vehicle for reproduction.
# to provide [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sexual pleasure and sensory function]].
# to provide partner satisfaction and friction reduction.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/key-functions-of-the-penis/
|title=Understanding the Key Functions of the Penis
|last=Cartwright-Smith
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-09-18
|accessdate=2025-10-02
}}</ref>

==Foreskin==

The normal [[intact]], [[foreskinned]] penis is enveloped in its tube of folded loose, highly innervated, movable, protective, erogenous skin,<ref name="winklemann1959">{{WinkelmannRK 1959}}</ref> the [[foreskin]] or prepuce, which unfolds to enable the penis to fully expand during [[erection]].<ref name="earp2018">{{REFjournal
|last=Earp
|first=
|init=BD
|author-link=Brian D. Earp
|last2=Steinfeld
|first2=
|init2=R
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Genital autonomy and sexual well-being
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Current Sexual Health Reports
|location=
|date=2018
|volume=10
|issue=1
|article=
|pages=7-17
|url=https://www.academia.edu/35660699/Genital_autonomy_and_sexual_well_being?email_work_card=view-paper
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1007/s11930-018-0141-x
|accessdate=2024-01-02
}}</ref> The two layers of the foreskin contain [[lymph]] between them to allow lubricated, frictionless [[gliding action]] of the outer skin over the inner skin. The skin ends just behind the [[glans penis]] but folds forward to cover it, this forming the [[preputial sac]] and, if long enough, the [[acroposthion]]. The moist [[preputial sac]] may harmlessly collect oil-bearing [[smegma]], which is helpful in preventing dermatitis.<ref name="birley1993">{{REFjournal
|last=Birley
|init=HDL
|author-link=
|last2=Walker
|init2=MM
|author2-link=
|last3=Luzzi
|init3=GA
|author3-link=
|last4=Bell
|init4=R
|author4-link=
|etal=yes
|title=Clinical Features and management of recurrent balanitis; association with atopy and genital washing]
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Genitourin Med
|location=
|date=1993-10
|volume=69
|issue=5
|pages=400-3
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195128/pdf/genitmed00029-0074.pdf
|quote=
|format=PDF
|pubmedID=8244363
|pubmedCID=1195128
|DOI=10.1136/sti.69.5.400
|accessdate=2023-11-29
}}</ref>

The skin of the adult penis normally is somewhat darker than the rest of the body. This condition is called ''hyperpigmentation''<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hyperpigmentation
|title=hyperpigmentation
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions
|date=2012
|accessdate=2024-09-25
}}</ref> and occurs after [[puberty]].

Protection of the penis in childhood is important, so nature provides two ways to prevent retraction. Cold & Taylor (1999) report:
<blockquote>
The embryology of the penile prepuce has been controversial since the original account given by Schweigger-Seidel in 1866, who described a preputial fold that
progressively extended and fused with the epithelial covering of the glans. Glenister cited Retterer(1885–1915) as the first to show that the prepuce was formed by a combination of preputial folding and the ingrowth of a cellular lamella. This ingrowth creates the prepuce, glans, corona and coronal sulcus mucosa. This results in a common mucosal epithelium of the glans penis and the inner mucosal lining of the prepuce. The squamous mucosa of the glans penis, coronal sulcus and prepuce should be considered as one tissue compartment with a common cytokeratin polypeptide pattern.

The fused mucosa of the glans penis and the inner lining of the prepuce separates gradually over years, as a spontaneous biological process. Topical steroid
and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory ointments are known to accelerate the glans-prepuce separation. In male rhesus monkeys exposed to intrauterine diethyl-stilbestrol, the normal separation of the glans/prepuce is delayed from a normal age of 2.5–3 years to 4.5–5.5 years. Despite this research, the hormones and/or growth factors responsible for this separation of the glans-prepuce are poorly understood. Gairdner found that 96% of newborn males have a fused mucosa; in
20% of boys aged 5–13 years, he reported that the prepuce could not be completely retracted. Oster confirmed in a large study that preputial non-separation (adhesions) is very common in children and teenagers. The separation of the prepuce/glans penis mucosa is usually complete by about age 17 years, as confirmed by later Chinese studies (Fig. 2). Recent work by Kayaba et al. verified that the preputial orifice may be tight in young boys, but resolves over time (Fig. 3) [22]. Without knowledge of the normal development of the penis, some physicians advocate childhood circumcision as a surgical treatment of normal anatomy [5]. One study stated that microscopic examination of the prepuce circumcised for phimosis showed normal histology in 46% of cases [23]. As the mean age in that study group was 8.7 years, almost half of these boys were circumcised for a normal stage of penile development; a tight preputial orifice with normal histology is not pathological in young boys, but should be considered a normal stage of penile development. Neonatal circumcision, before the prepuce has naturally separated, involves tearing the common prepuce/glans penis mucosa apart, with the concomitant risk of glanular excoriation and injury. Manipulation and retraction of the immature prepuce must be avoided to prevent scarring, bleeding, phimosis and psychological trauma.
</blockquote>

== Innervation ==
The normal [[foreskinned]] penis — the organ of copulation — is heavily innervated with afferent<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/afferent
|title=Afferent
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=The Free Dictionary by Farlex
|date=2003
|accessdate=2023-11-24
}}</ref> nerves — meaning that sensation, which is needed for male sexual function, is transmitted to the spinal cord and/or central nervous system. The penis is also innervated by the sympathetic autonomic nervous system (SAMS) and parasympathetic autonomic nervous system (PAMS).<ref name="cepeda2023">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Gándara-Cortés
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Otero-Alén
|first3=
|init3=M
|author3-link=
|last4=García
|first4=
|init4=H
|author4-link=
|last5=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first5=
|init5=J
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=T
|author6-link=
|last7=Gallego
|first7=
|init7=R
|author7-link=
|last8=García-Caballero
|first8=
|init8=R
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Immunohistological study of the density and distribution of human penile neural tissue: gradient hypothesis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Int J Impot Res
|location=
|date=2023-05-02
|volume=35
|issue=3
|article=
|page=
|pages=286-305
|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41443-022-00561-9
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35501394
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00561-9
|accessdate=2023-11-24
}}</ref> The penis is innervated by both dorsal and perineal nerves.<ref name="cepeda2023"/>

The innervation in the tube of [[foreskin]] translates movement and stretching into pleasurable, erogenous sensation.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021">{{REFjournal
|last=García-Mesa
|first=Yolanda
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=García-Piqueras
|first2=Jorge
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Cobo
|first3=Ramón
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Martín-Cruces
|first4=José
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Suazo
|first5=Iván
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Suárez
|first6=Olivia
|init6=
|author6-link=
|last7=Feito
|first7=Jorge
|init7=
|author7-link=
|last8=
|first8=Vega
|init8=José A.
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Anatomy
|location=
|date=2021-10
|volume=239
|issue=4
|article=
|page=
|pages=892-902
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joa.13481
|pubmedID=34120333
|pubmedCID=8450466
|DOI=10.1111/joa.13481
|accessdate=2023-11-26
}}</ref><ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-do-the-eyelids-lips-fingertips-the-intact-penis-have-in-common/
|title=What Do The Eyelids, Lips, Fingertips & The Intact Penis Have in Common?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-02-17
|accessdate=2024-02-18
}}</ref>

===The frenular delta===
[[Ken McGrath| McGrath]] (2001) described the frenular delta on the ventral side of the penis as the most sensitive part of the penis.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=McGrath
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|year=2001
|title= The frenular delta: a new preputial structure
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/mcgrath1/
|work=Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem.
|editor=Denniston GC, Hodges FM, Milos MF, editors.
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter 11
|pages=199-206
|location=New York
|publisher=Kluwer/Plenum
|ISBN=
|quote=The frenular delta is noted by men as the most sensitive area of their penis, especially in the mid-line nearest the frenulum, and the frenulum itself.
|accessdate=2025-09-30
|note=
}}</ref>

[[Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani| Cepeda-Emiliani]] et al. (2025) published the most complete review of penile innervation thus far. They confirmed that the frenulal delta is the most erogenously sensitive part of the penis and compared it to the female "G-spot".<ref name="cepeda2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Otero-Alén
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Gándara-Cortés
|first4=
|init4=M
|author4-link=
|last5=García-Caballero
|first5=
|init5=T
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=R
|author6-link=
|last7=García-Caballero
|first7=
|init7=L
|author7-link=
|etal=no
|title=The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation
|trans-title=
|journal=Andrology
|date=2025-09-19
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|pages=1-41
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/andr.70118
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40970806
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/andr.70118
|accessdate=2025-09-30
}}</ref>

The New Scientist is now making the same claim.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Klein
|init=A
|author-link=
|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520982-surprising-male-g-spot-found-in-most-detailed-study-of-the-penis-yet/
|title=Surprising male G-spot found in most detailed study of the penis yet
|journal=New Scientist
|date=2026-03-27
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=
|accessdate=2026-03-29
}}</ref>

==Parts==

* Root of the penis (radix): It is the attached part, consisting of the bulb of penis in the middle and the crus of penis, one on either side of the bulb. It lies within the superficial perineal pouch.
* Body of the penis (corpus): It has two surfaces: dorsal (posterosuperior in the erect penis), and ventral or urethral (facing downwards and backwards in the flaccid penis). The ventral surface is marked by a groove in a lateral direction.
* Epithelium of the penis consists of the [[shaft skin]], the [[foreskin]], and the [[preputial mucosa]] on the inside of the foreskin and covering the [[glans penis]]. The epithelium is not attached to the underlying shaft so it is free to [[Gliding action| glide to and fro]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=http://www.circumstitions.com/completeman/sidegif.gif
|title=How the foreskin works
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=Young
|first=Hugh
|publisher=
|website=Circumstitions
|date=
|accessdate=2019-10-02
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref>

----

''The following content is part of the [[Circumpendium]].''

== Anatomy and development of the male genital organ ==

Up to the ninth week of pregnancy, both male and female genital organs develop identically. Genital tubercle, labioscrotal swelling, genital fold and urogenital membrane have developed.

Only after that do the different external features emerge in the [[fetus]]. Between the 11th and 17th week the genital tubercle becomes the [[clitoris]] in females, and the glans in males.

In girls, the genital fold remains open, in boys it grows together. It transforms into the inner labia and the clitoral hood in girls, and into the [[foreskin]] in boys. The labioscrotal swelling becomes the outer labia and scrotum respectively.

The growing together of the folds results in the seam that runs from the underside of the scrotum and the penile shaft up to the tip of the foreskin. The penis now consists of the shaft containing the erectile tissue, with the glans at the top. The shaft is surrounded by the [[shaft skin]] which, however, is not knitted to it. This mobility, combined with the [[stretching]] capabilities of the [[skin]], allows for the growth in dimension of the penis during an [[erection]]. During an [[erection]] the erectile tissue fills with blood, giving the penis its stiffness and enlarged size.

In the area of the [[glans]] the [[shaft skin]] transitions into the outer layer of the [[foreskin]], which extends past the tip of the [[glans]]. Parallel to that runs the inner layer of the [[foreskin]]. It is attached behind the rim of the [[glans]], and runs between the [[glans]] and the outer [[foreskin]] layer, also past the tip of the [[glans]]. At the tip, the inner and outer [[foreskin]] layers are joined together.

This junction makes up the [[ridged band]]. At the underside of the penis, in the area of the seam, the inner foreskin layer is connected to the glans by the [[frenulum]].

[[File:Circumpendium-2-penis-1-English.jpg|center|400px]]

Like the [[shaft skin]], the [[foreskin]] layers are neither fused to the penis, nor to each other, but are moveable against each other. This enables the foreskin to be retracted all the way past the glans until it is stopped by the [[frenulum]].

