Hey y'all I know a handful of you have done this already, but I wanted to create a thread to document my own "journey" towards staying pulled back full time.
I've only been doing this seriously for about a week now, but I took photos on day one so I could have a look at my own progress and see if I notice a difference as things progress. I've added a bunch here, technically midway through my first day pulled back. So you can see my "natural state", and how it looks pulled back, and then one final photo of how it looks using the spoon method (love how tidy it looks this way!). I wouldn't say I've had much issue keeping it back, in the second pic you can kind of see how my skin stays back behind my head by itself... this isn't really something reliable as it will fold back over naturally, but it's how I did things before I found this forum and learned about some of the other methods.
Week One:
I noticed a lot of sensitivity in the first couple days but nothing too bad, more of a dull ache. I found using athletic briefs really helps keep things in place and avoids too much rubbing when pulled back. By about day 3 or 4 I noticed my glans drying out and maaaaybe a little bit of keratinization beginning, but nothing too noticeable (unless, like me, you look at my penis every day). With the spoon method I've been able to stay pulled back while sleeping for the most part, although one morning I did wake up in a panic thinking my foreskin had swelled and was stuck behind the head. Turns out I was just groggy. I've also noticed that if I get a bit of shrinkage with the spoon method, my foreskin will still cover the bottom part of my glans which isn't super ideal but is something that I figure isn't terrible as far as taking baby steps and avoiding too much sensitivity in the first bit.
Today is officially day 7, and it was the first time I noticed a little bit of swelling. There's also a small abrasion where my foreskin usually sits on the top of my penis, but it's too soon to tell if this is a result of rubbing while pulled back in bed or the type of underwear I'm using or what. I'm going to see how keeping pulled back goes today but might have to take a short break while that begins to heal.
Happy to answer any questions if anyone is curious... though I wouldn't say I'm the most qualified given what I've seen from some of you lads.
Stay tuned!