Underlying Anatomy

When the foreskin is retracted, it is possible to see the true nature of the inner foreskin. It is a moist mucous membrane of very thin skin and served by a rich blood supply. Look closely and you can see the veinous nature here. It is now known that this skin is also richly innervated (contains a lot of nerves) which are sensitive to the stretching motion of the skin as it passes over the spherical shape of the glans, especially at the corona. This is particularly significant since these nerves play an important roll in sexual stimulation.




This photo illustrates, approximately the amount of skin which would be left after a typical circumcision. However, there is still about 3 times as much skin still 'rolled' up beneath the outer shaft skin. You can see, about another thumbs width above this man's thumb, there is a slight change in the texture and quality of the skin. I've called this the 'transition point'. If he were to continue pulling back, the inner skin would pull out and almost completely cover his penis shaft. This demonstrates just how much skin is lost to circumcision. The distance from the transition point to the frenar band represents about 30% of the overall penile skin. Allow that amount again for the inner skin still folded beneath it and about 20% for stretch for a total of 80%, the approximate amount of skin removed by circumcision. The crush-point, the point where the actual cut is made and which becomes the scar, is formed when the transition point is stretched to the current position of the frenar band and the surgery performed. This stretching also pulls pubic skin down onto the shaft. This skin contains pubic hair follicles, so in circumcised men, pubic hair often grows on the shaft, which is not normal.