[[File:Circumpendium-2-penis-2-English.jpg|center|400px]]

At the time of birth, the development of the external male genital organs is not completely finished. At this stage, the [[foreskin]] and [[glans]] share an epithelium (mucous layer, the balano-preputial membrane) that fuses the two together. It serves to protect the [[glans]] during infancy, and dissolves as the child develops. Premature forcible [[retraction of the foreskin]] will tear this membrane, causing great [[pain]] and injury to the boy, who suffers this abuse. The child, himself, should be the first person to retract his foreskin.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|init=JE
|title=Further to the <q>Further Fate of the Foreskin</q>
|journal=Med J Aust
|date=1994
|volume=160
|issue=
|pages=134-5
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright2/
|quote=The normal prepuce should be left alone, with no attempt to retract it until the boy is able to do it himself, at the earliest at three years of age.
|pubmedID=8295581
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-01
}}</ref> <ref name="NOCIRCpretract">{{REFdocument
|url=http://www.nocirc.org/publish/6pam.pdf
|title=Answers to Your Questions About Premature (Forcible) Retraction of Your Son's Foreskin
|location=San Anselmo
|publisher=NOCIRC
|date=2000
|format=PDF
}}</ref>

Only then the [[foreskin]] can be retracted. The age at which this occurs is subject to the child's individual development. If the foreskin is retracted prematurely, before it has fully separated, that can result in painful tears and infections.

The widening of the [[foreskin]] also depends on age. A child's [[foreskin]] may be too tight to be retracted all the way past the [[glans]], even though it has already completely separated from the glans. This early [[foreskin]] tightness, frequently confused with ([[phimosis]]), is a normal stage of development and vanishes with increasing age in most boys.

A study by the Danish paediatrician and school doctor, [[Jakob Øster]], of 9,545 examinations of pupils, published in 1968, led to the following results<ref>{{OesterJ 1968}}</ref>:

{|border='1' style='text-align:right' cellpadding='2'
!width='15%'|Age
!width='15%'|[[Phimosis]]
!width='15%'|Tightness
!width='15%'|Incomplete separation
!width='15%'|Not retractable
!width='15%'|Fully retractable
|-
| 6 to 7 || 8% || 1% || 63% || 77% || 23%
|-
| 8 to 9 || 6% || 2% || 58% || 66% || 34%
|-
| 10 to 11 || 6% || 2% || 48% || 56% || 44%
|-
| 12 to 13 || 3% || 3% || 34% || 40% || 60%
|-
| 14 to 15 || 1% || 1% || 13% || 15% || 85%
|-
| 16 to 17 || 1% || 1% || 3% || 5% || 95%
|}

<blockquote>
'''''Classification according to Øster:'''''

''[[phimosis]]: Foreskin tightness prohibiting retraction''
''Tightness: Foreskin tightness hampering retraction''</blockquote>

Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff (2005) conducted a survey of 4000 young men in [[Denmark]]. They report that the mean age of first foreskin retraction is 10.4 years in [[Denmark]].<ref name="Thorvaldsen2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Thorvaldsen
|init=MA
|last2=Meyhoff
|init2=H
|title=Patologisk eller fysiologisk fimose?
|journal=Ugeskr Læger
|volume=167
|issue=17
|pages=1858-1862
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/thorvaldsen1/
|quote=
|pubmedID=15929334
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=2005
|accessdate=2019-10-01
}}</ref> Non-retractile foreskin is the more common condition until about 10-11 years of age.

== Penis size ==
The average length of the adult penis is 5.5 inches or 14 centimeters. The average girth is 4.6 inches or 11.7 centimeters.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://unravelingsize.wordpress.com/
|title=Unravelling size
|last=
|first=
|init=
|publisher=
|website=wordpress.com
|date=
|accessdate=2023-12-29
}}</ref>

==Effect of foreskin restoration==
Previously [[circumcised]] men who have [[restored]] their [[foreskin]] report that their penis has much more [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sensation]] with a foreskin. Restored men report being surprised by unexpected pleasurable sensations.

== Videos ==
=== The Penis ===
<youtube>v=4qbUdVk-QvE</youtube>

=== What Happens to Your Penis As You Age? A Doctor Explains===
<youtube>v=2ixNxjJOJu0</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Body pleasure]]
* [[Circumcision - Penis SensitivityTest]]
* [[Erection]]
* [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin sensitivity]]
* [[Glans penis]]
* [[Gliding action]]
* [[Long foreskins]]
* [[Jojoba]]
* [[Meissner's corpuscles]]
* [[Preputial sac]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFbook
|last=Quartey
|first=
|init=JKM
|author-link=
|year=2006
|title=Anatomy and Blood Supply of the Urethra and Penis
|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/3-540-29385-X_3.pdf
|work=Urethral reconstructive surgery
|editor=
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter Three
|scope=
|page=
|pages=12-17
|location=
|publisher=Springer
|ISBN=
|quote=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-11-08
|note=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactaus.org/information/functions-of-the-foreskin/
|title=Functions of the Foreskin
|last=
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact Australia
|date=
|accessdate=2025-07-27
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/key-functions-of-the-penis/
|title=The Four Functions of the Penis
|last=Cartwright-Smith
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=Jeffrey Cartwright-Smith
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-09-28
|accessdate=2025-10-08
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.yourwholebaby.org/the-intact-male-body/
|title=Why is an Intact Penis Important?
|publisher=Your Whole Baby
|accessdate=2026-01-29
}}
* {{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/penisquestion/
|title=Penis question blog
|publisher=Reddit
|accessdate=2026-02-22
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Genital]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Medical_term]]
[[Category:Penile anatomy]]
[[Category:Physiology]]

[[de:Penis]]

Resources at Reddit

2026-03-29T21:21:14Z

WikiModEn2: /* r/CircumcisionJustice */

[[File:Reddit logo 2023.svg.png|thumb|Logo used since November 2023]]
Wikipedia describes Reddit as:
<blockquote>Reddit (/ˈrɛdɪt/) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and forum social network. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down ("upvoted" or "downvoted") by other members. Posts are organized by subject into user-created boards called "subreddits".<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit
|title=Reddit
|author-link=
|publisher=Wikipedia
|accessdate=2024-09-03
}}</ref></blockquote>

The purpose of this file is to list the '''resources at Reddit''' that may be helpful. Various subreddits are of interest to [[foreskinned]] men, parents, [[intactivists]] or [[foreskin]] restorers.

==Behavior subreddits==
=== r/[[puberty]] ===
This subreddit is for minor pubescent and adolescent youth to discuss sexual issues, including [[foreskin]] issues. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Puberty/
===r/pubertyinfoforboys===
This subreddit is for minor pubescent and adolescent males to discuss [[puberty]] and sexual issues, including [[foreskin]] issues. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/pubertyinfoforboys/
===r/psychologyofsex===
This subreddit is for sharing and discussing science-based material on sex, love, and relationships. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/psychologyofsex/
==Breastfeeding subreddits==
[[Breastfeeding]] is included here because the [[pain]] and [[trauma]] of [[circumcision of the newborn]] weakens and debilitates newborn boys and makes it more difficult or impossible for them to institute breastfeeding.
===r/breastfeeding===
This subreddit is a forum for breastfeeding mothers to discuss breastfeeding issues. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/breastfeeding/

===r/breastfeedingsupport===
This subreddit is a pro-breastfeeding support group for breastfeeding mothers. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/breastfeedingsupport/

==Foreskin regeneration subreddits==
===r/Foregen===
This subreddit discusses the application of regenerative medicine to [[foreskin regeneration]].: URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Foregen/

==Foreskin restoration subreddits==
===r/Foreskin restoration===
This subreddit provides information regarding [[foreskin restoration]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/
===r/Restoring dick===
This is a {{NSFW}} subreddit that offers photographs of partially restored foreskins. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/restoringdick/

==Intactivism subreddits==
===r/CircumcisionJustice===
This subreddit is a "place which amplifies the voices of and empowers victims who had their genitals electively intruded into as children (aka [[circumcised]])." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionJustice/

===r/DebunkingCircumcision===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit collects information to debunk the advocates of male circumcision. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/DebunkingCircumcision/
===r/foreskinexplained===
This subreddit is "an Intactivist community for anyone to ask foreskin related questions and share educational [[intact]] related content. Our goal is to share the facts about the [[foreskin]] and stamp out all of the lies and misinformation. Whether you’re a [[Intactivist]], parent, partner, [[circumcised]] or [[foreskinned| uncircumcised]] male everyone is welcome. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskinexplained/
===r/foreskininfo===
This subreddit is a "supportive and educational space for all things foreskin." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskininfo/
===r/FriendsOfTheFrenulum/===
This subreddit is where circumcision opponents gather to oppose [[circumcision]]. the "handle" of the anonymous [[intactivist]] moderator is "[[C4Charkey]]". URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/FriendsOfTheFrenulum/
===r/IntactAmerica===
This subreddit belongs to the prominent educational, [[intactivist]], non-profit [[Intact America| organization]]. "Our mission is to protect newborns from the [[pain]] and [[trauma]] of [[circumcision]], [[Regret parents| parents from a lifetime of regret]], men from the [[Risks and complications| complications]] and consequences of the genital surgery, and to guarantee open sexual futures for everyone. This community will highlight Intact America's advocacy and empower our supporters, partners, and volunteers to move [[USA| America]] to a social-change tipping point." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactAmerica/

===r/IntactCare===
This subreddit is for [[foreskinned]] men to learn [[foreskin]] care. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactCare/
===r/IntactGlobal===
This subreddit "is a nonprofit organization founded with the mission to end genital mutilation practices that violate the bodily autonomy of children. We are committed to taking bold legal actions and raising awareness to protect the rights of all children." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactGlobal/
===r/intactinfo===
This subreddit is "a supportive, foreskin-positive community focused on education and respectful dialogue." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/intactinfo/
===r/Intactivism===
This subreddit is for the [[intactivism]] movement for [[physical integrity]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Intactivism/
===r/Intactivists===
This subreddit is for [[intactivists]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Intactivists/
===r/IntactivistMemes===
This subreddit provides illustrations expressing [[intactivist]] ideas. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactivistMemes/

==Intersex subreddits==
===r/intersex===
This subreddit is the place to talk about [[intersex]] topics with intersex Redditors. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/intersex/

==Law and ethics subreddits==
===r/bioethics===
This subreddit is a "place to debate and discuss bioethical issues old, new and yet-to-come." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/bioethics/
===r/ethics_medical===
This subreddit is for questions regarding medical ethics. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethics_medical/
===r/humanrights ===
This subreddit has had several posts regarding circumcision as a violation of human rights. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/humanrights/
===r/MensRights===
This subreddit states "At the most basic level, men's rights are the legal rights that are granted to men. However, any issue that pertains to men's relationship to society is also a topic suitable for this subreddit. Men's rights are influenced by the way men are perceived by others. WARNING: Some other subs have bots that will ban you if you post or comment here." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/

==Male channel subreddits==
===r/AskMen===
This subreddit is a general discussion of male issues where matters relating to the [[foreskin]] and [[circumcision]] are occasionally discussed. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMen/
===r/CircumcisionGrief===
This subreddit is a place to discuss the negative emotions that may come along with being [[circumcised]] without one's consent as an infant or regretting getting [[circumcised]] as an adult. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionGrief/
===r/CircumcisionRegret===
This subreddit is "is mostly for men that submitted to [[adult circumcision]] as teenagers or adults and regret having it done." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionRegret/
===r/intact_chat===
This subreddit offers "evidence-based advice, suggestions, and friendly discussions on the restored and natural ([[intact]]) [[penis]], [[glans]], [[frenulum]] and [[foreskin]]." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/intact_chat/
===r/penisquestion===
The subreddit is "A safe place for males to ask other males questions without being judged." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/penisquestion/
===r/uncircumcised_talk===
This subreddit is a place where [[foreskinned]] men may discuss [[intactness]] and matters of mutual interest. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/

