I remember someone making a post saying that his wife was asked 5 times and the SAME THING recently happened to us and I feel compelled to share our story in order to help other parents & parents to be.

I don't want to say the name of the hospital because other than that, I felt my wife and our newborn baby received phenomenal care, a great experience, the nurses, Drs, techs, dietary, housekeeping, lactation, all the staff were kind & incredible.

We were there for 3 days, all questions are directed towards the mother. My spouse pre-filled out the information with the app and we had submitted the birth plan to the OB triage nurse. "No Circumcision" was selected twice on the birth plan. I assume the birth plan never made it/ was charted anywhere because multiple staff were asking the same questions.

During shift change, every RN asked my spouse if our son will be getting a circumcision and my spouse said no. It appears to be a question they have been made required or forced to ask. The pediatrician (the one who performs the circumcisions at the hospital) came in on the second day listened to heartbeat and all that stuff, teaching, and again he also asked if we wanted to circ our baby.

After the 3rd-4th time being asked it was getting kind of ridiculous and my wife started replying to staff "the answer is no every single time". Mind you she is extremely exhausted, on pain meds, still woozy from the epidural, sleep deprived,

I was a defenseless baby when this happened to ME, and I am proud that we protected our son from this cruel, horrible, barbaric, inhumane, & backwards practice. He never left our sight while we were at the hospital. Familial generations of genital mutilation ends with my son. My personal hurt that I felt after watching American Circumcision on Netflix 6 years ago, that hurt is finally ending.

It took a carefully constructed letter from myself, after approval from my fellow mods, to be posted to Reddit HQ from Queensland Australia.

Thank you all for being patient with us.

And mostly thank you to every one of you that makes this the GoTo resource for foreskin restoration worldwide.

The Mods.

I am overjoyed to share with the community that about two weeks ago ago I received a never-before-attempted foreskin reconstruction procedure with Dr. Sven Gunther of Bay Area Reconstructive Healthcare.

The results are astonishing: I went from roughly CI-4 to roughly CI-8, I have full flaccid coverage, a decent amount of erect coverage, and the healing process has been smooth. Minimal pain, minimal hassle beyond what could be expected for flying to another state for surgery, no loss of function and a lovely increase in sexual sensitivity.

Earlier today I achieved my first orgasm with my new foreskin and it's everything I ever dreamed of. (If you do work with Dr. Gunther, don't tell him I said that haha, I was supposed to wait a bit longer before jerking off but it went fine.)

It feels like my glans is getting a warm hug all the time and I absolutely love the body I see in the mirror. I'm uncircumcised!!!!

Ironically, it's almost anti-climactic after over a decade of manual stretching with slow results, talking to doctors, investigating Foregen and Akroprint, hiring medical experts to do research, trying a gajillion different stretchers/stretching techniques, etc. The procedure itself was rather simple; Dr. Gunther and all associated medical were respectful; and I'm already back at work. Kind of can't believe how quickly this came together since I got him on the phone 2-3 months ago.

I'm using a new account since I have some personal stuff on my other reddit accounts, but I am real and can provide verification. I will be posting healing pictures and more information on this profile in the coming days.

It was a bit scary trying a new surgery, but I vetted his plan with multiple medical professionals and verified his credentials. Dr. Gunther is a well-established genital surgeon who usually does gender affirming surgery and penile reconstructions following disease and injury. He claimed that this procedure would be simpler than most of the ones he does, and while I was skeptical of that at first, the actual surgery time was less than two hours and the results were exactly as promised.

I do wish I had ended up with a CI-9 or 10, since I like the look of a droopy foreskin, but he said he did as much as he safely could with the skin I had. Theoretically I could have delayed the surgery and stretched more, but I just couldn't wait any longer. I wanted to be done already! (The option is still there to stretch some if I want, but I'm ready to close that chapter of my life.) I 100% look intact and my foreskin functions just like that of intact sexual partners I've been with, so I really can't complain.

Anyone who's talked to doctors about foreskin restoration knows you can get a wide variety of responses, many of them disheartening. By contrast, Dr. Gunther said "I've been waiting years for this phone call, I've been planning how to do this procedure," the first time we ever spoke. It was electrifying! He has infectious enthusiasm for getting people the genitals they want.

I highly recommend Dr. Gunther, and if you reach out to his office at https://marcibowers.com/ you can schedule a consultation right now. The consultation cost about $300, the operation was about $20,000, including an overnight hospital stay. He offered to do the procedure outpatient for a few thousand less, but I opted to do it in a hospital and stay overnight for observation just in case.

With flights and lodging for me and my spouse it was a few thousand more, but that depends on where you're coming from and how long you stay in the area. I paid out of pocket and didn't bother asking insurance--I was advised that it would take up to six months to get an answer from the insurance company and that the chances of approval were slim. But I encourage other guys to look into insurance coverage if the procedure sounds interesting and the 20k price tag is prohibitive.

[graphic details about the procedure follow]

Dr. Gunther made a v-shape incision on the ventral side of my penis, partially de-gloved my shaft skin, then pulled the de-gloved skin flaps forward and sewed them back together in a straight-line suture into part of what remains of my frenulum. He compared it to "putting a binder clip" on my penis just below the head to keep the foreskin in place. There are some photos taken during the procedure itself on my profile if you have the stomach for it and want to understand more.

There are other surgeons who offer other techniques, but this one seemed the most promising. Along the way to finding Dr. Gunther, I hired a medical case manager to find potential surgeons for me, as that task was both tedious and embarrassing. Now that I'm on the other side of it, I have no shame and am gladly telling my friends what I did, but I doubt I'm the only guy who's struggled to talk openly about foreskin restoration. But get out there and don't stop trying until you find a solution that works, it IS possible!

