Cleanliness and Circumcision

The subject of circumcision is similar to discussing religion or politics. Most people are likely to have strong views on the subject from an empathic position that no amount of evidence could change their positions. After hearing countless argument of family and friends about circumcised versus uncircumcised, I have found that the best that I can do is to provide information and make people aware of some of the main facts about circumcision.

Circumcision is a subject that greatly affects medical politics. In as early as 1975, about 93% of all American boys are being circumcised or had their foreskin surgically removed just after birth. From then on, there has been a movement to stop such a medically unnecessary practice. Today the figures had considerably dropped down. In 1990, only 63% of infant males were circumcised for reasons other than religious traditions.

The practice of circumcision is routinely done for hygienic and not medical reasons. Many people believe that it is more hygienic or at least it is easier to care for penis if it is circumcised. Infection or inflammation of the foreskin affects about 10% - 14% of uncircumcised boys, while inflammation of the "glans" or "balanitis" is twice as common in uncircumcised children as circumcised and greater than five folds in adults.

On the other hand, urinary tract infections occur in about 1 in 100 uncircumcised boys in the first year of life, and 1 in 1,000 in circumcised boys. There is also an increased risk of inflammation and infections of the foreskin and glans in uncircumcised males. However, it all comes down to personal opinion whether the increased risks are significant enough to warrant circumcision.

Aside from medical politics, the subject of circumcision also affects our sexuality. There are several advantages for circumcised men when it comes to sexuality. First is that circumcised male have no need to worry about daily cleansing of his foreskin. Meanwhile, men with an intact foreskin must take special care to move it up and down and clean it inside its covered areas to avoid odors or serious infection because of material buildup. Consequently, there might be some bacteria and germs that could surface thus affect their sexual health.

Second advantage is that some women prefer a man with a circumcised penis because it may move inside them in a less friction-based manner. Once he is inside the vagina, the unhooded penis may easily slide up and down to create pleasure for both partners.

Safe sex is an added concern for uncircumcised men and their partners. Men with foreskins occasionally have difficulty finding the right condom or keeping one on during penetrative sexual activity. That spells trouble in bed as well as generates unneeded anxiety. However, with a proper fit and ample lubrication, the problem can be quickly assuaged.

When it comes to sexual pleasure, there is really no better or worse case because it all comes down to a matter of personal taste. Either way, both are medically acceptable conditions and may it be with either a covered or a clipped partner, you can still enjoy the ride.

Causes and solutions to premature ejaculation

Premature Ejaculation, also known to health care experts as “ejaculatio praecox”, is probably the single most common sexual dysfunction in men. Statistics show that as much as 30 percent of men complain of premature ejaculation in most sexual encounters. Sex therapists define premature ejaculation as a lack of ejaculatory control, which interferes with sexual or emotional well being in one or both partners. While not particularly informative for the layperson, this definition shows that premature ejaculation has a strong negative impact on a man’s emotional well being, especially by making him less confident in himself.

Truth be told, most men experience premature ejaculation at least once in their lives. After all, ejaculatory control is not something men are born with; they have to learn it through practice and repetition. But a consistent occurrence of premature ejaculation is not to be taken lightly, especially in view of its effect of the male confidence and emotional well being. Knowing that a new sex session is likely to result in further humiliation is a devastating feeling for men. This serves to reinforce their low confidence, which reinforces the premature ejaculation and so on in a circle of hopelessness and depression.

Premature ejaculation has both physical and psychological roots. Recent studies have shown that more than 90 percent of men suffering from premature ejaculation had inherited their dysfunction from parents or grandparents with long-term premature ejaculation records. Doctors associate this dysfunction with a faster than normal neurological response in the pelvic muscles and recommend various exercises designed to improve ejaculatory control. On the psychological side, premature ejaculation can be caused by depression, stress, unrealistic expectations, or the reinforced lack of confidence.

It’s perfectly clear that inexperience is one of the biggest causes of premature ejaculation, followed by a weak PC muscle and a faster than normal neurological response in the pelvic muscles. Well, inexperience can only be cured with more sex, which is something we heartily recommend to everybody, while the muscles located in the pelvic area can be trained as any other muscle in the body to stop acting on their own. The PC muscle stands for the pubococcygeus muscle. This muscle acts as floor to the entire pelvic area of the body, supporting from underneath the weight of organs. It also controls orgasm and prolonged exercising helps men achieve orgasm without ejaculating.

Still, premature ejaculation can be prevented or treated by working out the PC muscle and bringing it under your control. When you have full control of this muscle, premature ejaculation is no longer a problem for you. Penis exercises, like Kegels or those featured in the Penis Health database, focus on ejaculation control at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels for people who are willing to rid themselves of this unfortunate condition once and for all. The trick is to have confidence in yourself and in your strength to make premature ejaculation a thing of the past.

Causes and History of the Disease

Peyronie’s disease is probably a very old condition, one that’s been around for centuries if not since mankind’s first days on this planet. Like erectile dysfunction and other intimate problems, the condition has not been openly discussed for a long time, as men tried to hide it from the world and from themselves. In the ages when people frowned upon intimate diseases and there was little understanding of illnesses and their causes, it’s easy to guess why nobody wanted to bring up this topic. The natural fear of impotence or sexually transmitted diseases was bad enough in those times.

The first clinical reports on this condition were made more than 250 years ago by Francois Gigot de la Peyronie, the man whose name is still linked to the condition, although the first to mention it was Cesare Aranzi in 1587. De la Peyronie was a brilliant surgeon and one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Surgery in France. His work on the penile curvature was the first and, for a long while, the only step toward the modern attempts to cure it. Unfortunately, today we are no closer to a comprehensive definition of the causes of Peyronie’s disease than Peyronie himself was in 1743.

Most doctors agree with the assumption (as yet unproven) that Peyronie’s disease is caused by microvascular trauma during intercourse. Unfortunately, since the tunica albuginea (the layer of the penis where the condition develops) is not rich in blood vessels, the healing process does not always follow the normal course. Multiple instances of intercourse trauma and poor healing lead to the formation of a plaque, which is made of fibrin, a protein that helps blood clot. This plaque prevents the normal expansion of the penis tissues during erection, thus causing the characteristic bend.

It is also believed that the diseases develops only in men who are genetically predisposed to the accumulation of fibrin within the tunica albuginea and the expansion of plaque to healthy tissue along the dorsal and ventral midline of the shaft. However, one must keep in mind that this attempt at etiology is still speculation at this moment. Unfortunately, Peyronie’s disease is considered a rare diseases and non-life-threatening, which means that only a handful of professionals are actually interested in uncovering the causes and finding a cure.