Phimosis?

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Hi everyone.So a couple of weeks ago I discovered that foreskins are meant to be pulled back. yeah I know, laugh all you like, but seriously how was I to know? The only other penises I have ever seen besides my own are those in porn movies and i was completely convinced that they were all circumcised. I thought porn -> america -> circumcision -> no big deal. Obviously the foresking can't retract over a "normal" penis. Infact I used to think about how disgusting and unnatural it would be to actually pull back the foreksin..I remember i was nine and i had to apply cream to the glans and it was sore as hell to even touch it, so i was convinced that men simply never revealed that part of their genitalia.and then about a week ago i stumbled across some gif animation and it said something like "this is how a normal foreskin works" and right before my eyes the thing peeled back and revealed the glans.i'll never forget that moment, when you suddenly realise that you're infact not a normal sexaully functioning individual but a fucking retard. i cant even look at people now i feel like such an idiot. but how was i supposed to know?? i mean apart from all the std talk at sex education you would think they would have AT LEAST MENTIONED that the foresking is supposed to retract! i'm 18 years old and i've had sex twice. both times it was wonderful, not sore in the least, and neither partner EVEN MENTIONED ANYTHING ABOUT RETRACTING THE FORESKIN!!so anyway, please give me some advice! i read about this disease calle phimosis. it's when your foresking hardens and a white ring develops or something. and i read that it usually means cicrumcision how do i know if I have phimosis??? i tried to pull it back and all i can see is about 1cm diameter of the glans. that's the most i've ever been able to see. it hurts to pull it back more. i dont have any money im a science student for gods sake, and i can't exactly tell my parents because well, it's too embarassing. so should i see a doctor? is there anything "DIY" that i can do? i tried stretching it in the bath but it hurts, and when ANYTHING touched the glans, even WATER, it hurts and it's really sensitive...please give me some advice i feel like an idiot and i dont know where to turn. im in college. most people have girlfriends. i cant even talk to girls now, coz I feel like shit.(sorry about the long post and i know i should have read through some other ones first, but if you knew how i felt then you'd undestand)thanks everyone

You don't mention, how much you have tried stretching. It's not an overnight thing ... You do need to work at it.

since i've found out about it.. every time I go to jerk off, which is once a day, I would stretch it. I mean, how does it work? are you supposed to pull it back and then get an erection? or get an erection and then pull it back? coz when i get an erection it seems like the foreskin has all these blood vessels on the outside or something..how exactly do you strecth it?? thanks for relpying

Did you read the sticky thread above Male Anatomy - "Foreskin Stretching"? If not, do so. I recommend erectiob first then pull back as far as is comfortable and hold it there. Eventually you will get it all the way back.

ok thanks mate.

will stretching definitely work? should I see a doctor to get some steroid cream? coz i heard that you need steroid cream to make it work faster.

how do i know if i neglected it too long? i don't want to spend my college days stretching my foreskin while everyone else is enjoying healthy sex lives. id rather get it cut if it came down to that, you know..

You'll never know until you actively try the stretching. Sure go to the doc and get the steroid creme. Why make it harder than you have to. If it doesn't work out, then its your choice what to do next.

ok one last thing: which cream should i get if im getting one? whats the best (or "strongest") steorid cream?u c i cant exactly talk to my parents about it coz im too embarassed and i cant go to a doctor coz i have no money but im on good terms with a pharmacist in my area (and he's male thankfully) so i could just go and tell him the name of it and maybe he'll understand. maybe he will give me the cream without prescription u know? i mean i'm hardly gonna want to fake phimosis..i dont see why he would refuse..

Not exactly sure. Heard of Betamethasone as being used, but your friend should know better. You really should see a doctor but if you are not, you should tell your friend what it is for. This way he can tell you how to properly use it.

Hi, I'm 20 and also can't retract my foreskin and have never done it since I can remember. I've begun to start stretching and it's been about 4 days. I can basically stretch it to expose most of the glans now when flaccid. I've already read the entire thread on stretching in the archives so here's my questions.1) At one point when flaccid, I stretched it so the foreskin retracted behind the head. At this point though, it seemed harder to get back in place (I got a bit scared for a sec). I got the foreskin back in place within like 10 seconds, though it took a little more effort than normally. Am I in danger of paraphimosis? Is there anything I should do or be aware of in terms of stretching?2) I can't really stretch the foreskin while I'm erect for long. Everytime I get myself erect, I can't last because I'm stretching the foreskin and it just isn't arousing to me. Obviously the foreskin doesn't retract as well as when I'm flaccid. Is there anything I should do? Will this slow down the process significantly if I continue to stretch while flaccid?Thanks.

Keep working with it, 4 days isn't long enough to really see the results you're interested in. IF it ever gets "stuck" behind the head, simply squeeze the head of your penis together for a few seconds, this will slow the flow of blood into it and your foreskin will be able to slip back over. You may also have a bit of lotion handy, that'll help it slip easier as well. Let us know if you have any other questions. Keep up the good work!

jimmyjohn,
how bad was your condition prior to stretching, and how often/how long do you stretch.

Stretching while flaccid does not give you the full benefit of stretching the opening. With a full erection, you will have the maximum diameter of the glans to help the stretching process. So you lose your erection. Well get it back and start over.