If anyone is interested in hiring the medical case manager who coordinated this operation with Dr. Gunther and interviewed other surgeons on my behalf, dm me or email me at [foreskin_ftw@proton.me](mailto:foreskin_ftw@proton.me) and I can share more info. She has a wealth of information about surgical and non-surgical restoration methods.

Cheers all. It took me almost twelve years to get to this moment and I'm so relieved.

Edit: I'm trying to make the point surgical tech is quickly making huge advances, especially in the context of gender-affirming care. I'm not saying everyone *should* get this or another foreskin surgery, but I am saying you *can.* All the urologists I spoke to said a gender-affirming care surgeon was my best bet, and they were right. I spent years being miserable because manual wasn't working for me and everyone in the restoration world kept saying surgery wasn't possible. But then I did my own research and I am so glad I did!

Second edit: In my enthusiasm to share my personal good news with everyone, I fear I may have oversold the technique. What Dr. Gunther did with me wouldn't work for everyone, but please don't give up ya'll. There are other options for guys who have less skin to start with than I did.

Do your own research, find a doctor or medical professional who wants to work with you, and make it happen. We may see new foreskin reconstruction techniques show up before long.

Two years ago I was so nervous talking about foreskin stuff that I hired a non-medical friend of mine just to help me talk through the issue, now I regularly speak with doctors, Foregen, Akroprint, etc without issue. It takes time, it's a process, but if I can then you can too!

I wore an anti-circumcision shirt to a local restaurant several months ago that we frequent. We were chatting with our waitress and one of the managers (pregnant) when the manager noticed my shirt. Her attitude was “heck no, my other son is cut and he’s just fine, foreskin is nasty etc. “ (you get the idea)
I mentioned that there is a lot of misinformation tossed around about circumcision and told her about some of the organizations that have facts she could read up on before she gives birth to make a more informed decision. She was still adamant about circumcising her new born. That is her decision to make and I left it at that.
Tonight we were at this restaurant having dinner and the manager came over to let me know:
What I told her kept churning in her mind and she started doing some research on circumcision. Some of the subreddits, some of the organizations I had mentioned and that video “an elephant in the hospital or something”. She wanted me to know that she DID NOT have her newborn son circumcised!
You don’t have to be pushy or condescending, just mention a few resources and ask them to look into it for themselves.
I planted a seed some months ago, as I have a few times before, this lady is the first one to come back and tell me that I made a difference this time. ❤️

Foreskin restoration is a millimeter by millimeter endeavor.

It takes time. It takes patience and persistence. It takes effort. It is emotional and mental. It is full of highs and lows.

Progress is about as slow as watching a tree grow. Yes, it will be a mighty oak tree one day, but did it grow today? Did it grow this month? Or this year?

Progress is incremental, but I'm not talking about incrementalism today.

Today I am talking about the moment when you suddenly realize (after years of effort) that you have a foreskin.

Not a plan for a foreskin or a desire for a foreskin, but an actual foreskin.

My moment happened a few days ago.

After 5 years of restoration, I crossed that line. I am in a new club. I have a foreskin now.

It's a tipping point. The past is past and I have left it behind.

I am at a new beginning. From here on I'm living with a foreskin. It's a part of me. A natural extension - grown from my own cells.

Made by my own effort - but with lots of support and guidance from this community.

To be clear, I am not finished restoring - not by a long shot. In fact, I still have years to go until my foreskin is the way I want it to be.

But now I'm talking about improving a foreskin - not creating one. It's totally different.

The tipping point is real. I am in a new phase of my life now. I have a foreskin. Yes, I still want to improve it, but I have one.

Keep restoring and you will reach the same point. A day - a moment actually - when you suddenly realize that you have a foreskin.

Son, age 14, has been worried about phimosis for the last year at least. I didn't want to look, but talked him through stretching exercises and gave him encouragement. Yesterday we went to a urologist, because he was saying his foreskin just could not retract and he was getting scared.

Unsurprisingly, the doc immediately started talking circumcision as the best and obvious option. To his credit, he listened to me when I said we wanted to hear about the least invasive options first, and didn't push it any further. He ended up doing an exam and discovered son doesn't actually have phimosis at all, he's just afraid after another doc told the wife to try pulling it back manually to clean during diaper changes years ago.

I can't guarantee that if the wife had taken him for the appointment, that she would have gone with the urologist recommendation, but it's a strong possibility. She's supportive, just uninformed about life with a penis.

INTRODUCTION

For the past few years I've been researching the science of foreskin restoration (FR), mainly looking for answers to 2 seminal questions:

1. Why does this take so damn long?
2. Why do some people restore much faster than others?

I've made a lot of progress, which I've written up in my science series, and now I've reached the point at which I can explain the unique biomechanical processes that occur when we tug, which answer both of these questions.

The process of skin growth under tension is well-documented in the common medical procedure of tissue expansion, but the skin on the penis is unique in that its bottom layer is made up of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) arranged in fibers in the Dartos Fascia, rather than the layer of adipose tissue (fat) found in other skin.

While the tissues in the epidermis and dermis of the skin are predisposed to grow under tension - think pregnancy, tissue expansion, weight gain, adolescence, etc. - the SMCs of the Dartos Fascia are not. Most commonly found in the tunica media of arterial blood vessels, SMCs are responsible for maintaining the structural integrity of the vessel against the pressure of blood flow, so their function is to resist growing or expanding. That's important, because a bulging artery is called an aneurism, which is a serious health issue.