==Parent subreddits==
===r/IntactParenting===
r/IntactParenting "is a community dedicated to promoting the importance of keeping infants' genitals [[intact]]. It highlights the harms of non-consensual genital cutting practices such as [[circumcision]], and advocates for respecting bodily autonomy and informed decision-making. The community provides a supportive space for parents and caregivers who choose to keep their children's genitals [[intact]], and seeks to empower and educate individuals for the well-being of all children." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactParenting/

===r/Moms===
Welcome to r/Moms: a supportive space for all moms, stepmoms, guardians, and maternal figures. Whether you’re pregnant, raising toddlers, juggling teens, or parenting adult kids, this is your place to vent, laugh, ask for advice, and connect with others who get it. No judgment, just real talk about the ups and downs of motherhood. Everyone’s journey is different and everyone’s welcome here. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Moms/
===r/NewBorn===
This subreddit is "A positive source for information on your new born baby." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/NewBorn/
===r/Newborns===
This subreddit is "a subreddit for parents/caretakers of newborn babies and those who are getting ready to have babies." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/newborns/
===r/Parenting===
This subreddit says "It is the place to discuss the ins and out as well as ups and downs of child-rearing", but it has a lot of rules. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Parenting/
===r/parent===
This subreddit is a less active list for parents. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/parent/
===r/realpregnancy===
This subreddit is a new subreddit for parents that permits the discussion of harmful, male non-therapeutic circumcision. "Real pregnancy is a Reddit forum meant for all topics of pregnancy and birth to be safely discussed. You will not be banned for activity in other forums, but you are asked to be kind." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/realpregnancy/
===r/ScienceBasedParenting ===
This subreddit is "a place to ask questions related to parenting and receive answers based on science, share relevant research, and discuss existing scientific journalism." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/ScienceBasedParenting/
===r/toddlers===
This subreddit is for parents of toddlers. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/toddlers/

==Penis condition subreddits==
===r/bxo===
This subreddit is "A support community for guys with Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans (BXO) - also known male genital or penile Lichen Sclerosus (LS)." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/bxo/
===r/penisquestion===
This subreddit is "A safe place for males to ask other males questions without being judged." There is some {{NSFW}} content. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/penisquestion/
===r/Phimosis===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is dedicated to the discussion of non-surgical solutions to [[phimosis]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis/

===r/Phimosis_Care===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is a "place for men to share techniques, tools & tips on foreskin [[stretching]]. This group is for fixing or managing [[phimosis]] to AVOID [[adult circumcision| circumcision]]." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis_Care/
===r/Phimosishelp ===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit offers "advice and support for boys and men with [[phimosis]] (tight foreskin)." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosishelp/

{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Foreskin restoration]]
[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:Intactivism]]
[[Category:Intactivist]]
[[Category:Intersex]]
[[Category:Penile disorder]]

Penis

2026-03-29T17:48:33Z

WikiModEn2: /* The frenular delta */ Add citation.

The '''penis''' is the external male organ of [[urination]] and copulation.<ref name="farlex2003">{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/penis
|archived=
|title=penis
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=
|first=
|author-link=
|publisher=The Free Dictionary by Farlex.
|website=
|date=2003
|accessdate=2022-05-23
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref> The penis is also known as the '''phallus'''.
==Description==
The body of the penis consists of three cylindrical-shaped masses of erectile tissue which run the length of the penis. Two of the masses lie alongside each other and end behind the head of the penis. The third mass lies underneath them. This latter mass contains the [[urethra]]. The penis terminates in an oval or cone-shaped body, the [[glans penis]], which contains the exterior opening of the [[urethra]], or [[meatus]].<ref name="farlex2003"/> The final part of the penis is the [[foreskin]], also called the prepuce.
==The four functions of the penis==
The four functions of the penis are:
# to be a handy tool for [[urination]] without disrobing.
# to be a a vehicle for reproduction.
# to provide [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sexual pleasure and sensory function]].
# to provide partner satisfaction and friction reduction.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/key-functions-of-the-penis/
|title=Understanding the Key Functions of the Penis
|last=Cartwright-Smith
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-09-18
|accessdate=2025-10-02
}}</ref>

==Foreskin==

The normal [[intact]], [[foreskinned]] penis is enveloped in its tube of folded loose, highly innervated, movable, protective, erogenous skin,<ref name="winklemann1959">{{WinkelmannRK 1959}}</ref> the [[foreskin]] or prepuce, which unfolds to enable the penis to fully expand during [[erection]].<ref name="earp2018">{{REFjournal
|last=Earp
|first=
|init=BD
|author-link=Brian D. Earp
|last2=Steinfeld
|first2=
|init2=R
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Genital autonomy and sexual well-being
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Current Sexual Health Reports
|location=
|date=2018
|volume=10
|issue=1
|article=
|pages=7-17
|url=https://www.academia.edu/35660699/Genital_autonomy_and_sexual_well_being?email_work_card=view-paper
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1007/s11930-018-0141-x
|accessdate=2024-01-02
}}</ref> The two layers of the foreskin contain [[lymph]] between them to allow lubricated, frictionless [[gliding action]] of the outer skin over the inner skin. The skin ends just behind the [[glans penis]] but folds forward to cover it, this forming the [[preputial sac]] and, if long enough, the [[acroposthion]]. The moist [[preputial sac]] may harmlessly collect oil-bearing [[smegma]], which is helpful in preventing dermatitis.<ref name="birley1993">{{REFjournal
|last=Birley
|init=HDL
|author-link=
|last2=Walker
|init2=MM
|author2-link=
|last3=Luzzi
|init3=GA
|author3-link=
|last4=Bell
|init4=R
|author4-link=
|etal=yes
|title=Clinical Features and management of recurrent balanitis; association with atopy and genital washing]
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Genitourin Med
|location=
|date=1993-10
|volume=69
|issue=5
|pages=400-3
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195128/pdf/genitmed00029-0074.pdf
|quote=
|format=PDF
|pubmedID=8244363
|pubmedCID=1195128
|DOI=10.1136/sti.69.5.400
|accessdate=2023-11-29
}}</ref>

The skin of the adult penis normally is somewhat darker than the rest of the body. This condition is called ''hyperpigmentation''<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hyperpigmentation
|title=hyperpigmentation
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions
|date=2012
|accessdate=2024-09-25
}}</ref> and occurs after [[puberty]].

== Innervation ==
The normal [[foreskinned]] penis — the organ of copulation — is heavily innervated with afferent<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/afferent
|title=Afferent
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=The Free Dictionary by Farlex
|date=2003
|accessdate=2023-11-24
}}</ref> nerves — meaning that sensation, which is needed for male sexual function, is transmitted to the spinal cord and/or central nervous system. The penis is also innervated by the sympathetic autonomic nervous system (SAMS) and parasympathetic autonomic nervous system (PAMS).<ref name="cepeda2023">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Gándara-Cortés
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Otero-Alén
|first3=
|init3=M
|author3-link=
|last4=García
|first4=
|init4=H
|author4-link=
|last5=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first5=
|init5=J
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=T
|author6-link=
|last7=Gallego
|first7=
|init7=R
|author7-link=
|last8=García-Caballero
|first8=
|init8=R
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Immunohistological study of the density and distribution of human penile neural tissue: gradient hypothesis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Int J Impot Res
|location=
|date=2023-05-02
|volume=35
|issue=3
|article=
|page=
|pages=286-305
|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41443-022-00561-9
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=35501394
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1038/s41443-022-00561-9
|accessdate=2023-11-24
}}</ref> The penis is innervated by both dorsal and perineal nerves.<ref name="cepeda2023"/>

The innervation in the tube of [[foreskin]] translates movement and stretching into pleasurable, erogenous sensation.<ref name="garcía-mesa2021">{{REFjournal
|last=García-Mesa
|first=Yolanda
|init=
|author-link=
|last2=García-Piqueras
|first2=Jorge
|init2=
|author2-link=
|last3=Cobo
|first3=Ramón
|init3=
|author3-link=
|last4=Martín-Cruces
|first4=José
|init4=
|author4-link=
|last5=Suazo
|first5=Iván
|init5=
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Suárez
|first6=Olivia
|init6=
|author6-link=
|last7=Feito
|first7=Jorge
|init7=
|author7-link=
|last8=
|first8=Vega
|init8=José A.
|author8-link=
|etal=no
|title=Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Anatomy
|location=
|date=2021-10
|volume=239
|issue=4
|article=
|page=
|pages=892-902
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joa.13481
|pubmedID=34120333
|pubmedCID=8450466
|DOI=10.1111/joa.13481
|accessdate=2023-11-26
}}</ref><ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-do-the-eyelids-lips-fingertips-the-intact-penis-have-in-common/
|title=What Do The Eyelids, Lips, Fingertips & The Intact Penis Have in Common?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-02-17
|accessdate=2024-02-18
}}</ref>

===The frenular delta===
[[Ken McGrath| McGrath]] (2001) described the frenular delta on the ventral side of the penis as the most sensitive part of the penis.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=McGrath
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=
|year=2001
|title= The frenular delta: a new preputial structure
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/mcgrath1/
|work=Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem.
|editor=Denniston GC, Hodges FM, Milos MF, editors.
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter 11
|pages=199-206
|location=New York
|publisher=Kluwer/Plenum
|ISBN=
|quote=The frenular delta is noted by men as the most sensitive area of their penis, especially in the mid-line nearest the frenulum, and the frenulum itself.
|accessdate=2025-09-30
|note=
}}</ref>

[[Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani| Cepeda-Emiliani]] et al. (2025) published the most complete review of penile innervation thus far. They confirmed that the frenulal delta is the most erogenously sensitive part of the penis and compared it to the female "G-spot".<ref name="cepeda2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Cepeda-Emiliani
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alfonso Cepeda-Emiliani
|last2=Otero-Alén
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Suárez-Quintanilla
|first3=
|init3=J
|author3-link=
|last4=Gándara-Cortés
|first4=
|init4=M
|author4-link=
|last5=García-Caballero
|first5=
|init5=T
|author5-link=
|last6=García-Caballero
|first6=
|init6=R
|author6-link=
|last7=García-Caballero
|first7=
|init7=L
|author7-link=
|etal=no
|title=The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation
|trans-title=
|journal=Andrology
|date=2025-09-19
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|pages=1-41
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/andr.70118
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=40970806
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/andr.70118
|accessdate=2025-09-30
}}</ref>

The New Scientist is now making the same claim.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Klein
|init=A
|author-link=
|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520982-surprising-male-g-spot-found-in-most-detailed-study-of-the-penis-yet/
|title=Surprising male G-spot found in most detailed study of the penis yet
|journal=New Scientist
|date=2026-03-27
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=
|accessdate=2026-03-29
}}</ref>

==Parts==

* Root of the penis (radix): It is the attached part, consisting of the bulb of penis in the middle and the crus of penis, one on either side of the bulb. It lies within the superficial perineal pouch.
* Body of the penis (corpus): It has two surfaces: dorsal (posterosuperior in the erect penis), and ventral or urethral (facing downwards and backwards in the flaccid penis). The ventral surface is marked by a groove in a lateral direction.
* Epithelium of the penis consists of the [[shaft skin]], the [[foreskin]], and the [[preputial mucosa]] on the inside of the foreskin and covering the [[glans penis]]. The epithelium is not attached to the underlying shaft so it is free to [[Gliding action| glide to and fro]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=http://www.circumstitions.com/completeman/sidegif.gif
|title=How the foreskin works
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=Young
|first=Hugh
|publisher=
|website=Circumstitions
|date=
|accessdate=2019-10-02
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref>

----

''The following content is part of the [[Circumpendium]].''

