I have been wondering if my sensitivity would be more intense if I had not been circumcised.  I'm in my late 40's and in the past 6 - 7 years have noticed a decrease in sensitivity that is expecially noticable when using a condom.  Never minded the condom until I hit my early 40's.

All the years of clothing rubbing against the glans must have some impact on a man's sensitivity.  Those guys with foreskins have a natural protection against that rubbing.

What do you know or think about this topic?

Dear Wish I were circumcized,
the foreskin's always bigger on the other side of the fence, isn't it?
As to my own personal [and highly anecdotal!] research on the matter, I guess there's something to be said for intact men and sensitivity. Certainly in the style of thrust during intromissive sex. IMHO, uncircumcized men are gentler, need less "banging," less friction, both during vaginal intercourse and/or masturbation, and seem to have an easier time with condoms.

But, I am happy to report that I'm also wrong! Many circumcized men enjoy sex just as much as their unsnipped brothers. They claim great sensitivity at an advanced age. They note a decrease in sensitivity with condoms [most men do, I'm afraid] but report great satisfaction otherwise. So at this point, it's very individual. I haven't seen any reliable quantitative data on men who have been circumcized at a later stage in their adult life. There is a minority of e.g. converts to Judaism who do get circumcized, but in that case, it can be performed as more of a symbolic "pinprick," and not the whole enchilada [so many puns, I just can't resist ] In any case, those men haven't been part of any formal studies in terms of decreased sensitivity post-circumcision.

Now, of course there is a movement, primarily among gay men, to engage in "foreskin restoration." Do read about it in the attached link. And of course, personally, I side with the American Academy of Pediatrics' policy statement, which begins as follows:

"Existing scientific evidence demonstrates potential medical benefits of newborn male circumcision; however, these data are not sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision. In circumstances in which there are potential benefits and risks, yet the procedure is not essential to the child's current well-being, parents should determine what is in the best interest of the child. To make an informed choice, parents of all male infants should be given accurate and unbiased information and be provided the opportunity to discuss this decision. If a decision for circumcision is made, procedural analgesia should be provided."

And we haven't even gone into the cultural preferences as to the beauty contest between a clothed or a nude glans penis. In sum, though, there's very little that can be done, once the procedure has been performed. Let's hear it from other posters, shall we?

It's a great topic,
the Love Goddess





-- Modified on 7/24/2006 1:49:37 PM

I'm cut and have a life long childhood friend who is not.  Went through many of life stages together...playing ball and locker rooms, discovering the joys of masturbation, first girlfriends, first sexual experiences with said girlfriends, marriage and having children.

As I'm sure all visitors to this board would know, guys talk about our manhood with our friends early and often.  As such I have had many conversations with my buddy about circumcision. Amongst the tidbits (you started it LG ):
-Each always wonders how it is for the other type.  For my friend this never compelled him enough to actually find out.
- My friend definitely felt out of place in the locker room and in many pre-marital sexual situations with women.  To this day he talks of hurtful and embarassing recollections such as being laughed at by other teens or denied oral pleasure by girls allegedly for this reason.
-  His first child...you guessed it.  He and his wife opted for circumcision.  He point blank told me that (A) He is not sure that the increased senstivity angle is that valid (His words to me: 'You haven't stopped talking about the pleasure that your penis gives you the whole time I have known you.  Obviously you like what you have too.'), (B) The med data is 50/50 at best and there is a cleaning side for  uncircumcised guys that other guys don't know about, (C) I hated being so different especially in front of girls.  So I think I'm really doing a favor for my son.

Just a second-hand retell about a good friend and his experiences and decision...

A lot of guys report the problem of decreased sensitivity with age, but I'm pretty sure that it's more a function of age, itself, rather than anything else. Achieving erections and having orgams just are slower as you get older, circumcised or not.

later in life because of infection.

A man who was in my therapy group had this happen to him and it so traumatized him that he needed to seek therapy.

The pain was so excruciating that he became afraid to have sex, yet he also desired it so.

It was a very sad situation and one that prospective parents need to consider and discuss with their doctor.

There are hundreds of feet of nerves at the tip of the foreskin so naturally masturbation and HJ are pleasurable. I didn't know men need lubricants for masturbation until I was an adult; with an intact skin cover I can understand that they are not necessary. I even suggested to providers not to use lubricants for HJs; without them the friction evokes great pleasure.

During vaginal sex the stretching of the tip of the foreskin is pleasurable, probably more so than the circumcized. However, with a condom the movement of the foreskin is diminished so I would imagine that the sensation is no better than the circumcized with condoms.

As for cleaning, I never had to deliberately clean it more diligently then that of the rest of my body. Of course, when I started this hobby I began to paid more attention to it.

**As I'm sure all visitors to this board would know, guys talk about our manhood with our friends early and often.**

Hah. Interesting. I never talked with any guy friends about personal details about our penises or specifics about the sex that we had. I guess that you hung out with a different crowd!

'I never talked with any guy friends about personal details about our penises or specifics about the sex that we had.'

Touche on the former but frankly I find the latter to be remarkably odd.  You never talked to a pal about any aspect of your sex experiences, e.g. masturbation, getting to first base, third base, the first time, etc.???  While I have to admit that I am not in possession of actual research findings, I would go out on a limb and hypothesize that I'm quite sure that you sit in a single-digit outlier percentage of males who would cite this.

-- Modified on 7/27/2006 8:03:54 AM