Last updated on May 3, 2023
Question:
Why do I have marks that look like stretch marks on my dick? They are rough and I can’t stretch my skin back from the tip. It is too tight.
Answer:
What I understand so far is that you have lines of rough areas on the shaft of your penis. You are uncircumcised. You also are unable to unsheathe your penis when you are erect because the opening of the foreskin is too tight.
- Is this recent or been like this for a while?
- Did the lines of rough skin and the inability to unsheathe your penis come about the same time?
- What color are the lines?
- Do they itch?
- Have you been having sex?
Please understand that I can’t see what you see. I have only your description to go by.
Question:
Yes, that is right. They don’t itch. I just can’t pull back my foreskin. I just see the little opening of my penis — the peeing hole — that’s it. I also get a strong odor like fish. I don’t know why. No, I haven’t had sex yet. I am embarrassed about this.
Answer:
There are two possible causes.
If you can’t unsheathe your penis only when you are erect, then the end of your foreskin is too tight. You can try stretching it out over the next several months, but if stretching doesn’t work, you’ll need to see a doctor about it. See: I can pull my foreskin back, but it is really tight.
If you can’t unsheathe your penis even when it is flaccid, then probably no one taught you about the need to unsheathe your penis and wash it underneath the foreskin. When boys are born, the foreskin is attached to the glans (the end of the penis), which you can barely see at the moment. Usually, by the age of five, it detaches, and if not then, then definitely by the time you start getting spontaneous erections.
Your foreskin puts off a waxy substance that is called smegma. Its purpose is to keep the skin under the foreskin soft and to trap any particles that might get under the foreskin. An uncircumcised boy is supposed to unsheathe his penis and wash off the smegma. If he doesn’t, then it can harden down, a bit like glue.
The correction is similar to the one mentioned before. See: The skin on my penis doesn’t pull back all the way to release the tip of the penis and How do you clean the white stuff under your foreskin?
The stretch marks may be due to your skin being stretched from erections without your foreskin sliding back.
Question:
So if I had sex, would it hurt me, even though I can’t pull back my foreskin?
Answer:
During sex, the penis moves in and out of the vagina. The skin of the penis is loose on both circumcised and uncircumcised men even when the penis is erect and this allows the free movement of the penis without a great deal of friction between the penis and the vagina.
When a guy has a tight foreskin, the skin on the penis is drawn up tight during erections. This is especially true with you since you said you are seeing stretch marks. During sex, there would be no give by the skin on your penis. Therefore, each time you push in, your glans is going to be pushed through the end of the foreskin and that will be uncomfortable at best. Since it has been this way so long, it is possible that the foreskin is forcibly pulled away from the glans causing surface tears, which will hurt.
I should also mention that you won’t get the full sensations from sex because your glans will always be covered, but it is true that you are used to it and won’t know what you are missing.
It can be worked around by making sure there is plenty of lubrication.
But it would be easier and more enjoyable in the long run to get the surgery to slit the opening of your foreskin so that it will slide down as it should.
From a Reader:
Good day,
To the boy with the question:
The diagnosis is undoubtedly Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans. I am a doctor. He needs to see a Urologist or Dermatologist immediately. Otherwise, he will need to go for circumcision. People are usually to shy to go to a doctor and go when it is too late, a decision that is always regretted.