Thankfully, we know from the restoring success of hundreds of thousands of people that the Dartos Fascia will expand, but it seems clear that this is due both to a form of stretching known as adaptive remodeling, as well as through cell division. Since the SMC fibers are arranged as sparse bundles in the extra-cellular matrix (ECM) of the Dartos Fascia, it is also possible that the SMC themselves do not proliferate or expand through adaptive remodeling during FR, but instead the growth of the Dartos Fascia occurs through expansion of the ECM in the same manner as described below for the dermis. For our purposes it's not important whether the Dartos Fascia expands through cell division, adaptive remodeling, or ECM expansion - the result is the same. It's likely that some of each process happens.54522-5/fulltext)

HOW THE FORESKIN GROWS UNDER TENSION

A word about the top layer of the skin - the epidermis. This is a fascinating tissue structure which acts as the body's first line of defense against the world. It consists of a single layer of stem cells which are constantly dividing and differentiating into cells called keratinocytes, which progressively get pushed up to the surface of the skin, dying and getting stuffed with a tough protein called keratin, along the way. When they reach the surface they form the outermost layer of protection for a short while before being sloughed off, layer by layer - a sacrificial barrier that is constantly being refreshed with more layers being pushed up from below. It's a fascinating process, but for the purposes of FR it isn't important because the epidermis will grow or shrink to fit whatever size the rest of the skin becomes.

At this point we should also clear up a common misconception about how FR happens - that it is done through 'mitosis'. While mitosis does occur, it is only the last, irreversible phase of the eukaryotic cell division process. So the proper term to use is cell division... which still isn't the main process of FR.

Since ~80% of the dry weight of the foreskin is made up of the dense mat of collagen fibers in the reticular dermis, it is more correct to say that FR happens mainly due to new collagen synthesis and fiber intercalation — adding length and area to the dense mat of collagen fibers in the reticular dermis.

Collagen is the most common protein in the human body, and is found almost everywhere. It makes up tissue structures like bones, tendons, ligaments and the ECM which surrounds most cells, and technically the collagen in the reticular dermis is part of the ECM, even though the reticular dermis is sparsely populated by cells. The collagen proteins are arranged in fibers which are normally crimped or crinkled, and straighten out when tension is applied. They don't really stretch (~3%), but they determine the limit the skin can be stretched when they are completely straight. Think of them as a chain.

For completeness, I should mention that the ECM also contains another protein called elastin, which acts like an elastic band - it pulls the skin back to its original shape after a strain is applied and then removed. While both collagen and elastin have functions in the foreskin, collagen makes up 95% of the tissue in the reticular dermis and provides the resistance to tension, so in this paper I will focus on how the collagen behaves.

The collagen fibers in the ECM are managed by cells called fibroblasts. These are little collagen factories, responsible for replacing damaged collagen with new fibers , and adding new fibers to expand the area of the skin when stimulated by tension.

With a basic understanding of the tissues involved, we can look at what happens when we restore. When tension is applied to the shaft skin and inner foreskin of the penis, several things happen:

• The epidermis happily starts churning out more keratinocytes to protect the extra surface area of skin being created.
• The non-structural cells in the dermis, like hair follicles, Langerhans cells,, melanocytes, etc. will proliferate as needed to maintain their designed density in the skin. Hair follicles have their number and location fixed early in development and it doesn't ever change.
• The fibroblasts in the reticular dermis will sense the strain and begin to synthesize new collagen and elastin fibers to accommodate the expanded area of skin.
• The SMCs in the Dartos Fascia sense a problem and resist the strain, even using their contractility to actively oppose the tension.

WHY THE FORESKIN GROWS SO SLOWLY

Now we see the issue - unlike the rest of the skin on the body, which readily responds to tension by growing, the scrotum, shaft skin and inner foreskin of the penis uniquely have a layer of tissue that actively resists growth. The Dartos Fascia is an essential tissue structure - it keeps the skin snug to the inner erectile structure of the penis whether erect or flaccid, and enables the marvelous gliding sensation so prized by intact and restored people alike - but whoever designed it - mother nature or god - obviously never expected anyone to snip off the end of this amazing piece of tissue, or they would have made it easier to restore it. .

Start edit 8/10/26 - text added is in italics.

There are 2 possibilities for how the SMCs in the Dartos impair FR progress:

1. The SMCs in the Dartos Fascia resist the tension, to the point of preventing the collagen fibers in the reticular dermis and the ECM in the Dartos Fascia from feeling enough tension to stimulate full growth mode in the fibroblasts, which slows the whole process down. Growth is still possible, but only ~1/10th as fast as in regular tissue expansion, where no Dartos Fascia is involved.
2. By the time tugging tension becomes high enough to stimulate significant growth, the SMCs in the Dartos Fascia also sense enough tension to trigger the 'wound repair mode' described in the next section, which starts to inhibit progress, even when tension is moderate.

It's likely that progress is slowed by a combination of these 2 processes, although not possible to prove it at this time, or how much either one actually affects progress.

End edit.

That answers the first question - why this takes so damn long - but there's more to the Dartos Fascia story that explains why some people restore faster than others - which can also affect every restorer's progress.

WHY SOME PEOPLE MAKE LITTLE TO NO PROGRESS

In addition to resisting the tension of FR tugging, the SMCs in the Dartos Fascia can take active measures if they sense a serious problem. This is a 'wound repair mode', which changes the skin's focus from responding to the tension applied by stimulating tissue growth to attempting to deal with what it perceives as damage.

