Tissue expansion
Tissue expansion is a technique used by plastic, maxillofacial, and reconstructive surgeons to cause the body to grow additional skin, bone, or other tissues. Other biological phenomena such as tissue inflammation can also be considered expansion.
Contents
Skin expansion
Skin expansion is a common surgical procedure to grow extra skin through controlled mechanical overstretch. It creates skin that matches the color, texture, and thickness of the surrounding tissue, while minimizing scars and risk of rejection.
When skin is stretched beyond its physiological limit, mechanotransduction pathways are activated. This leads to cell growth as well as to the formation of new cells.
The growth of tissue is permanent, but will contract to some degree when the tension is removed.
Mechanics of skin expansion
Stretching the skin beyond normal expansion invokes several mechanotransduction pathways which increase mitotic activity and promote collagen synthesis. As a result, the skin surface area increases.[1]
Relief of phimosis or tight foreskin
Tissue expansion by manual stretching effectively widens the foreskin to treat phimosis or paraphimosis.[2] [3] One should continue to stretch until one's foreskin glides smoothly back and forth. This works best when topical steroid ointment (available by prescription) is used along with the stretching.
A word to intact teens
Boys are born with a foreskin that is non-retractable for reasons of protection. 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 retractable. Some boys go through puberty but find that their foreskin is still too narrow to permit retraction. 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.
Foreskin restoration
Tissue expansion has also been used for the technique of non-surgical foreskin restoration, which applies tension externally using specialized devices and/or manual stretching to replace circumcised tissues with newly expanded residual shaft skin.[4]
Non-surgical tissue expansion techniques can expand one's surviving penile skin, making it a longer tube so it can function like a foreskin.[5] Men who have been circumcised stretch and apply tension to their shaft and foreskin remnants to expand and elongate tissue in efforts to produce a functional foreskin. This form of tissue expansion can take years, as the amount of skin growth required is typically around 15 square inches.[6] This process does not regenerate or restore the function of the frenulum or the ridged band. It does, however, typically involve growing more shaft skin and preputial mucosa, which serves to moisten and protect the glans. Men who have restored their foreskin typically notice increased sensitivity and dekeratinization of the glans.[7]
Excessive circumcision
Men who have been circumcised sometimes report that there is not enough skin left to allow full erection of the penis, so the penis is shorter than before circumcision. They may also experience tight, painful erections. In such cases, tissue expansion may help to get full length and relieve pain during erection.
Short natural foreskins
Intact men who have a short natural foreskin may use tissue expansion to lengthen their foreskin. It frequently results in improved appearance as well as increased comfort and sensation with improved gliding action. One uses the same techniques as used for for non-surgical foreskin restoration.
See also
- Basics of foreskin restoration
- Foreskin restoration
- Mitosis
- Phimosis
- Retraction of the foreskin
- Stretching
External links
References
- ↑
Zöllner AM, Tepole AB, Kuhl E. On the biomechanics and mechanobiology of growing skin. Theoretical Biology. 2012; 297: 166-75. PMID. PMC. DOI. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ↑ Dunn HP. Non-Surgical Management of Phimosis. Aust N Z J Surg. 1989; 59(12): 1963. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- ↑ Beaugé M. The causes of adolescent phimosis. Br J Sex Med. 1997; (Sept/Oct): 26. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ↑ Radovan C. Tissue expansion in soft-tissue reconstruction. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 1984; 74(4) PMID. DOI. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ↑ Collier R. Whole again: the practice of foreskin restoration. CMAJ. 2011; 183(18): 2092-3. PMID. PMC. DOI.
- ↑
Hammond, T (28 February 2012). Not a "Snip," But 15 Square Inches
, NOHARMM. Retrieved 10 October 2019. - ↑ (17 August 2013).
Foreskin restoration for circumcised men
, Circumcision Information and Resource Pages. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