== Anatomy and development of the male genital organ ==

Up to the ninth week of pregnancy, both male and female genital organs develop identically. Genital tubercle, labioscrotal swelling, genital fold and urogenital membrane have developed.

Only after that do the different external features emerge in the [[fetus]]. Between the 11th and 17th week the genital tubercle becomes the [[clitoris]] in females, and the glans in males.

In girls, the genital fold remains open, in boys it grows together. It transforms into the inner labia and the clitoral hood in girls, and into the [[foreskin]] in boys. The labioscrotal swelling becomes the outer labia and scrotum respectively.

The growing together of the folds results in the seam that runs from the underside of the scrotum and the penile shaft up to the tip of the foreskin. The penis now consists of the shaft containing the erectile tissue, with the glans at the top. The shaft is surrounded by the [[shaft skin]] which, however, is not knitted to it. This mobility, combined with the [[stretching]] capabilities of the [[skin]], allows for the growth in dimension of the penis during an [[erection]]. During an [[erection]] the erectile tissue fills with blood, giving the penis its stiffness and enlarged size.

In the area of the [[glans]] the [[shaft skin]] transitions into the outer layer of the [[foreskin]], which extends past the tip of the [[glans]]. Parallel to that runs the inner layer of the [[foreskin]]. It is attached behind the rim of the [[glans]], and runs between the [[glans]] and the outer [[foreskin]] layer, also past the tip of the [[glans]]. At the tip, the inner and outer [[foreskin]] layers are joined together.

This junction makes up the [[ridged band]]. At the underside of the penis, in the area of the seam, the inner foreskin layer is connected to the glans by the [[frenulum]].

[[File:Circumpendium-2-penis-1-English.jpg|center|400px]]

Like the [[shaft skin]], the [[foreskin]] layers are neither fused to the penis, nor to each other, but are moveable against each other. This enables the foreskin to be retracted all the way past the glans until it is stopped by the [[frenulum]].

[[File:Circumpendium-2-penis-2-English.jpg|center|400px]]

At the time of birth, the development of the external male genital organs is not completely finished. At this stage, the [[foreskin]] and [[glans]] share an epithelium (mucous layer, the balano-preputial membrane) that fuses the two together. It serves to protect the [[glans]] during infancy, and dissolves as the child develops. Premature forcible [[retraction of the foreskin]] will tear this membrane, causing great [[pain]] and injury to the boy, who suffers this abuse. The child, himself, should be the first person to retract his foreskin.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|init=JE
|title=Further to the <q>Further Fate of the Foreskin</q>
|journal=Med J Aust
|date=1994
|volume=160
|issue=
|pages=134-5
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright2/
|quote=The normal prepuce should be left alone, with no attempt to retract it until the boy is able to do it himself, at the earliest at three years of age.
|pubmedID=8295581
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-01
}}</ref> <ref name="NOCIRCpretract">{{REFdocument
|url=http://www.nocirc.org/publish/6pam.pdf
|title=Answers to Your Questions About Premature (Forcible) Retraction of Your Son's Foreskin
|location=San Anselmo
|publisher=NOCIRC
|date=2000
|format=PDF
}}</ref>

Only then the [[foreskin]] can be retracted. The age at which this occurs is subject to the child's individual development. If the foreskin is retracted prematurely, before it has fully separated, that can result in painful tears and infections.

The widening of the [[foreskin]] also depends on age. A child's [[foreskin]] may be too tight to be retracted all the way past the [[glans]], even though it has already completely separated from the glans. This early [[foreskin]] tightness, frequently confused with ([[phimosis]]), is a normal stage of development and vanishes with increasing age in most boys.

A study by the Danish paediatrician and school doctor, [[Jakob Øster]], of 9,545 examinations of pupils, published in 1968, led to the following results<ref>{{OesterJ 1968}}</ref>:

{|border='1' style='text-align:right' cellpadding='2'
!width='15%'|Age
!width='15%'|[[Phimosis]]
!width='15%'|Tightness
!width='15%'|Incomplete separation
!width='15%'|Not retractable
!width='15%'|Fully retractable
|-
| 6 to 7 || 8% || 1% || 63% || 77% || 23%
|-
| 8 to 9 || 6% || 2% || 58% || 66% || 34%
|-
| 10 to 11 || 6% || 2% || 48% || 56% || 44%
|-
| 12 to 13 || 3% || 3% || 34% || 40% || 60%
|-
| 14 to 15 || 1% || 1% || 13% || 15% || 85%
|-
| 16 to 17 || 1% || 1% || 3% || 5% || 95%
|}

<blockquote>
'''''Classification according to Øster:'''''

''[[phimosis]]: Foreskin tightness prohibiting retraction''
''Tightness: Foreskin tightness hampering retraction''</blockquote>

Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff (2005) conducted a survey of 4000 young men in [[Denmark]]. They report that the mean age of first foreskin retraction is 10.4 years in [[Denmark]].<ref name="Thorvaldsen2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Thorvaldsen
|init=MA
|last2=Meyhoff
|init2=H
|title=Patologisk eller fysiologisk fimose?
|journal=Ugeskr Læger
|volume=167
|issue=17
|pages=1858-1862
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/thorvaldsen1/
|quote=
|pubmedID=15929334
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=2005
|accessdate=2019-10-01
}}</ref> Non-retractile foreskin is the more common condition until about 10-11 years of age.

== Penis size ==
The average length of the adult penis is 5.5 inches or 14 centimeters. The average girth is 4.6 inches or 11.7 centimeters.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://unravelingsize.wordpress.com/
|title=Unravelling size
|last=
|first=
|init=
|publisher=
|website=wordpress.com
|date=
|accessdate=2023-12-29
}}</ref>

==Effect of foreskin restoration==
Previously [[circumcised]] men who have [[restored]] their [[foreskin]] report that their penis has much more [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sensation]] with a foreskin. Restored men report being surprised by unexpected pleasurable sensations.

== Videos ==
=== The Penis ===
<youtube>v=4qbUdVk-QvE</youtube>

=== What Happens to Your Penis As You Age? A Doctor Explains===
<youtube>v=2ixNxjJOJu0</youtube>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Body pleasure]]
* [[Circumcision - Penis SensitivityTest]]
* [[Erection]]
* [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Foreskin sensitivity]]
* [[Glans penis]]
* [[Gliding action]]
* [[Long foreskins]]
* [[Jojoba]]
* [[Meissner's corpuscles]]
* [[Preputial sac]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFbook
|last=Quartey
|first=
|init=JKM
|author-link=
|year=2006
|title=Anatomy and Blood Supply of the Urethra and Penis
|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/3-540-29385-X_3.pdf
|work=Urethral reconstructive surgery
|editor=
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=Chapter Three
|scope=
|page=
|pages=12-17
|location=
|publisher=Springer
|ISBN=
|quote=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-11-08
|note=
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactaus.org/information/functions-of-the-foreskin/
|title=Functions of the Foreskin
|last=
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact Australia
|date=
|accessdate=2025-07-27
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/key-functions-of-the-penis/
|title=The Four Functions of the Penis
|last=Cartwright-Smith
|first=Jeffrey
|init=
|author-link=Jeffrey Cartwright-Smith
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-09-28
|accessdate=2025-10-08
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.yourwholebaby.org/the-intact-male-body/
|title=Why is an Intact Penis Important?
|publisher=Your Whole Baby
|accessdate=2026-01-29
}}
* {{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/penisquestion/
|title=Penis question blog
|publisher=Reddit
|accessdate=2026-02-22
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Genital]]
[[Category:Male sexuality]]
[[Category:Medical_term]]
[[Category:Penile anatomy]]
[[Category:Physiology]]

[[de:Penis]]

Resources at Reddit

2026-03-29T17:19:03Z

WikiModEn2: /* Intactivism subreddits */ Add subreddit.

[[File:Reddit logo 2023.svg.png|thumb|Logo used since November 2023]]
Wikipedia describes Reddit as:
<blockquote>Reddit (/ˈrɛdɪt/) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and forum social network. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down ("upvoted" or "downvoted") by other members. Posts are organized by subject into user-created boards called "subreddits".<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit
|title=Reddit
|author-link=
|publisher=Wikipedia
|accessdate=2024-09-03
}}</ref></blockquote>

The purpose of this file is to list the '''resources at Reddit''' that may be helpful. Various subreddits are of interest to [[foreskinned]] men, parents, [[intactivists]] or [[foreskin]] restorers.

==Behavior subreddits==
=== r/[[puberty]] ===
This subreddit is for minor pubescent and adolescent youth to discuss sexual issues, including [[foreskin]] issues. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Puberty/
===r/pubertyinfoforboys===
This subreddit is for minor pubescent and adolescent males to discuss [[puberty]] and sexual issues, including [[foreskin]] issues. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/pubertyinfoforboys/
===r/psychologyofsex===
This subreddit is for sharing and discussing science-based material on sex, love, and relationships. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/psychologyofsex/
==Breastfeeding subreddits==
[[Breastfeeding]] is included here because the [[pain]] and [[trauma]] of [[circumcision of the newborn]] weakens and debilitates newborn boys and makes it more difficult or impossible for them to institute breastfeeding.
===r/breastfeeding===
This subreddit is a forum for breastfeeding mothers to discuss breastfeeding issues. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/breastfeeding/

===r/breastfeedingsupport===
This subreddit is a pro-breastfeeding support group for breastfeeding mothers. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/breastfeedingsupport/

==Foreskin regeneration subreddits==
===r/Foregen===
This subreddit discusses the application of regenerative medicine to [[foreskin regeneration]].: URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Foregen/

==Foreskin restoration subreddits==
===r/Foreskin restoration===
This subreddit provides information regarding [[foreskin restoration]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/
===r/Restoring dick===
This is a {{NSFW}} subreddit that offers photographs of partially restored foreskins. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/restoringdick/

==Intactivism subreddits==
===r/CircumcisionJustice===
This subreddit is a "place which amplifies the voices of and empowers victims who had their genitals electively intruded into as children (aka [[circumcised]]). URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionJustice/
===r/DebunkingCircumcision===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit collects information to debunk the advocates of male circumcision. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/DebunkingCircumcision/
===r/foreskinexplained===
This subreddit is "an Intactivist community for anyone to ask foreskin related questions and share educational [[intact]] related content. Our goal is to share the facts about the [[foreskin]] and stamp out all of the lies and misinformation. Whether you’re a [[Intactivist]], parent, partner, [[circumcised]] or [[foreskinned| uncircumcised]] male everyone is welcome. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskinexplained/
===r/foreskininfo===
This subreddit is a "supportive and educational space for all things foreskin." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskininfo/
===r/FriendsOfTheFrenulum/===
This subreddit is where circumcision opponents gather to oppose [[circumcision]]. the "handle" of the anonymous [[intactivist]] moderator is "[[C4Charkey]]". URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/FriendsOfTheFrenulum/
===r/IntactAmerica===
This subreddit belongs to the prominent educational, [[intactivist]], non-profit [[Intact America| organization]]. "Our mission is to protect newborns from the [[pain]] and [[trauma]] of [[circumcision]], [[Regret parents| parents from a lifetime of regret]], men from the [[Risks and complications| complications]] and consequences of the genital surgery, and to guarantee open sexual futures for everyone. This community will highlight Intact America's advocacy and empower our supporters, partners, and volunteers to move [[USA| America]] to a social-change tipping point." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactAmerica/

