Author Topic: Beginner foreskin swelling  (Read 7335 times)

Offline ANatural

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 11
  • Karma: +3/-0
Beginner foreskin swelling
« on: 2021-11-16 12:27:38 »
Hi everyone, I'm a new member and new to retraction. I've suffered from balanitis for a couple of years now and heard about retraction to prevent it. I found this forum last week and started pulling back on the weekend after reading about the pros and cons of retraction.

I'm thinking I want to be permanently retracted, and luckily I'm one of the blokes who can retract and just have it stay there all day. The sensitivity and discomfort of the exposed glans hasn't been too much of an issue so far and already at 4 days in it's definitely becoming less sensitive. I'm loving this journey and the new sensations I'm feeling in my cock  so far.

My only problem is some swelling I'm getting on one side of my foreskin. It's been there since day one of retracting and hasn't really gotten any worse. You can see it in the attached pic, sorry if it's a little big. It's just like fluid under the skin. Doesn't feel hard or painful to touch. None of the veins nearby look any different to normal. I'm sure it's just lymphatic fluid or similar. I think my band at the tip of my foreskin is very tight and is just restricting it a tiny bit.
The first 3 days I was rolling my foreskin forward for an hour or 2 to let the fluid drain out and the swelling would go down. But within 30 mins it would puff back up. I was doing this a few times a day.

But today I've just decided I want to be permanently retracted and I'm sick of rolling it back forward. I'm not even sure if it's really doing anything anyway as the fluid seems to come back quickly.
If I just stay pulled back surely my foreskin band will loosen up sooner than if I keep rolling forward throughout the day? I feel like it is really the drainage issue right now and am hoping just toughing it out will get everything working as it should.

I've seen a few posts scrolling back through the forum of similar swelling. Seems to be in the whole foreskin, not just one side like I've got. But they were all members who disappeared and stopped posting so I don't know what happened to them in the end.
Can anyone offer some advice based on their own experience? Thanks.

Offline Bifunguy

  • NSFW Access
  • Jr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 83
  • Karma: +10/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #1 on: 2021-11-17 11:09:19 »
Hi ANatural,

It's normal to have some swelling at the start but it usually doesn't extend beyond a few days or a week. The solution as you say is to take a break for an hour or two depending on severity. You are 4 days in now so I wouldn't panic about it. If the swelling is continuing, rather than ceasing completely to take breaks maybe consider gradually extending the periods between breaks.

You will soon find that the band at the tip of your foreskin will begin to stretch and it will become less tight and more comfortable. Looking at your pic, I don't think that change will pose any problem for you in keeping your foreskin back as you seem to have a nice well defined coronal ridge to help keep everything in place without assistance.

Good luck with your journey.

Offline ThePiemel

  • NSFW Access
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 164
  • Karma: +13/-6
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #2 on: 2021-11-17 11:57:41 »
There is very little science on this effect, although most have (had) this blister-like swelling. My explanation is that foreskin is also muscular. When you cover your glans, the skin contracts slowly to form the prepuce. Must be some sort of slow muscle layer doing that. When you retract it can't, and initially objects by swelling. Often, the part that takes most of the time retracting permanently is to loosen up that section of the skin. It is like a rubber band. On mine still slightly visible when retracted. But at least no more swelling. I had a lot of those in the past. My skin is thicker than average and thus more muscular-like. The rubber band also still keeps pushing the skin towards the glans.

I think the swelling helps the skin adjust to the new position. Later it will wrinkle more, and more all the way down. My own first worries were that the swellings would just grow me more skin to keep back. Thinking lengthwise, not girth-wise. Yet over time, the opposite happened. The wider the rubber band got, the shorter the skin now seems to be.

I think it is a very natural process. With it's own alarm bell. When too much, it would sting in a clearly unpleasant way. Time to temporarily keep forward and let the swelling subside. In the past, I had some skin instability on my covered glans. Balanitis or the other one, white itchy spots. Now no longer. It is as likely now to have a balanitis on my glans as it is likely to have balanitis on my left pinky finger or my right ear lobe. Yet do not take this as medical advice. Just sharing experience and research.

Offline ANatural

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 11
  • Karma: +3/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #3 on: 2021-11-18 09:11:41 »
Hey thanks for the reply guys. It's still looking more or less the same 2 days later.
I didn't totally stop pulling it forward as I'd planned. But I've only pulled forward twice a day, and only for about 15-30 minutes just to ease the swelling when it starts to spread a bit more towards my frenulum.
 I just apply some 100% aloe and then roll forward for a short while to let it drain and recover a bit, then roll back again and pat dry.

That seems to be keeping the swelling in check but easing my concerns of losing any progress.

I'm only 24 hours away from one week retracted and it's been a really interesting journey so far. Feeling different parts of my head and foreskin slowly desensitise, and the foreskin band ever so slightly stretching each day has been cool. I feel like I'm more conscious of other nerves deeper within the glans that I couldn't really feel before.
I'll try and take a progress pic soon and keep updating on here.

