foreskin: pros and cons?

I was cut at birth and now I am 71 years old. I would give anything to have my foreskin back. My opinion if you use good hygiene there is no problems. The excuse for circumcism was hygiene and the peer pressure of being different from other boys growing up. If you are cust the sensitivity is very definitely reduced. When you get my age you need all the help you can get when you have to battle ED and other problems. Therefore in 2009 I embarked on the process of restoring my foreskin. There are vairous methods, manual exercises, as well as tools you can use to accomplish this. Am I there yet? No but I can defiinitely tell the difference in sensitivity and the wornderful feeling of the skin gliding over the corona. If anyone is interested there are restoring sites on the web that can give additional informaiton and help. So yes I want a foreksin and if I live long enough I will have one like God created me in the first place.

nice video of history of circumcision ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUdNTT7ny-8

sorry, tried to paste a link to this video, but dont know how....anyway, the title of the youtube video is...Circumcision,The Whole Story.

chuckjo2000,

It is pretty easy to insert a URL link into your post. First, while watching your YouTube video, copy the URL address to your clipboard, Second, paste the URL address into the edit/comment box. Third, highlight the address you just pasted and click on the little green 'chain' icon (it will say "Insert Hyperlink" when you mouse over it) on the edit toolbar, copy/paste the address into this little edit box. Fourth, click the "Submit" button and you've done it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeAXantm4tE

If you want it to look a little nicer you can use some html coding to create a text link such as this -> Circumcision, The Whole Story
Good Vibes to You !

Thanks @Chuckjo2000. Great informative video. Common Sense!

Thanks, Rumel..my kids all still tease me and my wife for our pen and paper mentality at times. Chuck

I am intact, my husband is cut. After nearly 20 years we've gotten to know each others' bodies well, and I'd say we both agree that being intact has its advantages. I've learned that during oral sex he is most sensitive right at the frenulum and the ring right around the base of his head. He has discovered that pulling back my foreskin turns it inside out, exposing a much larger area of super-sensitive skin.

You might think that would cause me to come much faster, but it seems to be the opposite. He seems to feel a less intense sensation but then comes suddenly and without being able to hold back. My sensation is stronger, or maybe just richer in some way, and I never find myself coming before I want to. These could just be individual differences! You never know, but they don't seem unrelated to the state of our foreskins either.


I don't really want to ignite yet another internet circumcision debate, but there's something that doesn't make sense about the HIV transmission findings. The US has high rate of circumcision while Europe's is low, but the rates of HIV transmission are the reverse of what you'd expect if foreskins are a culprit. Safe sex and education are way more important!


Some other random thoughts:

• Cleaning is a non-issue. Takes seconds every time I shower.
• We have two sons, who we left intact. Cleaning is also a non-issue for them. As babies there was nothing to do, and now I teach them to retract as far as comfortable when they bathe and give themselves a little rinse. Their reaction? "It tickles!". If only they knew...
• Never needed lube for masturbation, but it's great with lube too!
• No effect on aneros experience at all, I think. My husband isn't into it so no point of comparison there.

It's great to see the US finally having a conversation about circumcision, especially since I grew up in the 70's feeling like such an oddball for having a "pointy" penis. The practice is becoming less common as we Americans collectively get over the ick-factor and learn that intact is perfectly OK. In a few years we'll probably look back and marvel that Victorian prudes ever managed to think that they could stop boys from having fun with their bodies by removing foreskins. After 100 years I think we can call that a failed experiment!

Helix66, thanks, that is a good bit of info.

I'd like to clarify the part about circumcision and HIV, though my thoughts are only educated guesses.

I suspect that in unprotected intercourse circumcision reduces transmission rates, and that that is fairly well documented. The figures you site are confounded by the prevalence or absence of protected sex is my guess.