In reply to:jimmyjohn,how bad was your condition prior to stretching, and how often/how long do you stretch. Here's the thing. I never knew that your foreskin was supposed to retract until about 2 years ago. At that point, I was resigned to the fact that I had tight foreskin because frankly I can't recall ever retracting it. I think to a point, it is congenital. I've never tried retracting it ever since I can remember and I don't think I've ever had an infection or anything.Only about a week ago, I found out you can stretch your foreskin. So I've been doing it for about a week now, everytime I shower, I pull back the foreskin as much as possible, hold it there for a few seconds and then let it go. And I keep repeating this as well as stretching it with my fingers a bit for about a half hour every day. I also pull it back when I pee.It's been a week and just today I retracted my foreskin behind the glans when flaccid (it does take some coaxing to get the foreskin back over though which sort of scares me). I also retract it so the meatus is exposed when peeing now. All of this I could not do a week ago (I didn't even see the meatus). Since I read the responses to this thread, I now try to get erect and do the same thing and repeat. I can get about half the glans showing. However, it also sort of balloons since the foreskin is still a bit tight and it's like squeezing the glans.Any suggestions or is the progress I'm getting good and I just need to keep at it? Do you guys think I actually have phimosis or is it just that I didn't 'play' with myself enough as a child? I used to never masturbate the "normal" way. I would rub against the mattress. Perhaps this has to do with my unretractable foreskin?

Your progress is pretty good. Just keep at it. You don't have phimosis.

I guess you weren't curious as a kid. I remember retracting and thinking that my penis was going to pop out or something.

Well I finally managed to retract it below the glans!! Fair enough it was in a bath after soaking for about an hour and a half or maybe two, but I still did it.(Thanks for the PM Lance, did you get my reply? Check your inbox mate..)Now the thing I'm wondering about is this:After I got out of the bath I tried to retract it again. It was much harder because the foreskin wasn't as soaked and didn't strech as easily. And the glans is still super sensitive to the point of pain. I read that for maximum effect the foreskin should be stretched while the penis is erect. Unfortunately, that is impossible at the moment, so I tried this instead: I pulled it back while flaccid and after a bit of resistance I got it behind the glans. Then I browsed some porn, and when I felt blood pumping into my penis and it began to expand in diameter I was struck by unbelievable and unbearable pain. The foreskin, being pulled back, had no other choice but to stretch and I nearly screamed out it was so painful. I tried to look away and think about disgusting things in order to make the penis stop erecting. It didn't even become fully erect because of the pain. So I'm wondering, is this safe? Am I at risk of tearing it if I pull it back while flaccid and then get an erection? If so, then how should I keep stretching? It seriously, doesn't stretch when the penis is erect. The foreskin seems to fill up with blood or something and becomes immobile. So is it okay to do it like this? It hurts really bad, but I don;t mind the pain as long as it gets the job done. Can it possibly rip? Am I then at risk of getting scar tissue on my foreskin? How would that affect the stretching process?How long did it take for you people to start masturbating after you first pulled it back? It doesn't matter if you had phimosis or nor. Think back to when you were 11/12. When did you first pull it back, when it was flaccid or erect?So how should I now go about the stretching process?Yeah I know I'm asking so many questions lol sorry you don't have to answer them all just what you think may be important and helpful to others or whatever.Thanks everyone especially Sdp and Lance

LOL.. I can't remember that far back.

You shouldn't do what you did. You risk getting a full erection and having the blood stuck in the head. The blood gets trapped and the swelling won't go down. Can be serious. Get the erection first and then pull back as far as comfortable adn hold it there.

Good thing I didn't get a full erection then.

You see the thing is, the only way it works is if I roll back the underside of the foreskin (the bit with the frenulum) so that the frenulum is exposed and then gradually begin to roll back the rest of it. I can't just grab it at all four sides and pull it back (flaccid or not).
And when I'm erect I can't roll back to expose the frenulum because it's too tight. So I don't actually see how I'm making any progress unless I stretch when it's flaccid.
What seems to work wonders is rolling it back half-way and then tensing the sphincter muscle (you know the anus-penis muscle). That seems to stretch it with little gentle tugs.

But when it's fully erect it seriously doesn't move anywhere. It just sits there and I can only expose the same little bit of glans that I ever could.

So can you give me any tips at this point in particular? I guess this might take longer than I expected..

oh and I should probably add that I haven't been using any cream yet. I haven't found the nerve to talk to anyone about this in real life, but I'm confident I don't need any cream..I mean, I've made good progress in the space of a month right?

Hey bud, you've got to work on stretching the opening of your foreskin more. Be patient and work with it daily and you should see some progress soon. Also, I'd keep some lotion handy (any kind will do) that way if you have an erection and your foreskin gets stuck behind the head (before you're done stretching) then the lotion will help it move easily back over the ridge of the head of your penis. Also, by simply applying some pressure to the head you'll decrease the blood flow and the foreskin may easily move back over.

I don't understand the difficulty. When you get an erection, you just pull back on the entire skin of the shaft. The foreskin gets pulled back exposing the glans. When it is tight , just hold it there and let it stretch out. Repeat the process. You don't have to unroll anything. Just pull back.