Offline Swboy

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 5
  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #4 on: 2021-11-18 10:52:14 »
Thanks for sharing ANatural, have the same type of penis and problem. In my case, swelling starts at frenulum. Looking forwars to your journey, really helps others!

Offline ANatural

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 11
  • Karma: +3/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #5 on: 2021-11-19 09:40:46 »
So it was one week ago to the hour that I started pulling back. Basically permanently, just with the odd small rest to reduce swelling. Today I pulled it forward for about 15 minutes mid morning and about 5 minutes mid afternoon. So it's very minimal. Just enough to stop me feeling like I'm being in any way 'risky' with this retraction.

Here's a few progress pics just to show the swelling on the right hand side of the foreskin. It feels really soft and there's no discomfort or odd sensations from that area.


Offline RetractedFarmer

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 15
  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #6 on: 2021-11-21 18:21:00 »
It took me a very long time for the swelling to slow or stop.  Just keep covering it until swelling is gone then retract again.  It takes a long time for some of us.

Offline ANatural

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 11
  • Karma: +3/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #7 on: 2021-11-28 10:25:35 »
2 weeks & 2 days of retraction update:

I have been pulled back full time since my last post. My foreskin does not want to go forward at all either.
It got very tight behind the glans for a big part of the 2nd week but feels like the ridged band has finally stretched out a little bit now. It still pulls in quite tight around my shaft so I hope it loosens a little more.
But not too much. I'm a grower and that tight band is all that holds my foreskin back. It's already noticeably wrinkling on the shaft from that tightness which is good.

The glans is comfortably desensitised now. It still has feeling, but I rarely even feel it rubbing in my pants anymore. The constant erections lasted a week and a half I reckon 😆

Balanitis is nowhere to be seen. I can masturbate two days in a row if I want and my cock is fine. No rash. No spots. It's bgreat.

Offline soundsgreat87

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1621
  • Karma: +129/-22
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #8 on: 2021-11-28 14:58:05 »
Has the swelling resolved? It looks a lot better in this pic.

Offline CuriousSkinner

  • NSFW Access
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 418
  • Karma: +21/-1
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #9 on: 2021-11-28 16:32:21 »
Has the swelling resolved? It looks a lot better in this pic.

I agree, I was just thinking there is no sign of balanitis either! Nice one you have progressed really quickly!

Offline RetractedFarmer

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 15
  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #10 on: 2021-11-28 22:36:14 »
Looks really good.  Congratulations on the progress.  That’s really fast progress

Offline Bifunguy

  • NSFW Access
  • Jr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 83
  • Karma: +10/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #11 on: 2021-11-29 09:49:19 »
Looks like you have made great progress. Glad it has worked out so well for you. Congrats.

Offline Test123

  • NSFW Access
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 142
  • Karma: +7/-1
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #12 on: 2021-11-29 18:23:39 »
I can masturbate two days in a row if I want

How do you find that compared with masturbation before pulling back? Are you using the foreskin or stimulating the bare head?

Offline ANatural

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 11
  • Karma: +3/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #13 on: 2021-12-02 02:34:21 »
Hey everyone thanks for your comments. Sorry for the late reply.

Yeah I totally forgot to mention the swelling in my update. It still swells a bit on that right side, but much less than before. I kind of just ignore it now.

I appear to have one or two veins under my foreskin that have bulged a little, I assume from my tight ridged band. It has loosened off a lot now I'm almost at 3 weeks. But I only just remembered I actually had mild phimosis as a teenager before becoming sexually active. So I'm not surprised my band was quite tight.

Masturbation is very different, I'm still trying to settle on a technique that works. My foreskin stays firmly behind the glans when I do masturbate and with a bit of lube I can apply very firm pressure on the glans which is great. I couldn't do that at all before.
I guess when you've been doing it for almost 30 years it's quite odd having to find a new technique, but I'm loving the way it feels. Also the reduced issues afterwards with cleaning and irritation, etc.

Offline ANatural

  • NSFW Access
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 11
  • Karma: +3/-0
Re: Beginner foreskin swelling
« Reply #14 on: 2021-12-19 08:43:19 »
So the swelling has been quite bad the past week. I think that's my 5th week of retraction? It feels a lot longer lol.
I've had swelling on both sides now, not just the right. I've also had considerable swelling around the frenulum which wasn't at all present before. I'll try and get a good picture when I've got a bathroom with some decent lighting.

It's a bit frustrating as I feel like my ridged band has definitely loosened up, but now I'm getting swelling the whole way around my foreskin kind of like a very mild paraphimosis. I just roll forward for 30 minutes or so a few times a day to let it go down, then I pull it right back again.

I don't want to do phimosis type stretches because I'm a grower as it is, so I feel like I'm at great risk of losing my ability to retract if I loosen my ridged band too much. But I'm also worried about really blowing out the inner foreskin and creating weird wrinkles there and stuff due to all the swelling.

It doesn't help that I work an extremely physical job and it's been over 30 degrees C for the past couple of weeks I'm sure. But I'm kind of now at a stage where I'm having to fuss over my foreskin as much as I was having to worry about balanitis. I'm stuck between a rock and a swollen place.