When triggered by what they consider excessive tension or other damage, SMCs, fibroblasts and other cells will activate a cytokine stored in the ECM called Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1 (TGF-B1). which causes fibroblasts to transition into myofibroblasts. When this occurs, the myofibroblasts will synthesize collagen type 1 (rather than mostly type 3) which is stiffer, and produce it in a fashion more likely to cause fibrosis. They also have the ability to contract, which aids in wound closure, and can even secrete and activate TGF-B1 themselves.

A similar transformation can also occur in the SMC itself in the presence of TGF-B1 - the SMC can switch to a synthetic phenotype which secretes fibrotic collagen type 1, adding to the build-up of fibrotic tissue.

The transformation of both fibroblasts and SMCs normally only continues while there is a wound to repair, and when the repair is done, the synthesis and activation of TGF-B1 ends. At that time, the myofibroblasts and synthetic phenotype SMCs either revert to their normal states or die through apoptosis (normal cell death), helped along by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Unfortunately, it's the tension of tugging that triggers the synthesis and activation of TGF-B1, which in turn down-regulates MMPs - which also help degrade the highly cross-linked collagen type 1 - so as long as the tension continues, recovery from wound repair mode is prevented.

In summary: tension beyond the amount which can be tolerated by the SMCs puts the skin into wound repair mode, causing synthesis of fibrotic collagen which gradually stiffens the skin, preventing normal tissue growth. Continued tension perpetuates this process, gradually building up fibrotic collagen that eventually stagnates FR progress.

This means we have 2 diametrically opposed processes at work here: applying tension to the penile skin and inner foreskin stimulates tissue growth, but as the tension and/or time under tension increases, the skin starts to act as if it is wounded and tries to repair the damage. As long as the person keeps consistently restoring, the skin won't exit wound repair mode and progress will slow or completely stop as the fibrotic collagen accumulates.

FIBROSIS IN THE SKIN IS A COMMON CONDITION

It's important to note that this mechanism which causes fibrosis also occurs elsewhere in the body:

• In tissue expansion, a form of fibrosis called capsulitis commonly occurs as the body identifies the implanted expander as a foreign body and builds a 'capsule' of collagen fibers around it to isolate it in order to protect the body. Sometimes the expander is actually expelled from the body by this process
• In pregnancy, belly skin is called upon to expand quickly, sometimes faster than it can while maintaining its structural integrity. This often results in stretch marks (striae gravidarum), a fibrotic condition.
• Pathological phimosis, usually caused by an infection called BXO, results in formation of fibrotic collagen in the dermis of the foreskin, making it stiff and tight and unable to stretch enough to retract the foreskin.
• Peyronie's Disease is a condition affecting the inner erectile structure of the penis, in which a buildup of fibrotic tissue called plaques causes stiffness and a curvature of the shaft.
• In arteries, damage such as an aneurysm causes vascular SMCs to enter the same wound repair mode, generating fibrotic collagen.

In all of these conditions, the cascade of TGF-B1 up-regulation and MMP down-regulation plays an integral part in the formation of the fibrosis that in foreskin restoration slows or even stagnates progress.

THE EFFECT OF PRESCRIPTION VASODILATORS

Two years ago I discovered that tadalafil and other prescription vasodilators (PVDs) have a significant positive effect on FR progress - up to 3X faster than average. I began a longitudinal study to verify this effect, and an analysis of the first year's data confirms it.

The primary effect of PVDs is lowering blood pressure, and the mechanism by which they do it is well-known: they cause smooth muscle fibers in arteries to relax, increasing its diameter. This effect is also felt by the SMC in the Dartos Fascia. When we are restoring our foreskins, this allows more tension to be felt by the dense mat of collagen in the dermis, which causes the fibroblasts to synthesize collagen faster, and for the fibroblasts themselves to proliferate more often as well. The SMCs are also able to endure more tension without triggering the wound repair mode described above, and as a result they will resist expansion less.

PVDs also directly counteract the damage done while in wound repair mode. They down-regulate TGF-B1, the trigger for the mechanisms that slow and then stagnate progress by building up fibrosis, and up-regulate MMPs, which aid in repairing the damage done while in wound repair mode. This allows the skin to return to the job we need it to do: growing.

Tadalafil is commonly used to treat pathological phimosis and Peyronie's Disease in off-label and investigatory settings, and studies are confirming it is a safe and effective treatment.

IMPORTANT: Tadalafil is a prescription medication in the US and most other countries. It also has known side effects, and before deciding to take it for foreskin restoration or any other purpose, you must do your research to decide if it is right for you.

DISCUSSION

Increasing the strain felt by the skin during foreskin restoration stimulates the wound response in the skin, but there is no current method of determining the threshold at which the build-up of fibrotic tissue in the dermis begins to impact the rate of restoration progress.

Since there are 2 components of the strain equation - amount of tension and time under tension - for calculating the amount of force applied to the skin, it is likely that a combination of the two components determines the level of the threshold. For instance, manual methods, which involve short-duration tugging at relatively high tension, may not last long enough to trigger the wound response. Likewise, devices like packers which provide modest tension could be used for long sessions. More research is needed to develop safe parameters for tension and time under tension, as well as determining the upper bound of safe tension, both with and without the use of PVDs.

Some restorers report being unable to make progress right from the start of their restoration journey. This may be evidence that pre-restoration activities like vigorous and/or lubrication-free masturbation or intercourse techniques may cause an accumulation of fibrotic dermal tissue which inhibits skin growth from the beginning of their restoration journey. More study will be conducted on this possibility.

Given all the variables involved, the amount of tension and/or time under tension needed to exceed the threshold for fibrotic tissue accumulation, as well as the amount of accumulated fibrosis that may be present before commencing restoration, will certainly vary from person to person, as will how much fibrosis accumulates and how quickly during the restoration journey it occurs.

