[quote author=jay_too link=board=health;num=1041029002;start=30#43 date=01/28/03 at 19:43:47]"... my parents decided not to cut me...so everytime i got a hard between 14 and 15, the skin attached to the glans would tear a little. *i had a sore dick for like 2 years and was too shy to ask or tell anyone about it...

so is this a common problem among uncut? *what should he have done...gone to see a doctor? *

jay[/quote]


jay: Some thoughts here (and, since I am cut, maybe I don't know everything I should on the matter, but--)

From what I have read, know, and observed in my life; the degree of foreskin cover over the glans for an uncircumcised man will vary. Some completely cover the entire glans and "overhang" in a muzzled fashion; some cover pretty much all the glans but exposes the slit opening pretty readily, while still other guys have only a portion of the glans covered.

From birth onward into the toddler stage, many young uncut boys will have the foreskin fairly tight around the glans and in fact, the foreskin can even be attached to the glans by way of very thin, almost "sticky" type adhesion. Many will argue that, for hygiene purposes, this is why circumcision is recommended to aid in exposing the full glans of the penis for cleansing. I have read however, that many todlers may not need that foreskin "bothered" or "detached" from the glans as such (it can be painful to loosen and pull it back).
Generally speaking, by a certain age (maybe by age 4) the prepuce (foreskin) will begin to "loosen" its adhesive hold to the glans on its own typically over time and allow the lad to retract the foreskin backwards, exposing the glans. Other boys don't achieve this feat (of pulling the foreskin all the way back) until well into puberty. The guy you mentioned who had trouble obviously had a very tight foreskin and perhaps should have been seen by an MD to help him out a bit. He could have had a procedure called a "dorsal slit" whereby the foreskin is merely cut just enough to allow slippage backward from over the glans. (He in essence would still be uncircumcised; just have the comfort of a retractable foreskin.) I don't believe the instances of complications having a foreskin are that common overall.
It seems many, many men live quite well with them.