Care for Intact Penis

Melissa, any information that addresses the care of the foreskin is very welcome to all parents who chose to keep their boys intact.

But unfortunately the doctor's advice about cleaning under the foreskin once it has fully retracted is very debatable. You did ask for any advice of our own to share... so here is mine.

In one sentence. The penis is self-cleansing.

Very few GPs (General Practitioners) in the UK will encourage cleaning under the foreskin, because it simply is not necessary. A moment's thought will make us realise that nature would not create something as vital to the longevity of our species as the penis as something that needs our intervention. In the UK and most of the rest of the world, boys grow up intact with never a word of instruction to "retract and rinse". In the US I fear this may be a perceived requirement born of past tales of the 'danger' foreskins possess, rather than their nature-given perfection.

There is nothing nasty or unhealthy hidden away under a foreskin. On the contrary, there is a soft, supple glans, lubricated and protected from infection by an odourless, translucent secretion with anti-bacterial properties called smegma (a word derived from the Greek for 'soap').Females are blessed with the same protection.

The shredded skin cells your article spoke of is NOT smegma. It's a stale by-product, flushed away upon urination - which itself is sterile when fresh.

Nature's design is not flawed and therefore requiring invasive 'correction' from us - ever. So why do American parents with intact boys and 'foreskin friendly' doctors continue to advocate cleaning under the foreskin? It can't be the smegma misconception, so what is it? Trapped urine, turned stale? I can understand that, except a boy's next pee will deal with it.. But female genitals are much more prone to stale residue than male genitals.

So when all is said and done, it comes down to odour. We all know that smells don't carry infection - and some genital odours are positively attractive :smileywink:. By all means keep ourselves clean and sweet-smelling. In today's world if it pleases us.

But we should never mistake our conception of cleanliness for 'medically necessary' hygiene.

Christopher

xxxs wrote:

It is important to keep the skin moved so it will grow with enough width.

Yes it is... and for this reason boys should not be discouraged from masturbating. Girls? Apart from sensual pleasure, is there a practical benefit -

Please see this:

http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/goldman1/

Scroll down to 'Circumcision as trauma' first if you wish - but there is much before it

Thank you for the link.