|
All About The Penis
All About The Penis Home Page
I've torn the frenulum on my penis and now it's bleeding - and it won't heal. What do I do?(Frenulum breve) Q: I was having some really hot sex last week when I felt this incredible knife-like pain. When I pulled out of my girl, there was blood everywhere. A quick inspection of my penis revealed that my frenulum had snapped - and it hasn't healed since. Every time we try and have sex, it starts bleeding again. What do I do now? A: First of all, the frenulum (or "banjo string") is the skin band that links the foreskin and the skin of the penile shaft. In some men who have been circumcised at birth, or those who have hypospadias, there may be no frenulum at all. That's a bit unfortunate, because it's the most sensitive part of the penis. (If you want more information on the issues around circumcision, try these websites: Foreskin.org Circumstitions New Foreskin.biz) The frenulum (or "banjo string", as you may know it) tethers the foreskin to the shaft skin of your penis. When it works correctly, it is long enough to allow the foreskin to move freely back and forth over the glans penis whether a man's penis is erect or flaccid. But sometimes men have a short frenulum - a condition known as frenulum breve. A frenulum that's too short may not be able to withstand the vigorous thrusting movements of sex, and it may sometimes tear under the stress. A rule of thumb apparently, to judge if you have a short frenulum, is to see if your foreskin slides back by itself to cover your glans when your penis is erect. If it does, your frenulum may be too short. For some men, the frenulum is so short that it pulls the head of the penis downwards - which definitely makes you a candidate for a torn frenulum. But whether it snaps dramatically, or it just tears, the pain is out of all proportion to the injury, and some remedy beyond natural healing is often needed. There's a link here to two articles about this condition in the UK Guardian, and The Malaysia Star, in which you will see that the writer of the first article says he tore his frenulum twice. The first time it healed naturally, the second it refused to do so: such a situation is often because when the frenulum heals, the scar tissue which forms is less flexible and shorter than the original skin, so it is even more predisposed to tear again during sex. But the good news is that the traditional cure for frenulum breve - or, really, for a torn frenulum - of circumcision, is no longer considered necessary in most cases. There's a very minor operation called a frenuloplasty, in which the frenulum is snipped and sewn back to the foreskin so it is long enough and won't tear again. It's a far better option than the pain and discomfort of a torn frenulum, which may actually make sex too painful to enjoy. So the simple advice is - see a doctor, and get it treated. The sooner you do, the sooner you - and your penis - will be back in action! |
Other pages of penis problems
Other sections on the site
|
