Tight foreskin

[Mikey45]

As a 15 year old, I have a tight foreskin. This is to the point where I can only retract no further than 1cm off the head of my penis.
I’m looking for anyone who has experienced this, whether it’ll go away with time or what I can do to change it so at least it goes down the head of my penis.

[Maxbreak]

Ive not had tight myself, but have read a few threads. Can u pull all the way back soft. U do have to stretch a bit, not to the extent that it hurts. Doing it wet (eg in shower) will help. Doctor can pescribe steroid cream. Getting cut would be a last resort

[JamesCam]

If you can pull it back a bit then that’s a good sign you might be able to eventually pull it back fully. It’s when the tip of the foreskin won’t stretch at all you might need intervention.
When soft keep pulling back a bit more each day while your in the shower and the skin is warm and easier to move.
You could go to the Dr and get steroid cream this also helps.
Lastly there is circumcision, your doc would advise if you needed this

[Mikey45]

If you can pull it back a bit then that’s a good sign you might be able to eventually pull it back fully. It’s when the tip of the foreskin won’t stretch at all you might need intervention.
When soft keep pulling back a bit more each day while your in the shower and the skin is warm and easier to move.
You could go to the Dr and get steroid cream this also helps.
Lastly there is circumcision, your doc would advise if you needed this

Update: I’ll spare the nitty gritty details but I’m trying it and it looks like there’s something attaching my foreskin to my penis. Could this mean o need to wait for it to break to be able to retract (without breaking it myself)?

[Maxbreak]

Update: I’ll spare the nitty gritty details but I’m trying it and it looks like there’s something attaching my foreskin to my penis. Could this mean o need to wait for it to break to be able to retract (without breaking it myself)?

Yeah that happens with most boys. It should detach eventually. Don't force it too much. Have you started puberty recently?

[JamesCam]

Update: I’ll spare the nitty gritty details but I’m trying it and it looks like there’s something attaching my foreskin to my penis. Could this mean o need to wait for it to break to be able to retract (without breaking it myself)?

Just keep trying in the shower , eventually it will work

[Mikey45]

Yeah that happens with most boys. It should detach eventually. Don't force it too much. Have you started puberty recently?

No I’m 15 and started puberty at about 11 so I would’ve thought it would have already detached?

[Maxbreak]

No I’m 15 and started puberty at about 11 so I would’ve thought it would have already detached?

Possibly worth having a word with your doctor. He or she should help. If it detachable, getting cut will not be needed

[Wtd_]

I agree with what people have been saying here. Trying to careful stretch the foreskin in the shower or bath overtime should help and also seeing a doctor is always a good idea.

[Mikey45]

I agree with what people have been saying here. Trying to careful stretch the foreskin in the shower or bath overtime should help and also seeing a doctor is always a good idea.

I would go see a doctor however I don’t have the sort of parental relationship with my parents that it would be acceptable to go see a doctor for it or even mention it to them...

[kyrocks03]

I would go see a doctor however I don’t have the sort of parental relationship with my parents that it would be acceptable to go see a doctor for it or even mention it to them...

Try the stretching method described, but I wouldn't give it more than a couple weeks. If you are not seeing progress, you need to get seen.

[justa16yearoldaussie]

mine was like that till i was like 10, you can slowly but surely stretch it every night, or if it’s extreme you can get prescribed steroid cream

[Hermes]

Update: I’ll spare the nitty gritty details but I’m trying it and it looks like there’s something attaching my foreskin to my penis. Could this mean o need to wait for it to break to be able to retract (without breaking it myself)?

That depends on where it is attached. There is a sort of stringy bit on the bottom where the foreskin is attached to the head. This is called the frenelum and is completely normal. There is a very similar thing on your tongue - if you look in the mirror and raise your tongue you can see something that attaches the underside of your tongue to the bottom of your mouth.

You can tell when this frenelum having become tight is stopping your foreskin from going back any further because, as it is attached only on the bottom, pulling the foreskin back further tilts the tip of the glans, where the hole is, downwards. That's certainly what happens to me but in my case the foreskin is back behind the head before that tilting starts to happen.

If the foreskin is attached in some other place then this could be an adhesion. I think this is what some other people are thinking of. Normally the foreskin does not separate from the glans at all at birth and gradually becomes "unstuck" as you develop but I agree with you that by puberty it would be usual for it to be completely unstuck. If it is an adhesion it may resolve itself but you could talk to the doctor.

The other possibility is that the ridged band, a band of what should be stretchy tissue right at the opening of the foreskin, is not stretching enough to allow the head through. As long as it is not scarred it should stretch with time and movement and that's where manually stretching it, possible with some steroid cream comes in. You can obviously try stretching without a visit to the doctor but if that isn't doing much the doctor would be able to prescribe steroid cream to help.

