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Question:
I'm living in Ireland. I have a problem the occurs
from time to time. I'm not circumcised and therefore
the top of my penis underneath the foreskin is very
sensitive to the point that it hurts to touch it. This I
can live with. But during sex when I get an erection the
skin tends to peel back. When this happens all I fell is
pain this causes me to lose my erection leaving me and
my partner frustrated. Is this normal or is there
something I can do to overcome this difficulty.
Thanks you by the way for an excellent website.
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Answer:
by Annette Owens: (05/15/2004)
First let me make a few general comments about
circumcision in order to educate some readers:
Circumcision has deep cultural roots and it is
traditionally performed in Jewish, Muslim and other
cultures. While female circumcision is questioned by
many, male circumcision is much more well accepted
and common. Sometimes male circumcision has medical
indications, for example if the foreskin is too tight to
be pulled back over the penis-head or "glans." Tight
foreskin not only happens in children, but sometimes
occurs in adults.
Besides cultural traditions one of the arguments for
circumcising newborn male babies is often the thought
that hygiene of the penis will be easier. Boys with
uncircumcised penises have to be taught how to pull
back the foreskin and rinse the glans when bathing. In
Europe most men are uncircumcised, while in the USA
most are circumcised. However, there is a beginning
trend in the USA for young parents to choose not to
have their sons automatically circumcised.
Many men ask themselves whether their state of
circumcision has any influence on the amount of
sensations felt during sex. It is very difficult to measure
and compare sensations, and I know only of a few
studies which have attempted this. One study
compared the histological (anatomy on a microscopic
level) structure of the glans of circumcised versus
uncircumcised penises. Very few differences were
found. Millions of men with uncircumcised penises have
good sensations contributing to satisfying sex and the
same is true for millions of men with circumcised
penises.
Now to answer your question: You are not giving me
any information about your age and whether you have
previously been able to pull back your foreskin and to
have an erect penis (with fully retracted foreskin)
without pain. If you have always had a problem
retracting your foreskin I would recommend seeing an
urologist who can probably help you relieve this
problem.
If this problem is new, it may be that your foreskin
somehow got injured during masturbation or
intercourse, and that scarring or even inflammation is
now causing painful retraction. Do you see any changes
or irregularities of your foreskin? Again, I would
recommend seeing your doctor or an urologist. Since
you are having so much pain, and your sex life is
negatively affected it is important to try to alleviate
your problem as soon as possible. It is not normal to
feel such excruciating pain during intercourse that you
loose your erections.
Do you have any apprehensions about going to your
doctor with this concern? Are you not "supposed " to
have sex yet for religious or other reasons? I encourage
you to go anyway, since your problem is related to a
normal organic process in your body. It is normal for
men to have erections, especially during sleep and in
the morning. Do you feel pain at those times?
Let me know if you have further questions.
Good luck,
Annette Owens, MD PhDReviewed by Sexual Health Editorial Team
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