Darwin

@darwin, I also think the figures are swayed by the way statistics are gathered. Some years a ago the New Scientist magazine ran an article on the statistics of Prostate Cancer. The rate of survival appeared much higher in the US than in UK. Scary! But when the way the stats we adjusted there was little difference. If I remember the reason was because more men in US were tested more often so it appeared there was a better survival rate.
Re circumcision and AIDS you are correct, that is well documented.
Not wishing to inflame the thread but it does seem to be more complicated being uncut than cut. This is simply an observation from the above posts.
Of course some were badly cut too soon and too much by amateurs. That is sad.

I am uncircumcised and for 63 years has been no trouble at all, but here in the UK it is the norm.
Apart from Jewish children it is usually only ever done for medical reasons.

There was a long discussion on this a few years ago

https://community.aneros.com/forum/discussion/10371/foreskin-restoration-restoration-of-the-world/p1

I'm also intact, well to a fashion given I've torn my frenulum on a couple of occasions during particularly vigorous sex. Yes this hurt like hell for a few weeks. But it's all fine now, well I have a small flap of skin there but that's really a non issue and it retracts much further back too.

In terms of sensitivity again it's not really an issue for me, I can take an incredibly long time to reach orgasm at times. Which I also attribute to me being unable to reach Super-O. I think it's a psychological thing however as it does feel great, just I've always been a lady cums first kind of guy.

@enigma, just a addendum. Islamic boys are the largest group of circumcised men in the world, the number is in the multi millions. They will probably out number the Jewish boys sooner or later in the UK. Sort of the elephant in the room.

Latest study results seem credible. Article about it, here:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/new-journal-argues-circumcisions-should-be-mandatory.html


Cheers,


Dave

That article, and that scientist's message, are highly misleading. To say that the medical risks of circumcision are way less than that of being intact, and that therefore circumcision should be mandatory is outrageous.

The medical risks of circumcision are indeed very small, but so are those of not circumcising.

The point is: the medical risks of the foreskin are so small that they don't really matter (except in populations with a high rate of HIV).

If the foreskin had no value, then removing it would be ok. But that doctor is not considering the benefits of having a foreskin.

What a disgusting article.

Darwin

Oh dear, I thought it was good, went perhaps a little over the top but probably necessary to make the point. It would be interesting to know how accurate the medical stats. But even from the posts above uncut seem to have more problems that cut. That may be general and gave rise to Judaism, Islam and other religions (except Xty) making circ part of their culture. It probably doesn't matter that much. All good fun!
Is there a Poll on cut or uncut members ( I mean forum folk!)
It would be good to know some thing like the following
1 cut
2 cut with problems
3 uncut
4 uncut with problems

I think the bottom line here is that some people think it should be ok to perform a surgery on a newborn and remove part of its anatomy to prevent disease or compliations that may or may not arise. The chance of disease seems statistically minute to me. I dont know, modern medical thinking just disgusts me sometimes. Its all about the money. Follow the money trail.

hi guys, i'm a little late to the party but @isvara summoned me lol. Pros and cons well i'll say this. As i stated in the chatroom earlier today being a woman for me it is more about the man than his foreskin. It is really usually not his choice whether he has foreskin or not, it is usually his parents decision. However I am foreskin neutral. I dont really care, if he is uncut then i enjoy it (there are interesting things you can do with foreskin...its fun), if he is cut i enjoy it just the same. Vaginally a woman cant tell if a guy is cut or uncut, only visually, or tactilly (is that a word??? touch damnit touch!!) can she tell. Now as far as sensitivity in my experience all the guys who were uncut if the foreskin is pulled back and the head of his penis is stimulated he was much more sensitive. Blow jobs were a breeze on those guys. For guys without foreskin, blowjobs require a little more skill and patience...but hey who doesnt like a challenge??? So all in all they are both fun. I dont know if it completely changes a mans sex life if he is cut however. I think if a guy is cut he is capable of still having a stellar sex life, however i think that sex revolves around so much more than a mans penis...obviously or i wouldnt be on this site...