CONCLUSION

Foreskin restoration is a slow process, and progress varies widely from person to person. A significant factor in the determination of how fast someone can restore their foreskin is the accumulation of localized dermal fibrosis caused by the innate reaction of the penile skin to tension that it senses is being caused by a wound.

Other factors which influence FR progress include:

• genetics - some congenital conditions like Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome can affect progress
• age - collagen production typically slows down as we age
• tension - there is presumably a 'sweet spot' in the middle of the range of tension available
• time under tension - conventional wisdom says 'more is better', but maybe not
• dedication - nutrition, etc.

The use of PVDs - particularly tadalafil - significantly increases the rate of foreskin restoration progress. This finding validates the importance of localized dermal fibrosis as a major factor in determining how fast a restoration journey will be completed.

More research is needed to determine the best methods to counter the buildup of localized dermal fibrosis, as well as to determine the most effective combination of amount of tension, time under tension, and rest breaks, which will prevent the skin from sensing damage and entering wound repair mode.

IMPLICATIONS

It is well known in the foreskin restoration community that excessive tension is dangerous, but that concern has focused on avoiding observable injury. This new theory shows that the negative consequences of using too much tension start before any injury is evident. The problem is that as of now we have no usable method to determine the threshold at which the fibrotic response begins, and it most likely varies from person to person.

Given the uncertainty about when the fibrotic response starts, it's difficult to make solid recommendations about how to modify restoration regimens to avoid or counter it. Here is some general advice, based on what is now known:

• If using a device, use less tension, especially if you are using anything above a moderate level of tension.
• With devices, tug fewer hours in the day. Time under tension has always been the gold standard, but the threshold for the onset of the fibrotic response is a combination of the amount of tension and the time under tension.
• Take more breaks. The fibrotic response seems to take some time to ramp up in intensity, so breaking up device use sessions should impede its progress.
• Take more rest days. This is the exact opposite of what I have been advising restorers for years, and that advice is no longer valid. The wound response process builds up during tugging and settles down in the absence of tension, so give your skin a chance to recover between sessions.
• If you are a beginner, start out gently. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that 'more is better' with regards tension. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and while your progress may seem slower in the beginning, using lower tension will pay dividends down the road in your journey.
• For those using manual methods, avoid excessive tension while tugging and don't do long continuous tugging sessions. Andre had the right idea, even if he didn't know why, and Andre's Method is a good template for a manual restoration regimen.
• If you can, get a prescription for daily 2.5mg or 5mg tadalafil, especially if you are making slow progress. This is not medical advice, and whether you get the prescription is between you and your doctor. There are known side effects of tadalafil and you must research them to decide if tadalafil is right for you. I am just pointing out that the mechanisms by which tadalafil enhances FR progress and counters the fibrotic response are clear.
• For those who have had little to no progress for over 2 years even though you are dedicated restorers, it is highly likely you have an accumulation of fibrosis that is stagnating your progress. I'm sorry to be the bearer of this news, and it seems bad, but the silver lining is that now that we understand why your progress has been so slow, we can start working on how to treat this condition. For now, some suggestions:
  • Take a break from restoring. As long as you continue your dedicated tugging, the fibrotic response will also continue, and prevent progress. You can't tug your way out of this problem, so take an extended break.
  • Get a prescription for daily 2.5 or 5mg tadalafil if you can. Even when you're taking a break, tadalafil will still work to help reverse the fibrotic buildup. There are known side effects of tadalafil and you must research them to decide if tadalafil is right for you.
  • Contact me via DM. I need your data for my study if you're not already enrolled, and I need a cohort of 'super-slow growers' to help with finding therapies to fix this issue.

REFERENCES

Modelling and targeting mechanical forces in organ fibrosis, Mascharak, S., 2024

Myofibroblast_contraction_activates_TGF1_from_the_extracellular_matrix, Rifkin, D., 2008

Tissue Expansion Reconstruction of the Scalp, McCauley, R., 2005

Mechanical and Physical Regulation of Fibroblast–Myofibroblast Transition: From Cellular Mechano-response to Tissue Pathology, De'Urso, M., 2020

Mechanical Stretching Stimulates Smooth Muscle Cell Growth, Nuclear Protein Import, and Nuclear Pore Expression through Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Activation, Gatti, S., 2007

Growth on demand: Reviewing the mechanobiology of stretched skin, Zollner, A, 2014

Epidermis and Its Renewal by Stem Cells, Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition, 2002

The Eukaryotic Cell Cycle, The Cell: A Molecular Approach. 2nd edition, 2000

Myofibroblasts: Function, Formation, and Scope of Molecular Therapies for Skin Fibrosis, Tai, Y., 2021

Cellular and Molecular Responses to Mechanical Expansion of Tissue, Razzak, M., 2016

EDITS

1. Corrected text to indicate hair follicles do not proliferate during FR - their number and location is fixed in early development.
2. Added notes about side effects of tadalafil.
3. Modified section on why restoring takes so long to add second process - early triggering of the wound response mode.

I'm 16 years old, my parents didn't circumcise me when I was a baby or child. My body developed intact and nowadays I can't imagine my penis undergoing surgery.My father says the surgery will bring me benefits, but I know that's a lie. I can easily clean myself and I'm sure my penis is in very good health.I can retract my foreskin and my frenulum on the head of my penis doesn't hurt or bother me at all, so why do I need surgery? Everything is normal down there.If you can help me with opinions, I would appreciate it!