===r/IntactCare===
This subreddit is for [[foreskinned]] men to learn [[foreskin]] care. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactCare/
===r/IntactGlobal===
This subreddit "is a nonprofit organization founded with the mission to end genital mutilation practices that violate the bodily autonomy of children. We are committed to taking bold legal actions and raising awareness to protect the rights of all children." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactGlobal/
===r/intactinfo===
This subreddit is "a supportive, foreskin-positive community focused on education and respectful dialogue." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/intactinfo/
===r/Intactivism===
This subreddit is for the [[intactivism]] movement for [[physical integrity]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Intactivism/
===r/Intactivists===
This subreddit is for [[intactivists]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Intactivists/
===r/IntactivistMemes===
This subreddit provides illustrations expressing [[intactivist]] ideas. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactivistMemes/

==Intersex subreddits==
===r/intersex===
This subreddit is the place to talk about [[intersex]] topics with intersex Redditors. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/intersex/

==Law and ethics subreddits==
===r/bioethics===
This subreddit is a "place to debate and discuss bioethical issues old, new and yet-to-come." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/bioethics/
===r/ethics_medical===
This subreddit is for questions regarding medical ethics. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethics_medical/
===r/humanrights ===
This subreddit has had several posts regarding circumcision as a violation of human rights. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/humanrights/
===r/MensRights===
This subreddit states "At the most basic level, men's rights are the legal rights that are granted to men. However, any issue that pertains to men's relationship to society is also a topic suitable for this subreddit. Men's rights are influenced by the way men are perceived by others. WARNING: Some other subs have bots that will ban you if you post or comment here." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/

==Male channel subreddits==
===r/AskMen===
This subreddit is a general discussion of male issues where matters relating to the [[foreskin]] and [[circumcision]] are occasionally discussed. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMen/
===r/CircumcisionGrief===
This subreddit is a place to discuss the negative emotions that may come along with being [[circumcised]] without one's consent as an infant or regretting getting [[circumcised]] as an adult. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionGrief/
===r/CircumcisionRegret===
This subreddit is "is mostly for men that submitted to [[adult circumcision]] as teenagers or adults and regret having it done." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/CircumcisionRegret/
===r/intact_chat===
This subreddit offers "evidence-based advice, suggestions, and friendly discussions on the restored and natural ([[intact]]) [[penis]], [[glans]], [[frenulum]] and [[foreskin]]." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/intact_chat/
===r/penisquestion===
The subreddit is "A safe place for males to ask other males questions without being judged." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/penisquestion/
===r/uncircumcised_talk===
This subreddit is a place where [[foreskinned]] men may discuss [[intactness]] and matters of mutual interest. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/

==Parent subreddits==
===r/IntactParenting===
r/IntactParenting "is a community dedicated to promoting the importance of keeping infants' genitals [[intact]]. It highlights the harms of non-consensual genital cutting practices such as [[circumcision]], and advocates for respecting bodily autonomy and informed decision-making. The community provides a supportive space for parents and caregivers who choose to keep their children's genitals [[intact]], and seeks to empower and educate individuals for the well-being of all children." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/IntactParenting/

===r/Moms===
Welcome to r/Moms: a supportive space for all moms, stepmoms, guardians, and maternal figures. Whether you’re pregnant, raising toddlers, juggling teens, or parenting adult kids, this is your place to vent, laugh, ask for advice, and connect with others who get it. No judgment, just real talk about the ups and downs of motherhood. Everyone’s journey is different and everyone’s welcome here. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Moms/
===r/NewBorn===
This subreddit is "A positive source for information on your new born baby." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/NewBorn/
===r/Newborns===
This subreddit is "a subreddit for parents/caretakers of newborn babies and those who are getting ready to have babies." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/newborns/
===r/Parenting===
This subreddit says "It is the place to discuss the ins and out as well as ups and downs of child-rearing", but it has a lot of rules. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Parenting/
===r/parent===
This subreddit is a less active list for parents. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/parent/
===r/realpregnancy===
This subreddit is a new subreddit for parents that permits the discussion of harmful, male non-therapeutic circumcision. "Real pregnancy is a Reddit forum meant for all topics of pregnancy and birth to be safely discussed. You will not be banned for activity in other forums, but you are asked to be kind." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/realpregnancy/
===r/ScienceBasedParenting ===
This subreddit is "a place to ask questions related to parenting and receive answers based on science, share relevant research, and discuss existing scientific journalism." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/ScienceBasedParenting/
===r/toddlers===
This subreddit is for parents of toddlers. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/toddlers/

==Penis condition subreddits==
===r/bxo===
This subreddit is "A support community for guys with Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans (BXO) - also known male genital or penile Lichen Sclerosus (LS)." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/bxo/
===r/penisquestion===
This subreddit is "A safe place for males to ask other males questions without being judged." There is some {{NSFW}} content. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/penisquestion/
===r/Phimosis===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is dedicated to the discussion of non-surgical solutions to [[phimosis]]. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis/

===r/Phimosis_Care===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit is a "place for men to share techniques, tools & tips on foreskin [[stretching]]. This group is for fixing or managing [[phimosis]] to AVOID [[adult circumcision| circumcision]]." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosis_Care/
===r/Phimosishelp ===
This {{NSFW}} subreddit offers "advice and support for boys and men with [[phimosis]] (tight foreskin)." URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Phimosishelp/

{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Foreskin restoration]]
[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:Intactivism]]
[[Category:Intactivist]]
[[Category:Intersex]]
[[Category:Penile disorder]]

Circumcised men who complain

2026-03-29T12:01:35Z

WikiModEn2: Add link in SEEALSO section.

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a public Facebook group which has been founded in September 2018 by [[John Adkison]].

This group is meant to be a collection of men who were [[circumcised]] ([[Foreskin|prepuce]] excised) as infants who chose to keep their son(s) [[intact]]. The founder desires to leverage the group to show future fathers that there are men out there that changed course for their family. Thus, the group is currently public.
==Video==
===Personal memoir by Gregory Becker===
 
<youtube>?v=02K_76WjOds</youtube>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Adult circumcision]]
* [[Circumcised]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Regret men]]
* [[United States of America]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{URL-FBgroup|304541503672515|2019-09-23}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.intactaus.org/men-circumcised-as-adults/
|title=Men Circumcised As Adults
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact Australia
|date=2017-03-01
|accessdate=2023-12-12
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1ptxzrh/i_regret_getting_an_adult_circumcision/?chainedPosts=t3_1p67xlp
|title=I regret getting an adult circumcision
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=12-12-23
|accessdate=2025-12-29
}}
[[Category:Intactivism organization]]
[[Category:Regret]]
[[Category:USA]]
[[de:{{FULLPAGENAME}}]]

Circumcised men who complain

2026-03-29T11:57:22Z

WikiModEn2: /* Personal memoir by Gregory Becker */ Add link in SEEALSO section.

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is a public Facebook group which has been founded in September 2018 by [[John Adkison]].

This group is meant to be a collection of men who were [[circumcised]] ([[Foreskin|prepuce]] excised) as infants who chose to keep their son(s) [[intact]]. The founder desires to leverage the group to show future fathers that there are men out there that changed course for their family. Thus, the group is currently public.
==Video==
===Personal memoir by Gregory Becker===
 
<youtube>?v=02K_76WjOds</youtube>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Circumcised]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Regret men]]
* [[United States of America]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{URL-FBgroup|304541503672515|2019-09-23}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.intactaus.org/men-circumcised-as-adults/
|title=Men Circumcised As Adults
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=Intact Australia
|date=2017-03-01
|accessdate=2023-12-12
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/foreskin_restoration/comments/1ptxzrh/i_regret_getting_an_adult_circumcision/?chainedPosts=t3_1p67xlp
|title=I regret getting an adult circumcision
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=12-12-23
|accessdate=2025-12-29
}}
[[Category:Intactivism organization]]
[[Category:Regret]]
[[Category:USA]]
[[de:{{FULLPAGENAME}}]]

Circumcised doctors

2026-03-29T11:53:51Z

WikiModEn2: /* Identifying a suitable doctor for an intact male */

'''Circumcised doctors''' are male doctors who were [[circumcised]] as infants, so they lack any personal knowledge and experience of a normal male body part — the [[foreskin]] of a normal, complete, functional [[penis]]. Circumcised doctors, as compared with [[intact]], [[foreskinned]] doctors, tend to be highly [[Bias| biased]] in favor of non-therapeutic infant [[circumcision]].<ref name="hill2017">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=George
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-323
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-10-01
}}</ref>

[[Circumcised]] doctors are more likely to give poor advice on the care of [[intact]] boys. According to Bigelow (1995):
<blockquote>
America is not a generally a safe place for a [[foreskin]] regardless of the [[intact]] male's age. Most American doctors are neither trained or skilled in the less radical treatment procedures used in other countries. Av a result, they often recommend [[circumcision]] in situations that could be treated by less severe measures.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Bigelow, Ph.D
|first=Jim
|init=
|author-link=Jim Bigelow
|year=1995
|title=The Joy of Uncircumcising
|url=
|work=
|editor=
|edition=Second Edition
|volume=
|chapter=The circumcised American penis
|scope=
|page=27
|pages=
|location=Aptos
|publisher=Hourglass
|ISBN=0-934061-22-X
|quote=
|accessdate=2023-08-15
|note=
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

==Location==
[[Circumcised]] doctors tend to be concentrated in such nations as Turkey and other Islamic nations, [[Israel]], the [[United States of America]] and to a lesser extent, other English-speaking nations.

American [[medical trade association| medical trade associations]], such as

* the [[American Academy of Family Physicians]]
* the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]]
* the [[American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists| American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists]]
* the [[American Urological Association]]

are heavily populated with [[circumcised]] doctors, so their pronouncements on male [[circumcision]], as compared with those of other nations, tend to be [[Bias| biased]] in favor of male [[circumcision]].<ref name="goldman2005">{{REFjournal
|last=Goldman
|first=Ronald
|init=R
|author-link=Ronald Goldman
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision policy: a psychosocial perspective
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Paediatrics & Child Health (Ottawa)
|location=
|date=2005-11
|volume=9
|issue=9
|pages=630-633
|url=https://academic.oup.com/pch/article/9/9/630/2648566?login=true
|quote=
|pubmedID=19675851
|pubmedCID=2724127
|DOI=10.1093/pch/9.9.630
|accessdate=2020-03-16
}}</ref>

==Examples==
There are hundreds of thousands of [[circumcised]] doctors, many of them of Jewish heritage. Some notable examples of [[circumcised]] doctors are:
* [[Robert C. Bailey]]
* [[Benjamin E. Dawson]]
* [[Aaron J. Fink]]
* [[Andrew Freedman]]
* [[Hershel Goldman]]
* [[David Golovsky]]
* [[Ronald H. Gray]]
* [[Alan F. Guttmacher]]
* [[James Heilman]]
* [[Murray Katz]]
* [[John N. Krieger]]
* [[Paul C. Mohl]]
* [[M. J. Moses]]
* [[Stephen Moses]]
* [[Mehmet Cengiz Öz]]
* [[Neil Pollock]]
* [[Abraham Ravich]]
* [[Terry Russell]]
* [[Edgar J. Schoen]]
* [[Aaron Tobian]]
* [[Peter Wein]]
* [[Gerald N. Weiss]]
* [[Thomas E. Wiswell]]
* [[Alex D. Wodak]]
* [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]]

== Scientific references ==

* [[Ronald Goldman|Goldman]] (1999)<ref name="goldman1999">{{REFjournal
|last=Goldman
|first=Ronald
|init=R
|author-link=Ronald Goldman
|etal=no
|title=The psychological impact of circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=1999-01-01
|volume=
|issue=83 Suppl 1
|pages=93-103
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1093.x
|quote=
|pubmedID=
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1093.x
|accessdate=2020-03-15
}}</ref> & [[Gregory J. Boyle|Boyle]] et al. (2002)<ref>{{BoyleGJ GoldmanR SvobodaJS FernandezE 2002}}</ref> report that [[circumcision]] is traumatic, so one may expect that [[circumcised]] doctors experienced [[trauma]] and that their behavior is impacted.