@ineverknew i agree with you on how doctors are quick to give you a pill to make meds companies some more money, or suggest a procedure so they can make more money etc...without really looking at things objectively. one of the many reasons i dont reallly believe in western medicine....but thats a whole other rant.

My main concern for guys and babies that parents are considering this for is that they take all views into consideration. Health is the main concern for me. Yes there are cases when a guy was not circumcized and a health issue came up where he had to be cut a lot later on in life (one of my close friends had that happen), and there are also cases where a guy wants to get his foreskin restored (had an ex go through that procedure)....i support whatever a person wants to do. However I promote any person to feel content with themselves first and foremost, if you dont it affects every aspect of your life, especially your sex life...just my 2 cents

*steps down off soap box*

hi guys, i'm a little late to the party but @isvara summoned me lol. Pros and cons well i'll say this. As i stated in the chatroom earlier today being a woman for me it is more about the man than his foreskin. It is really usually not his choice whether he has foreskin or not, it is usually his parents decision. However I am foreskin neutral. I dont really care, if he is uncut then i enjoy it (there are interesting things you can do with foreskin...its fun), if he is cut i enjoy it just the same. Vaginally a woman cant tell if a guy is cut or uncut, only visually, or tactilly (is that a word??? touch damnit touch!!) can she tell. Now as far as sensitivity in my experience all the guys who were uncut if the foreskin is pulled back and the head of his penis is stimulated he was much more sensitive. Blow jobs were a breeze on those guys. For guys without foreskin, blowjobs require a little more skill and patience...but hey who doesnt like a challenge??? So all in all they are both fun. I dont know if it completely changes a mans sex life if he is cut however. I think if a guy is cut he is capable of still having a stellar sex life, however i think that sex revolves around so much more than a mans penis...obviously or i wouldnt be on this site...
@ineverknew i agree with you on how doctors are quick to give you a pill to make meds companies some more money, or suggest a procedure so they can make more money etc...without really looking at things objectively. one of the many reasons i dont reallly believe in western medicine....but thats a whole other rant.
My main concern for guys and babies that parents are considering this for is that they take all views into consideration. Health is the main concern for me. Yes there are cases when a guy was not circumcized and a health issue came up where he had to be cut a lot later on in life (one of my close friends had that happen), and there are also cases where a guy wants to get his foreskin restored (had an ex go through that procedure)....i support whatever a person wants to do or has to do. However I promote any person to feel content with themselves first and foremost, if you dont it affects every aspect of your life, especially your sex life...having or not having foreskin will not make or break you. I've never heard a woman (although i'm sure there are some that exist) say oh i dumped him or dont want to have anything to do with him because he is NOT cut. I've never heard a woman say she only wants uncut men either (i'm sure there are some of those too), i'm saying those extremes are rare.
just my 2 cents *steps down off soap box*

@devajones, thank you. Just what I wanted to know and just what I needed to know. I will pass all than on to isvarason so he can relax and enjoy.

@devajones, thanks for your input. I would love to hear your views on western medicine sometime 😉

@isvara and @ineverknew you are very welcome, and sure no prob we can talk about the screw jobs that are western medicine.

I wanted to touch on something @Pommie said. I dont think your lack of foreskin was the problem with lubrication. As men are not the primary lubricators. Yes precum does add a bit of lube, but unless you are a man who absolutely dribbles precum constantly (there are some that do...in my experience most dont, its only a little here and there) then the women provides the majority of the lubrication (this is if we are talking vaginal sex). However there are some women when at the height of arousal are dripping wet...then there are other women who i assume dont produce much vaginal secretions at all, or may have an issue with vaginal dryness. My husband is cut and we have no lubrication issues. The times when there was a lube issue it was because I was not fully aroused and he was rushing and being goal oriented....I put a stop to that quickly because being rubbed raw down there is not pleasant. So to answer your question foreskin or no foreskin if you are talking vaginal sex there shouldnt be a need for lube unless there are other issues going on (she's not fully aroused, doesnt produce many juices, or something medical, etc...).