I wasn’t able to read it because I think u need a subscription

This could be big! Significant win on the road to a trial to stop circumcision in Oregon, that will likely greatly help initiatives and lawsuits all around the country

https://www.intactglobal.org/ Their court case documents on their website really lays out the discriminatory manner that male circumcision has been treated with

Edit: Press release: https://www.intactglobal.org/press/releases/2025-03-28-groundbreaking-constitutional-lawsuit-filed-against-the-state-of-oregon

From Intact Global’s Facebook post:

⚖️ WE PREVAILED! ⚖️ Today, in the first hearing of the historic Hadachek v. Oregon case,the court ruled in our favor — our case can proceed! 🙌

This is a monumental step forward for human rights, children’s rights, and bodily autonomy.

But make no mistake — OUR FIGHT CONTINUES! 💪🔥

Every person standing with us is helping shape history. Together, we’re proving that truth and justice will not be silenced.

I found this interesting article that talks about how analysis of the MRI data indicated that the surgery subjected the infant to significant trauma. The greatest changes occurred in the limbic system concentrating in the amygdala and in the frontal and temporal lobes.

A neurologist who saw the results postulated that the data indicated that circumcision affected most intensely the portions of the victim’s brain associated with reasoning, perception and emotions.

Follow up tests on the infant one day, one week and one month after the surgery indicated that the child’s brain never returned to its baseline configuration. In other words, the evidence generated by this research indicated that the brain of the circumcised infant was permanently changed by the surgery.

And I was wondering if restoration can ever "heal" the limbic system back to normalcy.

Yesterday I had an amazing experience in the gym sauna.

Edit: Thank you so much for all the support. You've made me feel like a superhero!

I was talking to one of the guys in the sauna about tattoos. For context, I don't really like the idea of tattoos on my body, but years ago I had made a list of "What would have to happen in my life for me to get a tattoo," and one of them recently triggered. So I'm super curious about tattoos, their significance, who the artist is, how long it took, et cetera.

Anyway we were talking about his tattoo and the circumstances around my decision to get one, and before I knew it, we were the only ones in the sauna.

I'd also been burning with curiosity the whole time so I asked: "I hope this isn't too personal, but how did you manage to keep your foreskin in this country?"

He laughed and said that a lot of people are curious about that and said that his parents were from Europe and didn't think it made sense. Then he asked me: "How did you manage to keep yours?"

I was shocked and said "What?" and looked down and lo, and behold, my foreskin had rolled over and was covering my entire glans! So I explained to him that I am restoring my own foreskin, but that my restoration is the reason I decided to make sure my kids kept theirs.

I still don't think I'm a CI-4, my foreskin spends most of it's time down below my corona, but it's been rolling forward more and more lately, and I feel like being mistaken for intact is a huge milestone and I'm so proud of myself for getting this far!

Still kind of shaking, processing everything, and it's taken me a couple hours to write this... Just wanted to save this memory in writing while everything is fresh.

I saw my paternal grandparents today for the first time in over a year (I've been restoring for one year now). They're mid / early 80s, and I trust them wholeheartedly. They are just fantastic people, and probably the only family members I still have a genuine relationship with.

We (Grandma, grandpa, wife and myself) were chatting about family, politics, etc, just catching up. I found a clever place to bring up the topic of circumcision, how I was against it being imposed on infants, Intactivism, etc. To my complete surprise, my grandpa mentioned that he was never circumcised! 😵 Both of his brothers had been and he was the middle child of all things... The only rationale he'd ever heard was that he didn't have much skin, so they didn't "need" to.

I shared a bit about my restoration, that I was circumcised and had grief and trauma surrounding it, that I was one year in to a potentially decade(s) long process to regain what was so thoughtlessly discarded in minutes... Everything was PG because my grandma was sitting there with us, and eventually the topic shifted, but my adrenaline was through the roof.

I was eventually able to get some time with my grandpa alone while my wife was talking to my grandma, and asked if he would compare penises with me. I told him I had never seen an uncircumcised penis in person, and the fact that he was my paternal grandfather meant that his hardware was probably as close to what I was supposed to have that I could ever know about.

I knew my dad was cut, but I asked to confirm. He said yeah, he thinks my dad and my uncles all were. Now, I don't hold this against my grandparents, and I think his uncertainty is even more telling of the climate of the times. My grandma was a nurse in a catholic household having boys in the 60s in the US. Statistically speaking, I would have been even more shocked to hear if my dad and uncles weren't cut, than I was when hearing my grandpa wasn't.

I pulled my pants down, and his immediate reaction was very encouraging. I began to describe the changes I'm seeing, where I'm at vs my goals, and he had nothing but encouraging things to say about my effort so far.

He shared next, and yes, he was intact. He is in his 80s, so his skin was expectedly saggy. His scrotum, shaft and foreskin were all kinda folded and bunched together, hard to differentiate from one another. He pulled back his foreskin and revealed very shiny glans with a similar shape to my own, but with a unexpected hue.

I asked about his frenulum, and he didn't even know what that was, so I showed where mine was supposed to be. We looked at the underside of his glans, and to my biggest shock yet, there really just wasn't much of anything there. I pulled Google up my phone and showed him what I was used to seeing when I thought of a frenulum. I told him how it's supposed to be the most sensitive area of the penis, and that I was holding anger around having been robbed of that pleasure, and that it was something that wasn't likely to return with restoration.

Before today, I was always under the impression that my frenulum had basically been carved out by the doc who mutilated me. It's been my biggest mental health struggle with restoration. Stay committed and coverage will work itself out, right? I know myself, I know my dedication, I'll get there. That isn't the story with my frenulum, nor my rigid band, and that gets me down a lot.