* Stein et al. (1982) sent out questionnaires regarding [[circumcision]] practice to medical doctors in San Diego, California. The questionnnaire included questions about personal [[circumcision]] status. The authors reported:
<blockquote>
Older and [[circumcised]] physicians were more likely than either younger or uncircumcised physicians to maintain a positive attitude about routine neonatal circumcision. Although the number of female physicians in this study was limited, they were less likely than male physicians to favor circumcision.<ref name="stein1982">{{REFjournal
|last=Stein
|first=
|init=MT
|author-link=
|last2=Marx
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Taggert
|first3=
|init3=SL
|author3-link=
|last4=Bass
|first4=
|init4=RA
|author4-link=
|etal=no
|title=Routine neonatal circumcision: the gap between contemporary policy and practice
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Fam Pract
|location=
|date=1982
|volume=15
|issue=1
|article=
|page=
|pages=47-53
|url=https://cdn.mdedge.com/files/s3fs-public/jfp-archived-issues/1982-volume_14-15/JFP_1982-07_v15_i1_routine-neonatal-circumcision-the-gap-be.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=7086383
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2021-10-23
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
* LeBourdais (1995) reported the [[circumcision]] status of the physician is a factor, among others, in determining if a baby is to be [[circumcised]].<ref name="lebourdais1995">{{REFjournal
|last=LeBourdais
|first=Eleanor
|init=E
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision no longer a "routine" surgical procedure
|journal=Can Med Assoc J
|location=
|date=1995-06-01
|volume=152
|issue=11
|pages=1873-1876
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1337997/pdf/cmaj00071-0145.pdf
|pubmedCID=1337997
|accessdate=2020-03-15
}}</ref>

* [[Ronald Goldman|Goldman]] (1999) reported [[circumcised]] doctors will write papers to support non-therapeutic circumcision:
<blockquote>
One reason that flawed studies are published is that science is affected by cultural values. A principal method of preserving cultural values is to disguise them as truths that are based on scientific research. This 'research' can then be used to support questionable and harmful cultural values such as circumcision. This explains the claimed medical 'benefits' of circumcision.<ref name="goldman1999"/></blockquote>

* [[Ronald Goldman|Goldman]] (2005) stated, "On the other hand, there are various factors that may contribute to or suggest a bias in favour of circumcision. A survey of randomly selected primary care physicians showed that [[circumcision]] was more often supported by doctors who were older, male and [[circumcised]]."<ref name="goldman2005" />

* Andries J. Muller (2010) conducted a survey of Saskatchewan medical doctors in specialties that perform non-therapeutic neonatal circumcision. He reported "the circumcision status of, especially, the male respondents played a huge role in whether they were in support of circumcision, or not." The circumcision status of their sons was a secondary factor.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Muller
|init=AJ
|author-link=
|url=https://www.arclaw.org/wp-content/uploads/Muller-Cut-or-not-cut-JMH-2010.pdf
|title=To cut or not to cut? Personal factors influence primary care physicians’ position on elective newborn circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health
|date=2010-10
|volume=7
|issue=3
|pages=227-32
|accessdate=2021-10-23
}}</ref>

* Boyle & Hill (2012) commented:
<blockquote>Tobian and Gray are products of circumcising cultures. Their article exhibits Freudian defences of denial and rationalisation. The authors seem blinded by their own circumcision-generated emotional needs. The readers of such articles must be aware of the culture-of-orgin and circumcision status of the authors, in order to properly evaluate assertions about MC.<ref name="boyle2012">{{REFjournal
|last=Boyle
|first=Gregory J.
|init=
|author-link=Gregory J. Boyle
|last2=Hill
|first2=George
|init2=
|author2-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision-generated emotions bias medical literature
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=2012-02-07
|volume=109
|issue=4
|article=
|page=E11
|pages=
|url=https://bjui-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2012.10917.x
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=22313504
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1111/j.1464-410X.2012.10917.x
|accessdate=2021-10-25
}}</ref></blockquote>

* [[George Hill|Hill]] (2012) wrote:
<blockquote>
Medical doctors in [[Australia]], [[Canada]], and the [[United States]] practiced [[circumcision]] in the twentieth century, so these nations have a heavy proportion of [[circumcised]] men, some of whom become medical doctors. These [[circumcised]] male doctors share the same [[bias]] in favor of male circumcision as do other circumcised males. Male doctors who were [[circumcised]] as infants are more likely to recommend [[circumcision]] of infants to parents.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=http://www.drmomma.org/2009/07/circumcision-human-behavior.html
|archived=
|title=Circumcision and Human Behavior: The emotional and behavioral effects of circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=English
|last=Hill
|first=George
|author-link=George Hill
|publisher=Peaceful Parenting
|website=http://www.drmomma.org/
|date=2012-05-27
|accessdate=2020-05-24
|format=
|quote=
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

==Identifying a suitable doctor for an intact male==
[[Your Whole Baby]] has long been aware of the issues with American [[circumcised]] doctors, so the organization has created a list of doctors who are reported to be "foreskin friendly" to which parents of [[intact]] boys may refer. The list is only for the [[United States]].

Please see:
* [https://www.yourwholebaby.org/doctors-list Intact friendly doctors list]

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Adamant father syndrome]]
* [[Bias]]
* [[Circumcised]]
* [[Care of intact, foreskinned boys]]
* [[Forced foreskin retraction]]
* [[American urologists and the practice of male circumcision]]
* [[Psychological issues of male circumcision]]
* [[Regret doctor]]
* [[Trauma]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.pearltrees.com/thesearemypearls/doctors-promoting-circumcision/id6164717#item73102503
|title=Doctors' Circumcision Recommendations Influenced By Personal Factors, Study Finds
|last=Friedman
|first=Jonathan
|author-link=Jonathan Friedman
|publisher=IntactNews
|date=2011-10-16
|accessdate=2020-03-19
}}

{{REF}}

[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Physicians]]
[[Category:Psychology]]

[[de:Beschnittene Ärzte]]

Circumcised Teen Males

2026-03-29T11:50:31Z

WikiModEn2: Add link in SEEALSO section.

'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' is an [[intactivism]] community page on Facebook, driven by the [[Genital Autonomy Society]].

{{Citation
|Title=Claim
|Text=For those that want to understand what it means to be a [[circumcised]] male as they head into adulthood and what they can do about it.
|Author={{FULLPAGENAME}}
}}

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Circumcised]]
* [[Genital Autonomy Society]]
* [[John Adkison]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URL-FBpage|circumcisedteenmales|2022-03-21}}

[[de:{{FULLPAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Facebook page]]
[[Category:Intactivism]]
[[Category:Teen]]

Circumcised Men Do Complain

2026-03-29T11:45:52Z

WikiModEn2: Add SEEALSO section.

'''Circumcised Men Do Complain''' is a Facebook page for [[circumcised]] men to discuss how their [[circumcision]] has negatively affected them, and an [[Intactivists|intactivist]] hub to spread the word that [[circumcision]] should only be a valid choice for the person attached to the [[penis]].

The page was founded in 2012.
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Circumcised]]

{{LINKS}}
* {{URL-FBpage|circumcisedmencomplain|2019-09-16}}

[[Category:Community]]

[[de:Circumcised Men Do Complain]]

Circumcised

2026-03-29T11:33:36Z

WikiModEn2: /* Circumcised males */ Wikify.

'''Circumcised''' is the [https://www.wordnik.com/words/participle participle] of the verb ''to circumcise''. It functions as an adjective applied to the incomplete [[penis]] and to males with an incomplete [[penis]], which has had an essential, functional part (the [[foreskin]]) excised, resulting in a condition of male genital mutilation ([[MGM]]).

[[Intact]] is displacing circumcised among newborn boys as the new NORM in America.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://en.intactiwiki.org/wiki/United_States_of_America#Intactness_is_the_new_norm
|title=Intact is the new norm
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=IntactiWiki
|date=2024-04-09
|accessdate=2024-05-14
}}</ref>

== Circumcised males ==
The circumcision procedure used by medical doctors in modern times is essentially the [[periah]] procedure invented by the rabbis in 140 A.D. and designed to inflict the maximum amount of irreversible harm to the [[penis]] to prevent the practice of [[epispasm]].

Circumcised males experience physical and psychic [[trauma]].<ref name="garrett2023-12-17">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/circumcision-trauma/
|title=Circumcision Trauma: The Invisible Elephant in the Room
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2023-12-17
|accessdate=2024-05-15
}}</ref> Prescott (1975) argued that circumcised men are deprived of "physical sensory pleasure" and this is the "principal root cause of violence."<ref name="prescott1975">{{REFjournal
|last=Prescott
|init=JW
|author-link=James W. Prescott
|url=http://www.violence.de/prescott/bulletin/article.html
|title=Body Pleasure and the Origins of Violence
|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
|date=1975-11
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=10-20
|accessdate=2025-09-13
}}</ref> Andersen-Giberson (2025) reported circumcised men are disabled.<ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-13
}}
</ref>

Circumcised men have a life-long loss of various [[Foreskin#Physiological_functions|physiological functions]]. All have a physical [[circumcision scar]]. Circumcised men are more likely to have hair on their penile shaft.<ref name="milos2022-09-12">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/ask-marilyn-is-it-normal-to-have-hair-on-your-penis/
|title=Ask Marilyn—Is It Normal to Have Hair on Your Penis?
|last=Milos
|first=
|init=MF
|author-link=Marilyn Fayre Milos
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022-09-12
|accessdate=2024-10-24
}}</ref>

Men who received an unwanted, involuntary [[circumcision]] may carry a heavy load of anger regarding their irreversible [[foreskin]] [[amputation]] and loss of [[Foreskin#Physiological_functions_of_the_foreskin| function]] and [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| eregonous sensation]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first
|init=G
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022-06-15
|accessdate=2026-03-29
}}
</ref>

Psychic scars are not visible, but most experience [[Psychological issues of male circumcision|behavioral changes]]. ''Denial of loss'' is common.<ref name="hill2017">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-10-01
}}</ref> Circumcised men who become fathers may exhibit [[adamant father syndrome]].

Circumcised males lack a [[foreskin]], so cannot have a [[preputial sac]]. Circumcised males may experience tight and painful [[erection]] and are more likely to have excess hair on the shaft of the [[penis]].

