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

|author-link=

|last2=Taylor

|author2-link=John R. Taylor

|title=The prepuce

|last=Purpura

|first=Valeria

|author-link=

|last2=Bondioli

|first2=Elena

|author2-link=

|last3=Cunningham

|first3=Eric J.

|author3-link=

|etal=yes

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.<ref name="Wright1994">{{REFjournal

|last=Wright

|title=Further to the "Further Fate of the Foreskin"

|journal=Med J Aust

Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff (2005) conducted a survey of 4,000 boys in Denmark. They report that the mean age of first foreskin retraction is 10.4 years in Denmark.<ref name="Thorvaldsen-meyhoff2005">{{REFjournal

|last=Thorvaldsen

|last2=Meyhoff

|title=Patologisk eller fysiologisk fimose?

|trans-title=Pathological or physiological phimosis?

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

|author-link=John R. Taylor

|last2=Lockwood

|author2-link=

|last3=Taylor

|title=The prepuce: specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision

|journal=Brit J Urol

The foreskin is the movable part of the penis. The foreskin is not attached to the underlying structure and is free to glide back and forth.<ref name="lakshmanan-prakash1980">{{REFjournal

|last=Lakshmanan

|author-link=

|last2=Prakash

|title=Human prepuce: some aspects of structure and function

|journal=Indian J Surg

|last=Warren

|first=John

|author-link=John Warren

|last2=Bigelow

|first2=Jim

|author2-link=Jim Bigelow

|title=The case against circumcision

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">{{REFjournal

|last=Winkelmann

|author-link=

|title=The erogenous zones: their nerve supply and significance

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">{{REFjournal

|last=Fleiss

|author-link=Paul M. Fleiss

|last2=Hodges

|author2-link=Frederick M. Hodges

|last3=Van Howe

|author3-link=Robert S. Van Howe

|title=Immunological functions of the human prepuce

}}</ref> The glans penis receives blood through the frenular artery.<ref>{{REFjournal

|last=Persad

|author-link=

|last2=Sharma

|author2-link=

|last3=McTavish

|author3-link=

|etal=yes

The foreskin provides physical protection to the [[glans penis]] and inner mucosa, supplying moisture and natural oils by [[transudation]], protecting the mucosal tissue from pathogens, pollutants, friction, injury, [[keratinization]], and drying out. The foreskin protects the glans penis and meatus of infant boys from abrasion and irritation from ammoniacal diapers.<ref name="gairdner1949">{{REFjournal

|last=Gairdner

|author-link=Douglas Gairdner

|title=The fate of the foreskin: a study of circumcision.

}}</ref> <ref name="dobanavacki2012">{{REFjournal

|last=Dobanavacki

|author-link=

|last2=Lucić Prostran

|author2-link=

|last3=Sarac

|author3-link=

|etal=yes

|last=Frisch

|first=Morten

|author-link=Morten Frisch

|last2=Simonsen

|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

|last=Boyle

|first=Gregory J.

|last2=Hill

|first2=George

|title=Sub-Saharan African randomised clinical trials into male circumcision and HIV transmission: Methodological, ethical and legal concerns

|journal=J Law Med

|last=de Witte

|first=Lot

|first2=Alexey

|first3=Marjorie

|first4=Donna

|first5=Marein A.W.P.

|first6=Tanja

|first7=Vincent

|first8=Yvette

|first9=Teunis B.H.

|title=Langerin is a natural barrier to HIV-1 transmission by Langerhans cells

|journal=Nature Medicine

The [[gliding action]] provides stimulation and facilitates intromission.<ref name="warren-bigelow1994"/><ref name="morgan1965">{{REFjournal

|last=Morgan

|author-link=

|title=The rape of the phallus

}}</ref> <ref name="taves2002">{{REFjournal

|last=Taves

|author-link=

|title=The intromission function of the foreskin

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>{{REFjournal

|last=Sorrells

|author-link=

|last2=Synder

|author2-link=

|last3=Reiss

|author3-link=

|last4=Eden

|author4-link=

|last5=Milos

|author5-link=Marilyn Fayre Milos

|last6=Wilcox

|author6-link=

|last7=Van Howe

|author7-link=

|etal=no

|last=Bronselaer

|first=Guy

|author-link=

|last2=Schoeber

|author2-link=

|author3-link=

|last4=T'Sjoen

|first4=Guy

|author4-link=

|last5=Vlietinck

|first5=Robert

|author5-link=

|last6=Hoebeke

|first6=Piet B.

|author6-link=

|etal=no

|title=Male circumcision decreases penile sensitivity as measured in a large cohort

|journal=BJU Int

|location=

Laumann ''et al''. (1997) report 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

|author-link=

|last2=Masi

|author2-link=

|last3=Zuckerman

|author3-link=

|etal=no

|title=Circumcision in the United States

|journal=JAMA

|location=

}}</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

|author-link=

|last2=Johnson

|author2-link=

|last3=Fenton

|author3-link=

|last4=Mercer

|author4-link=

|last5=Erens

|author5-link=

|last6=Wellings

|author6-link=

|etal=no

|title=Male circumcision in Britain: findings from a national probability sample survey

|journal=Sex Trans Infect

|location=

|last=Frisch

|first=Morten

|author-link=

|last2=Lindholm

|first2=Morten

|author2-link=

|last3=Grønbæk

|first3=Morten

|author3-link=

|etal=no

|title=Male circumcision and sexual function in men and women: a survey-based, cross-sectional study in Denmark.

|journal=Int J Epidemiol.

|location=

<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

|author-link=

|last2=O'Hara

|author2-link=

|etal=yes

|etal=no

|title=Does circumcision improve couple's sex life?

|journal=Journal of Men's Health and Gender

|location=

{{REFjournal

|last=Prakash

|last2=Raghuram

|last3=Venkatesan

|etal=yes

|last=Fleiss

|first=Paul

|author-link=

|title=The foreskin is necessary