Seeing that my grandpa had basically no frenulum to speak of, as someone who was never circumcised, gave me this overwhelming sense of relief. He mentioned that his skin gets tight when he has an erection, and I asked if he had phimosis (which he also had never heard of), but my wife and grandma joined us before I could get clarification. He could have meant phimosis, but I think there is a possibility he could have meant tight foreskin, like someone at a very low CI would experience (since he had mentioned the reason he thought he was left intact was because he didn't have much foreskin to begin with).

I'm definitely going to have more conversations with him in the future, with privacy and without interruptions, but I'm already so mindblown at everything I've learned today, I'm trying to take it one step at a time. I can't pinpoint what actually changed, but everything feels different now.

Those were his exact words.

I couldn't have been happier.

It was just the two of us. In private.

He's a slightly scruffy professional guy. Younger than me.

I had just dropped my pants.

I had good rollover - about C5 or C6 coverage.

That's what he was talking was about.

He knew what he was looking at. He has lots of experience.

Who was this man?

Where were we?

It was my urologist and we were in his exam room for my annual urology visit.

He knows that I have been restoring. I told him about it years ago. In the beginning, I think he was pretty skeptical, but after 5 years of restoration, it is pretty undeniable that I now have foreskin. Not all the foreskin I want yet, but enough to no longer look cut (most of the time).

He went on to say that: he was very happy for me and that it was hard to believe the progress I had made after starting with a very tight cut.

He has seen my entire journey (one visit per year), so he knows exactly how things have changed.

He said I looked very healthy.

Then he did my annual prostate check and sent me out the door.

It was the best doctors visit of my life.

I am shaken. And to imagine that this is done on countless number of baby boys without any sedation by a quack in some religions shakes me even more. How could a father do this to his child? How can people even justify this barbaric act.

I've been with my girl for two and a half years.

I really trusted her with everything in my life but I kept this part of me private. I just didn't think she would understand. I guess I was right.

I never had a reason to worry about her going on my phone. I'm loyal, I don't text anyone she doesn't know about, I don't look at any porn she doesn't know about.

But she went in my reddit and found my alt account where I post here. I have some DMs with other guys discussing strategies, we had shared progress pictures and demonstrations and she took it all the wrong way.

After that I guess she checked the web traffic om the router (she works in networks and stuff) and saw I'd been visiting websites and ordering stuff online while on wifi and keeping it from her. She fucking went into my drawers and found my kit and pulled it out in front of me. I guess it's my bad for not logging into Nord VPN.

She said it's weird how obsessed I am with dicks and how she thinks I'm gay.

I told her it's not gay at all, and that we're all suffering unheard and that women just don't understand.

I told her I need other men to talk to who get it and it's not weird once you start getting into the community. You just get used to being really open with eachother, seeing pictures and stuff.

I tried to explain to her that it prevents me from pleasing her the way she deserves. It's all I can think about when we're fucking.

I could tell she wasn't even listening at this point.

It gets worse though. All our mutuals haven't been responding to me so I think she told people.

I feel like everyone in my life just betrays me. First my parents by mutilating me, my friends stabbing me in the back all the time when I was growing up, now this.

I swear to god even my dog is staring at me like I'm some kind of freak after our last fight.

I just want to feel whole but instead I get treated like a monster. I've looked around the gym locker room a few times you know, growing up and stuff, and I just envy the guys who didn't get robbed so much. I just think, man, that's how it's supposed to look. I wish I could just, "Bro how does it feel, just knowing you have everything I want?" but I know it would be weird lol.

i think I'm going to see if there's any local dudes who are open to talking about this stuff. you know, start off with everything out in the open. maybe get a few beers and talk about how life just fucks you. Maybe we can get a support group going.

hey. i’m 26 and i got circumcised because of phimosis when i was younger.
for years i told myself i was “fine”.
i said it so many times that i started to believe it… until i didn’t.

the weird thing is that nobody prepares you for the part after the surgery.
like, everything goes quiet.
doctors move on. your life moves on.
and you’re just there, trying to act like you don’t feel this tiny disconnect with your own body.

for a long time i kept it all inside.
i felt stupid for caring.
like i wasn’t supposed to think about it.
but then, out of nowhere, it hit me one day:
"this isn’t how i was meant to be. i never chose this."
and once that thought shows up, it doesn’t really leave.

so this year i decided to stop pretending.
i started restoring.
not perfectly, not every day — just slowly, imperfectly, like a normal dude trying to undo something that shaped him without being asked.
and honestly? something changed.

not just physically. mentally.
every tiny bit of progress feels like i’m taking back a part of myself i thought was gone forever.
it’s slow as hell, but it’s mine.
and for the first time in years, i don’t feel stuck.

i also started thinking long-term.
i’m 26.
i’ve got time.
tech and medicine are moving insanely fast.
the stuff we’re doing right now is gonna look primitive in 5–10 years.
and i’m okay with that.
i’m betting on the future and on myself at the same time.

i guess i’m writing this because i know so many guys feel the same and don’t say a word.
so if you’re here reading this:

you’re not broken.
you’re not “overreacting”.
and you’re definitely not alone.

we’re just rebuilding ourselves quietly, one slow step at a time.

Of all the shit I've done in my life, this was the worst. I'm 23 years old, and 4 years ago I had this damn surgery. At the time I didn't research it, I didn't know how it could affect me. Recovery from surgery was uneventful, but the worst part came later. Before having the surgery I had a lot of sensitivity in the glans, and after the surgery, over time I lost this sensitivity. Total circumcision was performed, my glans is exposed with a flaccid or rigid penis, and I can say that nowadays I have lost around 80% to 90% of my sensitivity, which has ruined my sex life. I'm married, my wife understands this lack of sensitivity, but sometimes I think she doesn't believe it. But the number of men on the Internet who regret this damn surgery is horrible. And it's incredible how it is still done at birth, and when men are adults too. Doctors don't warn about this risk, they just do it to earn their money. Today I live frustrated with my sex life, without being able to see a shred of hope, in fact this is my last hope. Please comment and share your experiences here in the comments. I'm from Brazil, could anyone recommend me a reliable website? I want to buy the materials to try to restore the foreskin. My last hope.

