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[[Image:Keratinization_intact_vs_circumcised.JPG |thumbnail|right|200px| The glans and [[mucosa]] of intact and circumcised human penises in adult males.]]
Prior to [[circumcision]], the protected and covered [[glans penis]] is very smooth and has a glossy, shiny appearance. It is usually very sensitive to touch.
'''Keratinization''' is the process whereby the surface of the [[glans]] and remaining [[preputial mucosa|mucosa]] of the [[circumcised]] [[penis]] becomes dry, toughened, hard and relatively insensitive by a layer of [[keratin]].<ref>{{REFweb
|date=2025-08-25
|accessdate=2025-08-27
}}</ref> The layer of [[keratin]] tends to crack, so the keratinized [[glans penis]] frequently exhibits cracks.
The color of the [[glans penis]] in Caucasian males will change after be changed by [[circumcision]]. In [[intact]] males, the color of the glans penis is likely have a purple tint, while in [[circumcised]], keratinized males the oolor is likely to be pinkish or flesh colored.
== Keratin as "Protection" ==
It was hypothesized in the past that the layers of [[keratin]] resulting from [[circumcision]] provided a barrier of protection against [[Circumcision and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD's)| sexually transmitted diseases]]. In 1986, the late circumcision-advocate [[Aaron J. Fink]] invented the idea, without any evidence, that circumcision could prevent the transmission of [[HIV]], falsely arguing that the hard and toughened glans of the [[circumcised]] male resisted [[infection]], while the soft and sensitive foreskin and glans [[mucosa]] of the [[intact]] male were ports of entry.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Fink
|first=Aaron J.
[[Dekeratinization]] is the reversing of that process.
The [[foreskin]] provides moisture and oils to the [[glans penis]] by [[transudation]]. [[Foreskin restoration]] by non-surgical means has been found to reduce keratinization and to improve appearance and sensation. When the [[glans penis]] is consistently covered and protected by a regrown [[foreskin]] the moisture and oils cause the keratinization [[keratin]] to come off gradually.
Since [[skin]] is constantly dying naturally (apoptosis) and being replaced, once the friction and irritation is replaced with the warm, moist, snug protection of the inner [[foreskin]], the new cells aren't shoved into the harsh outside world, so they stay soft and pink and sensitive, the way they were intended to be. The surface of the glans penis gradually becomes softer, smoother, more glossy, and increased sensation has been reported by many restored men.