Changes

The nature of the prepuce or foreskin, which is amputated and destroyed by circumcision, must be considered and fully understood in any discussion of male [[circumcision]].<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=ColdCJ TaylorJR 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=2019-10-10}}</ref>

The foreskin (also known as the prepuce) is the double-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"/> The adult foreskin measures about 3 inches by 5 inches or 15 square inches.<ref name="taylor1996">{{REFjournal |last=Taylor |init=JR |author-link=John R. Taylor |last2=Lockwood |init2=AP |author2-link= |last3=Taylor |init3=AJ |title=The prepuce: specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision |journal=Brit J Urol |date=1996 |volume=77 |issue= |pages=291-5 |url=https://www.arclaw.org/wp-content/uploads/Taylor-Prepuce-SpecMucosa-BJU-1996.pdf |quote= |pubmedID=8800902 |pubmedCID= |DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410X.1996.85023.x |accessdate=2019-10-14ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref> 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.