Circumcised males lose most or all of their [[gliding action]].<ref name="spratling1895">{{REFjournal
|last=Spratling
|init=EJ
|author-link=
|last2=
|init2=
|author2-link=
|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/9a247c3410d34390e418dc970faa3b87/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=40146
|title=Masturbation in the Adult
|journal=Medical Record
|date=1895
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=442-3
|accessdate=2023-08-06
}}</ref>

Most circumcised males experience a [[Masturbation#Circumcised_penis| masturbation]] handicap.<ref name="spratling1895" /> <ref name="kimpang2007">{{KimDS PangMG 2007}}</ref>

Laumann et al. (1997) reported, "circumcised men engage in a more elaborated set of sexual practices."<ref name="Laumann1997">{{REFjournal
|last=Laumann
|init=EO
|last2=Masi
|init2=CM
|last3=Zuckerman
|init3=EW
|title=Circumcision in the United States: prevalence, prophylactic effects, and sexual practice
|journal=JAMA
|volume=277
|issue=13
|pages=1052-1057
|url=http://www.circs.org/library/laumann/
|quote=
|pubmedID=9091693
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.277.13.1052
|date=1997-04-02
|accessdate=2023-10-30
}}</ref>

Circumcised males may have more difficulty with penetration.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Taves
|first=
|init=DR
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=The intromission function of the foreskin
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Med Hypotheses
|location=
|date=2002-08
|volume=59
|issue=2
|pages=180-2
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/taves1/
|archived=
|quote=Repeated measurements showed a 10-fold reduction of force on entry with an initially unretracted foreskin as compared to entry with a retracted foreskin.
|pubmedID=12208206
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1016/s0306-9877(02)00250-5
|accessdate=2024-04-10
}}</ref>

A few circumcised males report difficulty in reaching a climax during sexual intercourse.

Surprisingly, many circumcised men are ignorant of their [http://www.intactaus.org/information/functionsoftheforeskin/ lost function]. They may not know that they are circumcised. Many men cannot recognize their [[circumcision scar]] as a scar.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Bigelow, Ph.D
|first=Jim
|init=
|author-link=Jim Bigelow
|year=1995
|title=The Joy of Uncircumcising
|url=
|work=
|editor=
|edition=Second Edition
|volume=
|chapter=Psychological factors related to infant circumcision
|scope=242
|page=110
|pages=
|location=Aptos
|publisher=Hourglass
|ISBN=0-934061-22-X
|quote=
|accessdate=2023-08-13
|note=
}}</ref> They frequently believe the fraudulent claims of health benefits and count themselves fortunate to be circumcised! Others may be in ''denial of loss'' — the first stage of grief.

Other circumcised males, however, become aware of their lost function, including loss of [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sexual sensation]],<ref name="garrett2024-05-15">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/negative-effects-of-circumcision-in-later-life/
|title=Negative Effects of Circumcision in Later Life: Long-term Implications
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-05-15
|accessdate=2024-08-16
}}</ref> and develop deep resentment and rage because of their parent's decision to order irreversible infant [[circumcision]].

Men who voluntarily submitted to [[adult circumcision]] may rue their decision and become [[regret men]].

For the longer term, non-surgical [[foreskin restoration]] may help circumcised men to improve sensation and protective function.

==Etymology==
''Circumcised'' is a Biblical term. It occurs 43 times in the Bible. The first occurrence is in Genesis 17:10. It also is used as a noun to refer to the Hebrews.
==Legal opinion==
Family Court Judge Sir James Munby ruled in the case of [[Re B and G (children) (No 2) EWFC 3| B & G]] that [[excision]] of the functional [[foreskin]] of the [[penis]] (circumcision) constituted "significant harm".<ref>{{REFweb
|title=Re B and G (Children) (No 2) [2015] EWFC 3
|url=https://www.familylaw.co.uk/news_and_comment/re-b-and-g-children-no-2-2015-ewfc-3
|date=2015-01-14
|accessdate=2022-06-10
}}</ref>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Alexithemia| Alexithymia]]
* [[Circumcised doctors]]
* [[Circumcision]]
* [[Circumcision and violence]]
* [[Circumcision coma]]
* [[Foreskinned]]
* [[Intact]]
* [[Regret men]]
* [[Sexual effects of circumcision]]
* [[Uncircumcised]]

{{REF}}

[[Category:Body modification]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Circumcision term]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Parental information]]
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Violence]]

[[de:Beschnitten]]

Circumcised

2026-03-29T11:22:47Z

WikiModEn2: /* Circumcised males */ Add text and citation.

'''Circumcised''' is the [https://www.wordnik.com/words/participle participle] of the verb ''to circumcise''. It functions as an adjective applied to the incomplete [[penis]] and to males with an incomplete [[penis]], which has had an essential, functional part (the [[foreskin]]) excised, resulting in a condition of male genital mutilation ([[MGM]]).

[[Intact]] is displacing circumcised among newborn boys as the new NORM in America.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://en.intactiwiki.org/wiki/United_States_of_America#Intactness_is_the_new_norm
|title=Intact is the new norm
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|publisher=IntactiWiki
|date=2024-04-09
|accessdate=2024-05-14
}}</ref>

== Circumcised males ==
The circumcision procedure used by medical doctors in modern times is essentially the [[periah]] procedure invented by the rabbis in 140 A.D. and designed to inflict the maximum amount of irreversible harm to the [[penis]] to prevent the practice of [[epispasm]].

Circumcised males experience physical and psychic [[trauma]].<ref name="garrett2023-12-17">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/circumcision-trauma/
|title=Circumcision Trauma: The Invisible Elephant in the Room
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2023-12-17
|accessdate=2024-05-15
}}</ref> Prescott (1975) argued that circumcised men are deprived of "physical sensory pleasure" and this is the "principal root cause of violence."<ref name="prescott1975">{{REFjournal
|last=Prescott
|init=JW
|author-link=James W. Prescott
|url=http://www.violence.de/prescott/bulletin/article.html
|title=Body Pleasure and the Origins of Violence
|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
|date=1975-11
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=10-20
|accessdate=2025-09-13
}}</ref> Andersen-Giberson (2025) reported circumcised men are disabled.<ref name="andersen2025">{{REFjournal
|last=Andersen-Giberson
|init=D
|author-link=Dale Andersen
|url=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|title=Circumcision and forced disability: Routine male neonatal circumcision and the consequences of amputation within a critical disability studies framework
|journal=Critical Disability Discourses
|date=2025-12
|volume=10
|issue=2
|pages=1-37
|URL=https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/39786/36016
|DOI=https://doi.org/10.25071/1918-6215.39786
|accessdate=2026-03-12
|quote=In a critical disability studies framework, it is argued that the act of amputating healthy erogenous tissue and the consequences of that amputation cause disability, particularly from a counter-hegemonic lens.
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2026-03-13
}}
</ref>

Circumcised men have a life-long loss of various [[Foreskin#Physiological_functions|physiological functions]]. All have a physical [[circumcision scar]]. Circumcised men are more likely to have hair on their penile shaft.<ref name="milos2022-09-12">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/ask-marilyn-is-it-normal-to-have-hair-on-your-penis/
|title=Ask Marilyn—Is It Normal to Have Hair on Your Penis?
|last=Milos
|first=
|init=MF
|author-link=Marilyn Fayre Milos
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022-09-12
|accessdate=2024-10-24
}}</ref>

Men who received an unwanted, involuntary [[circumcision]] may carry a heavy load of anger regarding their irreversible [[foreskin]] [[amputation]] and loss of [function] and [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| eregonous sensation]].<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-is-making-these-guys-so-angry/
|title=“What Is Making These Guys So Angry”
|last=Chapin
|first
|init=G
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2022-06-15
|accessdate=2026-03-29
}}
</ref>

Psychic scars are not visible, but most experience [[Psychological issues of male circumcision|behavioral changes]]. ''Denial of loss'' is common.<ref name="hill2017">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=The case against circumcision
|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender
|date=2007
|volume=4
|issue=3
|pages=318-23
|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=04ace5046cc27f01b8fbe4aa359c059778983912
|quote=
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-10-01
}}</ref> Circumcised men who become fathers may exhibit [[adamant father syndrome]].

Circumcised males lack a [[foreskin]], so cannot have a [[preputial sac]]. Circumcised males may experience tight and painful [[erection]] and are more likely to have excess hair on the shaft of the [[penis]].

Circumcised males lose most or all of their [[gliding action]].<ref name="spratling1895">{{REFjournal
|last=Spratling
|init=EJ
|author-link=
|last2=
|init2=
|author2-link=
|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/9a247c3410d34390e418dc970faa3b87/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=40146
|title=Masturbation in the Adult
|journal=Medical Record
|date=1895
|volume=
|issue=
|pages=442-3
|accessdate=2023-08-06
}}</ref>

Most circumcised males experience a [[Masturbation#Circumcised_penis| masturbation]] handicap.<ref name="spratling1895" /> <ref name="kimpang2007">{{KimDS PangMG 2007}}</ref>

Laumann et al. (1997) reported, "circumcised men engage in a more elaborated set of sexual practices."<ref name="Laumann1997">{{REFjournal
|last=Laumann
|init=EO
|last2=Masi
|init2=CM
|last3=Zuckerman
|init3=EW
|title=Circumcision in the United States: prevalence, prophylactic effects, and sexual practice
|journal=JAMA
|volume=277
|issue=13
|pages=1052-1057
|url=http://www.circs.org/library/laumann/
|quote=
|pubmedID=9091693
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1001/jama.277.13.1052
|date=1997-04-02
|accessdate=2023-10-30
}}</ref>

Circumcised males may have more difficulty with penetration.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Taves
|first=
|init=DR
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=The intromission function of the foreskin
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Med Hypotheses
|location=
|date=2002-08
|volume=59
|issue=2
|pages=180-2
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/taves1/
|archived=
|quote=Repeated measurements showed a 10-fold reduction of force on entry with an initially unretracted foreskin as compared to entry with a retracted foreskin.
|pubmedID=12208206
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1016/s0306-9877(02)00250-5
|accessdate=2024-04-10
}}</ref>

A few circumcised males report difficulty in reaching a climax during sexual intercourse.

Surprisingly, many circumcised men are ignorant of their [http://www.intactaus.org/information/functionsoftheforeskin/ lost function]. They may not know that they are circumcised. Many men cannot recognize their [[circumcision scar]] as a scar.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Bigelow, Ph.D
|first=Jim
|init=
|author-link=Jim Bigelow
|year=1995
|title=The Joy of Uncircumcising
|url=
|work=
|editor=
|edition=Second Edition
|volume=
|chapter=Psychological factors related to infant circumcision
|scope=242
|page=110
|pages=
|location=Aptos
|publisher=Hourglass
|ISBN=0-934061-22-X
|quote=
|accessdate=2023-08-13
|note=
}}</ref> They frequently believe the fraudulent claims of health benefits and count themselves fortunate to be circumcised! Others may be in ''denial of loss'' — the first stage of grief.

Other circumcised males, however, become aware of their lost function, including loss of [[Erogenous sensation of the foreskin| sexual sensation]],<ref name="garrett2024-05-15">{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/negative-effects-of-circumcision-in-later-life/
|title=Negative Effects of Circumcision in Later Life: Long-term Implications
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-05-15
|accessdate=2024-08-16
}}</ref> and develop deep resentment and rage because of their parent's decision to order irreversible infant [[circumcision]].

Men who voluntarily submitted to [[adult circumcision]] may rue their decision and become [[regret men]].

For the longer term, non-surgical [[foreskin restoration]] may help circumcised men to improve sensation and protective function.

==Etymology==
''Circumcised'' is a Biblical term. It occurs 43 times in the Bible. The first occurrence is in Genesis 17:10. It also is used as a noun to refer to the Hebrews.
==Legal opinion==
Family Court Judge Sir James Munby ruled in the case of [[Re B and G (children) (No 2) EWFC 3| B & G]] that [[excision]] of the functional [[foreskin]] of the [[penis]] (circumcision) constituted "significant harm".<ref>{{REFweb
|title=Re B and G (Children) (No 2) [2015] EWFC 3
|url=https://www.familylaw.co.uk/news_and_comment/re-b-and-g-children-no-2-2015-ewfc-3
|date=2015-01-14
|accessdate=2022-06-10
}}</ref>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Alexithemia| Alexithymia]]
* [[Circumcised doctors]]
* [[Circumcision]]
* [[Circumcision and violence]]
* [[Circumcision coma]]
* [[Foreskinned]]
* [[Intact]]
* [[Regret men]]
* [[Sexual effects of circumcision]]
* [[Uncircumcised]]

{{REF}}

[[Category:Body modification]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Circumcision term]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Parental information]]
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Violence]]

[[de:Beschnitten]]

Urination by foreskinned men

2026-03-28T22:10:02Z

WikiModEn2: /* Use of urinal */ Add external link.

