Mar
08
2021
Right after my first in-person meeting with my doctor, I got a prescription for Betaderm, a topical steroid cream that helps removing possible adhesions, reduces possible inflamation and has a positive (in this case) side effect of thining skin. It is totally possible to stretch your foreskin without it but I have tried in the past and did not get very far until I could just not fight the inflamation. Maybe this is because I was starting with a pinhole phimosis and at any slight sign of inflamation I would quickly get into urinary problems due to the inflamation filling my very tiny orrifice.
I got my cream the next day, I ran to the drugstore right after my doctor appointment as I was so happy and motivated to get started. But due to some error, the prescription got into a different drugstore that was already closed at that time. I started by simply applying the cream on the surface twice a day and trying to push some inside the hole with my fingers. When I tried to stretch my phimosis in the past, I was using an unfolded paperclip to begin with and then was growing it's diameter using some shrink tubing. This time I had time to read more and got some inspiration from http://phimosisjourney.com/
The ideal stretching technique is pulling outwards with two fingers. Depending on your level of phimosis, this might not be possible because two fingers might not fit, then you would use one finger until you can fit two fingers or pull on the sides. In my case I have pinhole phimosis, so the first steps will have to be creative as none of these technique are physically possible.
There is a lot in common between stretching your foreskin and stretching earlobes. So I decided to order these ear tapers (don't order those, continue reading for better options). There are multiple sizes and the kit has both tapers and silicon rings. I received my order today and can't wait to see how far I can get in one day. The kit has these sizes: 1.6mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm. That should get me going for a few weeks. From what I have read it varies from person to person but I am expecting a growth rate somewhere between 1mm to 3mm per week. Althought the one I currently need is the 1.6mm, all I can look at is the 10mm, it is scary large for me to watch it. Also, two things surprised me. The silicon rings only start at 3mm, I was hoping to use those mostly but I am clearly not there yet, their largest part is also way larger than their inner part, I don't know how someone is supposed to get that in place! I search youtube for some videos about using them on ears and you kind of just push them in directly, they will snap back and forth. But a foreskin is way more sensitive than an ear, even when I reach that kind of size, I don't think I'll be able to bear the snapping without pain. The other thing that surprises me is that the stoppers are not part of the tapers, they are rubber o-rings that slide over them.
With my unfolded paperclip contraption, I was probably at 1.5mm or some such. So I guess it will be a breeze to get to 1.6mm, but I was surprised that it actually took some time to get there. The great thing about these tapers is that they are really polished and very smooth so I can get it about 75% inserted, it slides nicely and I do feel the stretching effect. I know that I should not get to the point of pain, a small itch is the sign it's enough stretching, it's hard to describe but think about piching your arm progressivelly with more force, there is that point where it goes from a gentle pinch into pain, you want to stop before it feels like pain, it needs to feel just like a gentle pinch and this is where I stop. The pinch effect is enough to keep the taper in place even if it did not pass the expanding section of it. It stays there pinched for about 2-3 hours and at some point it started slowly coming out. I guess my forskin actually stetched a bit and is no longer as tight to hold it.
I know from my reading that only healthy skin will stretch, so I take this oportunity to wash what I can. I also know that soap is to avoid in the area as it will dry my skin and in order to heal, skin needs to be moisturized to promote cell growth and decay. The steroid cream anti-inflamatory effect actually works only on new cells, so my old skin cells that will die and get replace will be less affected by inflamation. I need to rinse away dead cells I guess. So I got a seringe that has a removable needle, threw the needle out and filled it up with warm water and pushed that water in the now a bit wider opening. It's kind of reverse urinating. My forskin balloons a little and I can then squeeze that water out. I repeat the process a couple of times.
I then try to put back the taper but friction from my now dry foreskin does not allow me to insert it. I guess I will need some sort of lubrication along the way, friction will be a problem. Again from my research, many people will use coconut oil (virgin cold pressed) as a lubricant. It has anti-inflamatory, antiseptic and lubricating properties. I also don't want to overuse the steroid cream, I was told to use it twice a day for 6 weeks and there is not that much in the container. So I get that coconot oil in the kitchen and use this as a lubricant, it worked amazingly well. I can get to the full 1.6mm without any pain and it still slides. I put it in and removed it a couple of times to kind of make this oil penetrate the skin and after some time it gets less slipery and the taper hold at it's real size of 1.6mm.
For those wondering, yes, to get it in to it's real size, it slides inside the urethra. A normal urethra stetches easily to 4-5mm. That camera I have been talking about (endoscope) is at least 5-6mm and they get that in there without prior stretching. So until I reach that size I am feeling safe, of course I will need a different way of stretching by that time. I work from home and spend most of my time on the computer, I have some kind of privacy under the desk to work on that all day. But I sometimes need to go places and I take it out to come back to it later. I read some people have success stretching 2-3 times per day for 10 minutes and others need more agressive stretching for it to work. I don't know yet in which category I fit, so we'll see later and for now I will not wear the tapers for longer periods than the time I am just sitting on my computer. I do realize though that I am lucky to be able to do this, most people who go to work probably have a harder time finding those moments of privacy and probably need to do it in public restrooms during the day if they need more stretching than just morning and night.
I am trying just day stretching, I read some people do where something to stretch during their sleep. I am not there yet, I'll see where intermitent stretching brings me. Also I though the stoppers on these tapers where one piece with the taper but the taper is all smooth and the stoppers are rubber o-rings. I would be too afraid that the stoppers fall out during my sleep and the taper goes all the way in and I end up with a very unconfortable emergency room situation that would be hard to explain.
I am happy with my progress and will continue on tomorrow.
I am writing this blog post in the future at week 14 of the treatment. The 10mm now looks very tiny as I am at a comfortable 18mm now. I did not order them but if I was starting again at a very small size needing tapers, I would instead order a kit that has screw-on stoppers and glue the screw threads or better yet with fixed stoppers like this kit that also has short ones you could actually wear without too much discomfort I guess, it would be much safer to use (althought I did not have any unfortunate accident in the process).