Last updated on August 28, 2020
Question:
I took your Tanner calculator and I think my results were a little high. The calculator said I am a 2.8 but I haven’t changed compared to other boys. I have a little hair growing above my penis but not very much and only a few of them are dark-colored. My testicles are a little bigger but not very much. The only big change is I can ejaculate already and I get the clear fluid stuff on the tip of my penis when I get an erection. And even though I can ejaculate my foreskin doesn’t roll back all the way as it does for my older brother My body still looks basically the same. I think because I ejaculate that answer throws it off.
Answer:
You describe yourself as someone who is in the latter part of stage 2, so a 2.8 sounds fairly close from my end. About half of all boys develop the ability to ejaculate in stage 2 and the rest develop it in stage 4. I do have code in the calculator to handle that division of development. What it means is that in six months to a year you will be having your growth spurt, which comes during stage 3.
The foreskin not rolling back is a separate issue from development. By about this time the foreskin should be fully separated from the glans. Is it one area that looks like it is still attached, or is the opening at the end too small for your erect penis to comfortably slide through? Both have a chance of being solved by stretching the foreskin. These could become more of a problem as your penis gets bigger during your growth.
Question:
Thank you for explaining that. It makes more sense now. I thought the Tanner stage was only for development you could see, like pubic hair and penis growth. I think my foreskin problem is that it’s still attached at the top of the head, all the way around. Whenever I’m at my doctor’s for a physical she will try to retract it, but it only retracts enough for the tip of the penis head to be exposed and then it gets too painful for me to let her continue. The same is the case when I get an erection, it’s painful and only the tip of my penis head ends up exposed. Does the foreskin grow as the penis grows; otherwise, how does it get stretched?
Answer:
Dr. Tanner developed the Tanner Stages to quickly estimate the progress of maturation without having to do expensive or complex tests. It is a way for doctors to guess what is going on internally by noting what is going on externally.
At birth, the foreskin is attached to the glans. Most of the time, it separates from the glans by the age of five. However, for some boys, this separation doesn’t take place until adolescence. That yours has not separated is a problem because erections are not supposed to hurt. The foreskin does grow during puberty, but that isn’t what your problem is. Right now you have more than enough skin on your penis to stretch as far as needed. The problem you are having is that the foreskin needs to roll off the glans, but because it is attached, it is hurting. When you get married, this will make sex difficult and painful because when your penis enters your wife’s vagina, it will push the foreskin back.
There is a routine that you can try that has a good chance of encouraging the separation of your foreskin from the glans. See The exercise where you pull your foreskin forward. Since it doesn’t cost anything, it is worth trying before seeing a doctor about surgery.
Question:
Thank you for the link you provided. It was really helpful. It took almost two months, but I can finally retract the entire foreskin off of my penis head. I don’t wake up from the pain of the erections or wet dreams I get when I sleep. I never realized the foreskin could stretch or that smegma could build up. Basically my dad isn’t in the picture, so as I grew up a lot of things fathers would normally teach their sons about their body I never heard. My brother’s foreskin could retract without a problem. He never had any issue like mine, so he couldn’t teach me how to fix my problem either. I never knew I could stretch it out to wash underneath and unstick it. What your link said was exactly my problem. I’m so glad the pain is gone and I won’t have to worry about it again.
Sorry this email was so long, but I’m just so glad that my erections aren’t painful anymore. Even though I don’t deliberately get erections and masturbate like a lot of boys do, the ones that happened randomly were bad enough. So now that they’re not painful I really don’t mind them anymore.
Thank you. Your site on puberty is great, and I hope it helps a lot of boys who need it like me.
Answer:
I’m glad I was able to help. If you have other questions, just send me a note.