My contribution : I'm uncut. I'd be very, very disappointed to lose my foreskin. The highest levels of pleasure I get from my penis come from it, especially the inner part (the skin in contact with the glans when not retracted. It comes on the upper part of the shaft when retracted)

I'm 68 and during the 50s circumcision was all the range ! I'm not typical in that I was age 4 when I got cut. No memory at all. They didn't use anesthetics then, so pretty sure it was no day at the beach.

When the natural process of my foreskin separating from the glans started, my penis would get stuck to my scrotum from excess liquids excreted. The doctor told my mother that the only solution was to circumcise me, where a wash cloth with warm water would have done the trick. My father was uncut and when she brought me home after the "procedure" (mutilation), he was enraged.

Why I'm further less usual, is how the procedure was done. They cut down the entire length of the shaft skin to one side of my urethra, removed some of the foreskin, the sewed me up. Very sloppy, I have a little scrotum skin on penis shaft and it was very uneven to the left and right side of the meatus over the glans. A positive result is that I had roughly 2/3 coverage while flaccid. Also I do have a little coverage when erect and have gliding action with masturbation and having sex. 

I had a continuous awareness of the sloppy job they did. It was never painful, but the skin was in an almost constant state of movement, unless I was seated or erect. In my early 40s, I learned about foreskin restoration through stretching. I used tape on the shaft skin stretching it to a leg band for about a year. I was able to straighten the uneven skin and maintain 3/4 flaccid coverage now with no skin movement. 

I wish they never did this to me, but with the screwups they did, it's seemed to have work to my advantage in long run. Before the restoration the winter in extreme cold it felt creepy when my glans was exposed it was uncomfortable rubbing against anything rough. Now with continuous flaccid coverage, rough anything doesn't bother me and I'm grateful for the way I can enjoy sex without lube if they had cut me tight.

From my perspective anyone who has a kid, leave his dick alone, and let him make the decision as an adult if he wants to be cut.  

I’d be devastated to lose my foreskin and frenulum. A friend of mine had to be cut as an adult due to a medical condition. He reckoned over the next few years he lost 80-90% of sensitivity.

I never got the ‘hygiene’ thing nor the religious aspect. Don’t guys wash? If god created man,why create him with foreskin only to tell him to cut it off.

Don’t do it to your child,let them experience the joy of sex to the fullest.

@helghast, best comparisons are from the individuals whom have had the cut in adulthood; they're able  to compare the before to the after.

I can't say I miss what I never had; everything feels great to me!

@helghast I'm sorry to hear about your friend. That's terrible. I have to agree with @ggringo that since not having all of my foreskin as an adult, I'm have no way to know what is missing. I have read about, but also met one guy at a restoring group meeting, who by choice got cut. He said that was such a huge mistake because of the loss of more delicate foreskin sensations. With your friend 80-90% sounds pretty extreme, maybe they damaged the nerves under his frenulum? For me they disconnected the external part of the frenulum that connects to the glans, but I have extreme sensitivity. I guess they avoided my frenulum nerves, but it sounds like your friend was not so lucky.

I guess that when you're cut some sort of rewiring takes place, making maybe other places of the penis more sensitive than on an uncut one.

Moreover rather recently I realized I could experience a lot of pleasure (and reach orgasm) without stimulating my foreskin and glans (only massaging the shaft)

I have been circumcised as an adult (when I was 31), so I can add my perspective.

I actually prefer being cut. The foreskin added extra sensation which was good but the lower sensitivity on the glans is actually an improvement, it isn't as overwhelmingly sensitive so that you feel unconfortable and you end up having a lot more pleasure from it. The fact that it is always exposed also ensures you are always enjoying it.

In terms of pleasure I would say it's pretty much the same, after you get cut you feel like you're missing some of the pleasure but with time the increased pleasure from the glans compensates for that. From my experience I lost no enjoyment from my cock at all, like I said I actually prefer it this way.