Your profile does not say where you're from. It is apparent from some previous discussions that some American doctors are rather too eager to circumcise, perhaps because so many American doctors are circumcised anyway. That should never be suggested as the solution unless the stretching with steroid cream has made no progress whatsoever despite giving it a decent go. The stretching takes time so as long as there is any progress at all, i.e. the skins pulls back even a little bit further, it is worth continuing with.

Finally, it is worth noting that the NHS in the UK says that phimosis (a tight foreskin) does not need to be treated if it is not causing problems such as repeated inflamation. It does not prevent mastutbating and it is possible to have sex with a condom. When it comes to having sex without a condom you may want it to have been resolved because that could be uncomfortable but that means you have some time to resolve this. There is no need to panic because it will presumably be some times before you actually need to have sex without a condom, i.e. you're trying for a baby, so plenty of time to be patient with the stretching.

[Mikey45]

That depends on where it is attached. There is a sort of stringy bit on the bottom where the foreskin is attached to the head. This is called the frenelum and is completely normal. There is a very similar thing on your tongue - if you look in the mirror and raise your tongue you can see something that attaches the underside of your tongue to the bottom of your mouth.

You can tell when this frenelum having become tight is stopping your foreskin from going back any further because, as it is attached only on the bottom, pulling the foreskin back further tilts the tip of the glans, where the hole is, downwards. That's certainly what happens to me but in my case the foreskin is back behind the head before that tilting starts to happen.

If the foreskin is attached in some other place then this could be an adhesion. I think this is what some other people are thinking of. Normally the foreskin does not separate from the glans at all at birth and gradually becomes "unstuck" as you develop but I agree with you that by puberty it would be usual for it to be completely unstuck. If it is an adhesion it may resolve itself but you could talk to the doctor.

The other possibility is that the ridged band, a band of what should be stretchy tissue right at the opening of the foreskin, is not stretching enough to allow the head through. As long as it is not scarred it should stretch with time and movement and that's where manually stretching it, possible with some steroid cream comes in. You can obviously try stretching without a visit to the doctor but if that isn't doing much the doctor would be able to prescribe steroid cream to help.

Your profile does not say where you're from. It is apparent from some previous discussions that some American doctors are rather too eager to circumcise, perhaps because so many American doctors are circumcised anyway. That should never be suggested as the solution unless the stretching with steroid cream has made no progress whatsoever despite giving it a decent go. The stretching takes time so as long as there is any progress at all, i.e. the skins pulls back even a little bit further, it is worth continuing with.

Finally, it is worth noting that the NHS in the UK says that phimosis (a tight foreskin) does not need to be treated if it is not causing problems such as repeated inflamation. It does not prevent mastutbating and it is possible to have sex with a condom. When it comes to having sex without a condom you may want it to have been resolved because that could be uncomfortable but that means you have some time to resolve this. There is no need to panic because it will presumably be some times before you actually need to have sex without a condom, i.e. you're trying for a baby, so plenty of time to be patient with the stretching.

Hi... I’m from Australia and I do agree that I do still have time to fix it.
Do you know what caused this to happen? I never used to have this problem, it probably only started affecting me maybe 1 year ago, previous to that I could retract my foreskin normally.

[Stevan LT]

Just keep trying in the shower , eventually it will work

I confirm : During shower with warm water ans soap it's the best moment to try to pull back. Try when soft first then when hard. I did this way and now my foreskin can be pulled fully back almost without disconfort

[Hermes]

Do you know what caused this to happen? I never used to have this problem, it probably only started affecting me maybe 1 year ago, previous to that I could retract my foreskin normally.

I don't know for sure. My best guess is that the head of your penis grew faster than your foreskin did so it is now too big to fit through the hole in the end of your foreskin.

Skin is known to grow when it is stretched, i.e. when it is under tension it responds by adding more skins cells until the tension is reduced. I am not sure skin grows in any other way, i.e. I think when our bones grow they stretch the skin a little bit and then the skin grows to catch up.

I think the foreskin may be a bit odd in that the relative length of the foreskin vs. the rest of the penis can change as we mature. In my case my foreskin overhung the end of my penis prior to puberty but now only just about covers the head with just the pee hole exposed. Other people's skin has continued to have an overhang and some people's have pulled back so far as to leave a noticeable amount of the head exposed even when soft. My suspicion is that this is all about how stretchy the ridged band is. The more easily it stretches the more likely the skin is to simply sit further back on the head as the penis grows. The less easily it stretches the more likely it is that the growing penis will stretch the rest of the skin and therefore maintain an overhang.

I am not sure any of that is any practical value, though - I still think the answer is you need to be stretching it. I think someone in a previous thread said there are some exercises you could Google for. Don't be so enthusiastic that you tear it as that would make it worse.

[Franciscofixe]

As a 15 year old, I have a tight foreskin. This is to the point where I can only retract no further than 1cm off the head of my penis.
I’m looking for anyone who has experienced this, whether it’ll go away with time or what I can do to change it so at least it goes down the head of my penis.

I can't pull the skin after the head too. I am 16 and uncut.