This page presents information that most parents are not aware of at the time they make the circumcision decision. Doctors usually do not provide this information.
If you are under 18, we recommend that you share and discuss this information with your parents.
For a further look at this anatomy, including photographs, visit Circumstitions (Hugh Young). Hugh\'s site also includes an excellent animation to illustrate retraction.
Dr John R. Taylor, co-author of two medical anatomical papers about the foreskin, explains the latest research at the Ridged Band website.
This illustration represents an average normal adult human penis. The head of the penis (glans) has a covering, called the foreskin (prepuce). This covering folds in on itself, forming a double layer. The foreskin is not a `flap' of skin on the end of the penis, and it is not `useless' or `redundant' skin.
There is some natural variation in the length of the foreskin, which often covers a bit more or less of the glans than illustrated.
In an average circumcised adult man, the area of skin that is missing because of penile reduction surgery would, when erect and unfolded, measure approximately three by five inches, or a little smaller than a postcard. That is about half the total skin of the penis.
skin,but mucocutaneous tissue of a unique type found nowhere else on the body.
They are:
The above list was compiled from various sources by George Hill.
When fully retracted, the foreskin is designed to cover essentially the entire penile shaft, yet is loose enough to glide
. The ridged bands are situated about halfway down the shaft, when the foreskin is retracted fully.
Note: In some cases, a man may have difficulty retracting the foreskin. This is not an indication for circumcision, because there are good alternative treatments available that preserve the structure and function of the foreskin. Scientific references for information on this topic can be found in CIRP's Circumcision Reference Library.
See also the excellent animation at Circumstitions.com (offsite link).
The most important components of the physical erogenous stimulation of the penis during foreplay and intercourse are the sensations from the foreskin, frenulum/frenar band, and glans. These structures each have their own feeling, and each contributes in its own way to the man's total experience of lovemaking. It must be emphasized that emotional excitement is an extremely important component of sexual enjoyment, and intensifies the man's perception of any physical sensations from his penis.
The ridged bands, which are like horseshoes only in that they curve forward underneath toward the point where the frenulum attaches, can be found in several pictures in John's paper. There are some 20 concentric ridged bands which rub over the corona. Each ridge has Meissner's corpuscles, which respond to pressure, and they produce the sexual pleasure which no individual has a right to take away from another individual.
~ 1
the gliding mechanism,below).
ridges, described by Dr. John Taylor in his recent article. Sensations from these structures during intercourse or masturbation are thought to be the primary trigger of orgasm in the intact male. Dr. George Denniston writes:
Following circumcision, the foreskin of the penis has been cut away. The surface of the glans has developed a thick, dry layer of keratin (toughened skin), which makes it less sensitive to unwanted stimulation, but also less sensitive to the more subtle qualities of lovemaking.
All circumcised men have an annular scar on the shaft of the penis. The location of the scar varies, from near the head to far down the shaft. For some men, so much skin has been removed that erection becomes difficult and even painful. This was one of the most common complaints reported by circumcised men in a recent poll.11
During intercourse the loose skin of the intact penis slides up and down the shaft of the penis, stimulating the glans and the sensitive erogenous receptors of the foreskin itself. On the outstroke the glans is partially or completely engulfed by the foreskin. This is known as the `gliding mechanism.'
The gliding mechanism is Nature's intended mechanism of intercourse. As such, it contributes greatly to sexual pleasure. Also, since more of the loose skin of the penis remains inside the vagina, the woman's natural lubrication is not drawn out to evaporate to a great extent, which makes sex easier without using artificial lubricants.
The prepuce is a highly innervated and vascularized genital structure. It is entirely lined with the peripenic muscle sheet. Specialized ecoptic sebaceous glans on the inner preputial surface produce natural emollients and lubricants necessary for normal sexual function. The primary orgasmic triggers are found in the preputial orifice and frenulum. When unfolded, the prepuce is large enough to cover the length and circumference of the erect penis and acts as a natural sheath through which the shaft glides during coitus. Only the presence and functions of the prepuce allow for physiologically normal coitus to occur as designed by nature.
~ (Fleiss, Paul M; Frederick Hodges. Nontherapeutic Circumcision Should not be Performed,
American Medical News, vol. 38, no. 26 (July 17, 1995): p. 16.)
Although still pleasurable for the man, intercourse without the participation of the prepuce lacks the gliding mechanism. The only source of stimulation is the glans rubbing against the wall of the vagina. The sensations from the specialised receptors of the frenar band, frenulum and inner foreskin layer are missing.
With intravaginal containment of the normal penis, the male's mobile sheath is placed within the woman's vaginal sheath. It is impossible to imagine a better mechanical arrangement for non-abrasive stimulation of the male and female genitalia than this slick 'sheath within a sheath.' Circumcision destroys this one sheath within a sheath . . . I would hazard a guess, that dyspareunia [painful intercourse] is more common in the women whose husband is circumcised . . . one would be foolish to discount the circumcised male's immobile penile skin sheath as an ancillary item contributing to vaginal, abrasive discomfort . . . The male with a penis already moderately obtunded by circumcision may be less apt to use a condom, which he feels may further decrease his genital sensitivity . . . because most American males lack a facile prepuce, the period of foreplay and dalliance may be abbreviated in the rush to the intra-vaginal method of penile stimulation. Both these factors conceivably could be of significance in increasing the rate of venereal disease, including AIDS . . .
~ (Say No to Circumcision! 40 Compelling Reasons Why You Should Respect His Birthright and Leave Your Son Whole (2nd edition), by Thomas A. Ritter, MD, Hourglass Book Publishing 1996)
If the surgery was performed on an infant, by adulthood a relatively thick keratin layer will have formed on the normally skinless mucosal surface of the glans, which further reduces the stimulation. If the circumcision was performed as an adult, the keratin layer will form, and the sensitivity of the glans will gradually be reduced over time.
Circumcision, male: effects upon human sexuality, in: Human Sexuality. An Encyclopedia. Edited by Vern L. Bullough and Bonnie Bullough, Garland Publishing Inc., 1994, pp. 119-122.
The Fate of the Foreskin: A Study of Circumcision, British Medical Journal, Vol. 2, pp 1433-1437, Dec. 24, 1949. This article led to the virtual cessation of routine neonatal circumcision in Great Britain after WW II. (Includes an illustrated section describing the development of the prepuce in infancy.)
Say NO to Circumcision!, Aptos, CA, Hourglass Book Publishing, 1992.
The Joy of Uncircumcising, 2nd edition, Aptos, CA, Hourglass Book Publishing, 1995, pp. 16-18.
triple whammy(loss of penile sensitivity)
Where is my foreskin? The case against circumcisionby Paul M. Fleiss. MD. Mothering magazine, Winter 1997
(Pictures from The Joy of Uncircumcising
by Jim Bigelow)
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