The aggressive promotion of [[circumcision]] by the [[circumcision industry]] in the [[United States]] for well over a century has resulted in the loss by much of the population of normal folk knowledge of a beneficial natural, normal, heathy, functional, and protective body part. This article is an attempt to partially restore basic folk knowledge.

[[Foreskinned]] men sometimes ask, "do I have to retract my [[foreskin]] for [[urination]]?"<ref>Some men with abundant overhanging foreskin find it awkward and difficult to retract and keep retracted their [[foreskin]] because the foreskin is constantly pushing to glide forward to return to its normal position of covering and protecting the [[glans penis]].</ref> They may have been heard myths that it is unhealthy to have [[urine]] inside the [[foreskin]], however there is no factual basis for that claim. Urine has a healthy microbiome<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref> when it leaves the urethra and is helpful for flushing out the [[foreskin]] and keeping it clean. The presence of urine in the preputial sac is ''not'' unsanitary and does not do harm. Nature has planned for this condition by lining the [[preputial sac]] with [[mucosa]], instead of [[skin]]. Boys by necessity pee through their [[foreskin]] because the juvenile foreskin does not retract and men with [[phimosis]] also pee through their [[foreskin]] because the foreskin does not retract. [[Urine]] does no harm so it is not necessary to pull back when one pees. One [[foreskinned]] man posted:
<blockquote>
Well, I’ve got a little under 2 inches of foreskin overhang, and I just pee through it every time. I give it a quick tug to make sure it’s pointing in a straight line and then start peeing. When I’m done I pull my foreskin back to shake it off, and if I’m at a toilet sometimes I’ll wipe the tip of my foreskin if it’s still soaking wet.

So, as a guy with a long overhang, it’s just natural to pee through it. Besides, even if I pulled it back when standing, it’s pretty much impossible for me to keep it rolled back the entire time I’m sitting down to pee.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1c7lw5t/comment/l0dd8od/?context=3
|title=Peeing with a long foreskin
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2024
|accessdate=2025-07-25
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The epithelium of all tissue in the [[preputial sac]] is [[Mucosa| mucosal membrane]] (similar to the inside of your mouth), which likes to be wet, so no damage or threat to health or well-being is caused by having [[urine]] inside the [[foreskin]]. The sphincter action of the preputial orifice functions as a one-way valve, blocking the entry of contaminants and pathogens while allowing the passage of urine.<ref name="fleiss1998">{{FleissP HodgesF VanHoweRS 1998}}</ref> The [[urine]] will serve to flush contaminants and pathogens out of the [[foreskin]]. A few individuals may experience [[ballooning of the foreskin]], which is harmless.

The [[foreskin]] overhang or [[acroposthion]] may be used as a hose nozzle to control and direct the stream and may be adjusted as necessary to achieve a smooth stream. It may help to stretch one's [[foreskin]] out from one's body. One man said, "When I need to pee, I open my fly, pull my foreskin out and give it a tug to get any wrinkles out, then I hold my foreskin with the thumb and forefinger of both hands and use the overhang of my foreskin as a nozzle to direct my stream. When I finish, I milk it a bit to get any residual pee out of my [[penis]]."

[[Foreskinned]] men report enjoying feeling a pleasant tickling sensation as the [[urine]] flows out through their [[acroposthion]].<ref>{{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://acroposthion.com/foreskin-4play/
|title=Foreskin 4Play
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Acroposthion
|date=
|accessdate=2025-09-24
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/17r7znz/uncut_pee/
|title=Uncut Pee
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2023
|accessdate=2025-06-15
}}</ref>
One may retract or not retract for [[urination]]. The human [[foreskin]] is highly flexible and stretchable. It may be [[Stretching| stretched]] as desired laterally and/or lengthwise to cause [[mitosis]] and [[tissue expansion]] to resolve issues.

There is enormous natural variation among [[foreskinned]] males in the length and tightness of the [[foreskin]], so men report a wide range of different experiences with their [[foreskin]] in [[urination]]. What works best depends to great extent on individual anatomy. Either way is okay.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1d77ukr/pissing_through_your_foreskin_question_for_those/
|title=Pissing through your foreskin. Question for those guys who don't pull their skin back when they piss.....what do you do after you've finished peeing? Pull skin back and forth, stretch it out, shake it, dab with a tissue, etc??
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2024
|accessdate=2025-06-15
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1kdrkp5/do_you_retract_to_pee_or_keep_the_foreskin_over/
|title=Do you retract to pee or keep the foreskin over the tip
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-05
|accessdate=205-07-04
}}</ref>

===Use of urinal===
A plastic urinal that one may purchase from a drug store can be helpful in extreme cases. One may instert one's [[penis]] into the urinal prior to urinating. The walls of the urinal will catch any errant drops or streams of [[urine]]. The urinal may be emptied and rinsed after each use.

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Foreskin play]]
* [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin]]
* [[Living with a foreskin in circumcised America]]
* [[Microbiome]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Preputial sac]]
* [[United States of America]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/17r7znz/uncut_pee/
|title=Uncut Pee
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2024
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1fwnz6b/is_it_fair_to_say_that_it_is_more_comfortable/
|title=Is it fair to say that it is more comfortable peeing with foreskin foreward unless you are aiming for something in the toilet?
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-03
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1o4d183/what_do_you_do_with_your_foreskin_when_you_pee/
|title=What do you do with your foreskin when you pee?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10-12
|accessdate=2025-10-13
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1onwl69/how_do_you_pee_do_you_retract_every_time_have_you/
|title=How do you pee? Do you retract every time? Have you noticed any difference or benefit either way?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-11-03
|accessdate=2025-11-04
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:USA]]

Urination by foreskinned men

2026-03-28T21:55:56Z

WikiModEn2: /* Use of urinal */

The aggressive promotion of [[circumcision]] by the [[circumcision industry]] in the [[United States]] for well over a century has resulted in the loss by much of the population of normal folk knowledge of a beneficial natural, normal, heathy, functional, and protective body part. This article is an attempt to partially restore basic folk knowledge.

[[Foreskinned]] men sometimes ask, "do I have to retract my [[foreskin]] for [[urination]]?"<ref>Some men with abundant overhanging foreskin find it awkward and difficult to retract and keep retracted their [[foreskin]] because the foreskin is constantly pushing to glide forward to return to its normal position of covering and protecting the [[glans penis]].</ref> They may have been heard myths that it is unhealthy to have [[urine]] inside the [[foreskin]], however there is no factual basis for that claim. Urine has a healthy microbiome<ref name="cold-taylor1999">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref> when it leaves the urethra and is helpful for flushing out the [[foreskin]] and keeping it clean. The presence of urine in the preputial sac is ''not'' unsanitary and does not do harm. Nature has planned for this condition by lining the [[preputial sac]] with [[mucosa]], instead of [[skin]]. Boys by necessity pee through their [[foreskin]] because the juvenile foreskin does not retract and men with [[phimosis]] also pee through their [[foreskin]] because the foreskin does not retract. [[Urine]] does no harm so it is not necessary to pull back when one pees. One [[foreskinned]] man posted:
<blockquote>
Well, I’ve got a little under 2 inches of foreskin overhang, and I just pee through it every time. I give it a quick tug to make sure it’s pointing in a straight line and then start peeing. When I’m done I pull my foreskin back to shake it off, and if I’m at a toilet sometimes I’ll wipe the tip of my foreskin if it’s still soaking wet.

So, as a guy with a long overhang, it’s just natural to pee through it. Besides, even if I pulled it back when standing, it’s pretty much impossible for me to keep it rolled back the entire time I’m sitting down to pee.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1c7lw5t/comment/l0dd8od/?context=3
|title=Peeing with a long foreskin
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2024
|accessdate=2025-07-25
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The epithelium of all tissue in the [[preputial sac]] is [[Mucosa| mucosal membrane]] (similar to the inside of your mouth), which likes to be wet, so no damage or threat to health or well-being is caused by having [[urine]] inside the [[foreskin]]. The sphincter action of the preputial orifice functions as a one-way valve, blocking the entry of contaminants and pathogens while allowing the passage of urine.<ref name="fleiss1998">{{FleissP HodgesF VanHoweRS 1998}}</ref> The [[urine]] will serve to flush contaminants and pathogens out of the [[foreskin]]. A few individuals may experience [[ballooning of the foreskin]], which is harmless.

The [[foreskin]] overhang or [[acroposthion]] may be used as a hose nozzle to control and direct the stream and may be adjusted as necessary to achieve a smooth stream. It may help to stretch one's [[foreskin]] out from one's body. One man said, "When I need to pee, I open my fly, pull my foreskin out and give it a tug to get any wrinkles out, then I hold my foreskin with the thumb and forefinger of both hands and use the overhang of my foreskin as a nozzle to direct my stream. When I finish, I milk it a bit to get any residual pee out of my [[penis]]."

[[Foreskinned]] men report enjoying feeling a pleasant tickling sensation as the [[urine]] flows out through their [[acroposthion]].<ref>{{NSFW}} {{REFweb
|url=https://acroposthion.com/foreskin-4play/
|title=Foreskin 4Play
|last=
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Acroposthion
|date=
|accessdate=2025-09-24
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/17r7znz/uncut_pee/
|title=Uncut Pee
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2023
|accessdate=2025-06-15
}}</ref>
One may retract or not retract for [[urination]]. The human [[foreskin]] is highly flexible and stretchable. It may be [[Stretching| stretched]] as desired laterally and/or lengthwise to cause [[mitosis]] and [[tissue expansion]] to resolve issues.

There is enormous natural variation among [[foreskinned]] males in the length and tightness of the [[foreskin]], so men report a wide range of different experiences with their [[foreskin]] in [[urination]]. What works best depends to great extent on individual anatomy. Either way is okay.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1d77ukr/pissing_through_your_foreskin_question_for_those/
|title=Pissing through your foreskin. Question for those guys who don't pull their skin back when they piss.....what do you do after you've finished peeing? Pull skin back and forth, stretch it out, shake it, dab with a tissue, etc??
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2024
|accessdate=2025-06-15
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1kdrkp5/do_you_retract_to_pee_or_keep_the_foreskin_over/
|title=Do you retract to pee or keep the foreskin over the tip
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-05
|accessdate=205-07-04
}}</ref>

===Use of urinal===
A plastic urinal that one may purchase from a drug store can be helpful in extreme cases. One may instert one's [[penis]] into the urinal prior to urinating. The walls of the urinal will catch any errant drops or streams of [[urine]]. The urinal may be emptied and rinsed after each use.

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Foreskin play]]
* [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin]]
* [[Living with a foreskin in circumcised America]]
* [[Microbiome]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Preputial sac]]
* [[United States of America]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/17r7znz/uncut_pee/
|title=Uncut Pee
|last=Anonymous
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2024
|accessdate=2026-03-28
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1o4d183/what_do_you_do_with_your_foreskin_when_you_pee/
|title=What do you do with your foreskin when you pee?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-10-12
|accessdate=2025-10-13
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1onwl69/how_do_you_pee_do_you_retract_every_time_have_you/
|title=How do you pee? Do you retract every time? Have you noticed any difference or benefit either way?
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=REDDIT
|date=2025-11-03
|accessdate=2025-11-04
}}
{{REF}}

[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Foreskin anatomy]]
[[Category:Foreskinned life]]
[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:USA]]