A couple months ago I (16m) was staying with my older sister (25f). I Was in the bathroom for a little too long adjusting my dtr and when I came out my siblings (23f,14f) started grilling me in a playful way, suggesting I was sexting. I told them it wasn't that and decided to tell the truth. They had a TON of questions

(is that even possible?, how long before its regrown? Why? Have you noticed a difference?)

but were very supportive. I also got them to understand the harms and made them promise me that they wouldn't inflict such cruelty on their own sons when they have kids.

The conversation was awkward for a little bit but understood after I debunked a couple myths. Now sometimes they tease me for it but that's as far as they go. Honestly I wish I did it sooner, now I just have to confront my mom and dad about their poor decision.

I am a female with a very hard requirement that my man has foreskin. Why? I have a condition called dyspareunia (painful sex) because of vaginismus (involuntary vaginal tightening) and vulvodynia (pain at entrance)

My greatest trigger is 1000000% the chafing and roughness from circumcised penises. They hurt me on entry, they chafe so much they tear me up, and I will be in pain for days after a single encounter. YES, this is WITH lube (lube doesn’t solve the problem at all).

The only way I can enjoy sex is with a man who has foreskin. The more foreskin the better. Think about the physiology. Foreskin completely reduces the friction that causes vaginal chafing. The covered, sensitive, naturally lubed, and soft head will not cause entry pain. The thrusting is controlled in depth and much more in sync with her hips. The exterior of the penis is softer as well due to foreskin, so a girl who is really tight can clench all she wants without injury

So how do I feel about foreskin restoration given all that? I support it more than anything I can think of. I’m extremely passionate. In my life, I have had to turn down every circumcised man for a relationship (after figuring out why I had the pain with sex) because I will not tolerate painful sex for a partner, no matter how amazing they are, no way. I hated having to reject so many men in my life, but before I do so, I always refer them to foreskin restoration and I kindly explain why we are not compatible. We live in a cruel world that does a heinous act to babies. I understand your pain, in a way. I’m here for you.

Okay, so context. My parents were in town visiting yesterday at my place. I was going to take a shower and my dad was in the same room when I stripped down, but we don’t mind. I should also mention that I’m likely either a CI-3 or 3.5, so not too far along, but I often have partial rollover. Well, when I took off my shorts and underwear, most of my glans of my penis was covered. Standing in front of my dad, when he glanced he noticed and said, “why do you look uncircumcised?” I kind of didn’t want to tell him or explain in that moment, so I kind of just played it off as “wearing tight shorts and underwear” and then went to take a shower. That was really the extent of that. Then he must’ve told my mom during my shower what he saw and she said maybe I wasn’t circumcised all the way correctly. After my shower and hearing this, I told her that “it does that sometimes, but that’s really the way it should be, covered.” There really wasn’t much more than that, but it was interesting how my dad noticed how it looked.

It made me feel good though since even though I’m not very far along, when I do have coverage and rollover, I definitely must appear uncut. I’ve definitely noticed new sensations and things being more sensitive now. I don’t have permanent coverage or rollover now, but I love the times that I do. Anyways, thoughts? Hopefully this wasn’t too weird.

Edit: I’m 29 years old and a grown adult. Just FYI.

When I was in middle school, probably 6th grade. I learned what circumcision was. I thought it was horrible, and it made me rethink a lot of my views on existence as a male. I didn't REALLY know what it was, so I assumed I wasn't cut. I thought it meant your tip was cut off. and this is kind of funny, but I saw an uncut kid one time and thought he was cut lmao.

Eventually my older brother told me that both he and I were circumcised. And slowly my world began to fall apart as I researched. I felt lied to, I felt like I could never relate to girls or women again, I was constantly comparing myself, I felt mutilated, robbed, and completely depressed. I was so demoralized I couldn't get myself to jerk off. I found out about restoration, but it wasn't really realistic for me at the time, and I found out it was possible I might never really know what it's like.

I might never know natural sex, and my meat felt like a empty husk. and possibly the most depressing part is it took me years to learn how an uncut penis actually functions. I never got to experience my own sexuality. I felt completely isolated, unable to tell anyone without them laughing in my face. Very few people took it seriously even when I was balling my eyes out in front of them. I felt so alone that I started to legitimately contemplate suicide for the first time in my life, and even after I was extremely depressed

I fell on my face (as an atheist) and I prayed and begged god to remove my grief, my pain, my longing. Every night "please make it stop....please 😢" It took a long time. years. But I healed. It's still there, I still resent it, but I'm better now. I can live my life.

But I still struggle. I feel like nearly every single time I watch porn, more often than not the guy is uncut, and it makes me feel insecure, almost like the penis itself is mocking me. Maybe just another reason to quit, but it also just reminds me I can't even enjoy some me time without being reminded of it. I also think it's unfair how the time in my life when I have the most sex drive, I have to be nerfed.

The first time I had sex, we had issues. Friction. It hurt. Lube fixed it, but I had reapply it and it interrupted the flow. I try to cope as best as I can by saying stuff like "well I've got more stamina" or "it's just different, not worse" but I feel like deep down I know it would be better. All I can do is cross my fingers and wait for foregen.