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wikify mucosa
The '''ridged band''' is a band of highly innervated wrinkly skin just inside the tip of the [[foreskin]]. The term ''ridged'' is used to describe the area instead of the more commonly used term ''wrinkled''. It has, especially in regard to [[phimosis]] (and preputioplasty), been called '''preputial ring''' or '''phimotic ring''', ''ring'' being analogous to ''band'', referring to the shape, and ''preputial'' meaning ''pertaining to the [[Foreskin|prepuce]]''. More particularly, it refers to the transitional area from the external to the internal surface of the prepuce, or foreskin. The ridged band separates the outer skin of the penis from the inner [[mucosa]]. The ridged band contains nerve endings arranged at the crest of rete ridges. The nerve endings resemble [[Meissner's corpuscles]] or Krause end-bulbs.
The nerve endings in the ridged band are stimulated by deformation of their capsules. Deformation of the capsules may occur by pressure, by stretching of the foreskin, or by the [[Gliding action| rolling or gliding of the foreskin]] during sexual activity.
==Structure==
[[Image:Ridged band magnified10x.jpeg|thumb|right|271px|Part of a ridged band under 10× magnification. The delicate and highly innervated [[mucosa ]] features many ridges which increase sensitivity through increased surface area.]][[John R. Taylor|Taylor]] described the ridged band as a transversely ridged band of mucosal [[mucosa]]l tissue, located just inside the tip of the foreskin near the mucocutaneous boundary. He characterized the ridged band as intensely vascular and richly innervated, stating that it "contains more [[Meissner's corpuscles]] than does the smooth [[mucosa]]", and noted that these tactile corpuscles were found only in the crests of ridges.<ref name="taylor1996" />
==Function==