Orgasms are still the same for me, when you cum you cum, there's nothing you can do when you reach the point of no return and the anxiety hits you the same. You know what orgasming feels like and I guess it's the same for all men regardless of the specifics of their cock. What I felt different was how your sensation grows after the point of no return, with foreskin I felt like I could steer myself into the coming orgasm while without foreskin I feel like the path to orgasm is unpredictable and you can't steer it, it can be a steady rise or it can just do a sudden steep rise leaving you howling. The end point is in both cases an orgasm of the same intensity.

So from my experience I would say being cut or uncut is irrelevant, your penis gives you all the enjoyment you need. Given that millions of men worldwide are uncut and millions are cut and they all (except in some cases of course) are absolutely happy with their sexual sensations and experiences I think it may point it in the direction of it not making any difference.

On the idea that you could feel more if you were not cut at birth/early... I can't comment obviously. But I don't know how much of it is just... wishful thinking? I mean, how do you know it would be better the other way? You don't know how it would feel so how can you say you are losing something? I think everyone should have a choice in this but I feel sometimes it goes too far and ends up being a dangerous mindset because, maybe unjustifiably, it creates the idea that you are missing something when you actually aren't, harming your enjoyment at the present circunstances for a would that you can't be sure and leaving you sad, feeling inferior and in some cases bitter.

On the aneros sessions specifically I also have it better since I was cut as the sensation on the foreskin everytime I got soft or hard was a bit distracting. But again this is a minor thing and most likely overshadowed by all the other factors.

Posted by: @rsilva

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I mean, how do you know it would be better the other way? You don't know how it would feel so how can you say you are losing something? I think everyone should have a choice in this but I feel sometimes it goes too far and ends up being a dangerous mindset because, maybe unjustifiably, it creates the idea that you are missing something when you actually aren't, harming your enjoyment at the present circunstances for a would that you can't be sure and leaving you sad, feeling inferior and in some cases bitter.

Very well stated; thanks for chiming in. 

With the extreme pleasures I'm getting from both penile and prostate play, I really can't complain about having been cut at birth.  Perhaps the choice should be left to individuals but, as an adult, I can't imagine having to make a decision of going through the procedure; it can never be reversed.

There is no pro/cons just different effects. You decide which is good or bad.

Health/Higine: 

 Cut- Easy to clean but the glans are directly exposed to any potenital dirt/bacterial matter.

uncut- requires to be 'filped open' to clean it, it will peotect your glans from direct matter contact, but at the same time urine residuals can cause build up of segma if not maintained properly. To avoid this either clean frequently or pee with foreskin fliped open. 

Sensation: 

Uncut- because your glans are protected and not exposed. You will have more sensative sensations when stimulated, means you simply feel more than a less sensative glans, from the same stimulation you are more likely to be getting more/better sensations. Which might also reduce your time to orgasm. 

Cut- becase your glans are exposed and constantly rubbed against objects such as the fabric of your underware at dry condition. Your sensations are more dulled. Meaning from the same stimulation you do not feel as much as sensations as an uncut would. So you probably will last longer in sexual situations. 

My suggestions to you for your son:

First of all I do not know how old your son is. But it is important to understand that our body are designed to be self sufficient. Meaning if there is no special reason then you shouldn't do anything that might affect the natural growth. If you look at all natural animals, pretty much all of them has some sort of glans 'cover' in their own way. So as long as your son is not having any foreskin related probelm just leave it be. 

But it is important to educate your son how to clean his penis properly. I grew up with my grandma and didn't know much about these until later on, I had really bad segma build up and it would cause smell and infection. In fact I didn't even know the structure of the penis (glans under foreskin) when I was a small child. I wished somebody told me before instead of finding it out the hardway. 

Conclusion: if your son doesn't have any foreskin related issues or any religion that requires him to be cut then best to leave it. But do educate him how to clean properly. And it's never too late to cut the foreskin. My uncle who is nearly 60 recently did that to have better hygine. 

Hope it is helpful for you.