The importance of the foreskin

Circumcision in simple terms can be described as the removal of the foreskin from the penis through surgery. The foreskin is attached to the glans (the rounded part forming the end of the penis). This loose fold of skin protects the penis from urine, faeces and abrasions from nappies during infancy. Other known functions of the foreskin include protective, sensory and sexual.

A study published in April 2007 in the British Journal of Urology International called ‘Fine-touch Pressure Thresholds in the Adult Penis’ discovered that the foreskin actually plays an integral role in sexual pleasure. The study stated that intact men enjoy four times more penile sensitivity than circumcised men.

The aim of the study was to compare circumcised and non-circumcised men by mapping fine-touch pressure thresholds of the adult penis. 17 Specific sites of fine-touch sensitivity of the penis were measured on the non-circumcised penis, and the remaining nine sites and two scar sites of the circumcised penis were measured. Lead researcher Morris Sorrells and his team were surprised by the results. He said: “The most sensitive part of the penis is the opening at the tip of the foreskin. The results confirmed that the frenulum (an elastic band of tissue under the glans) and the ridged band of the inner foreskin are highly erogenous structures that are routinely removed in circumcision, leaving the penis with only one quarter of the fine-touch sensitivity it originally possessed. Five sites on the penis – all regularly removed by circumcision – are more sensitive than the most sensitive site remaining on the circumcised penis.”

By Xanet van Vuuren

The pro's and cons of circumcision


xanet van vuuren, baby, birth, circumcision