(Picture: Cute Brute/Instagram)

If you’ve been circumcised since infancy, you might have wondered whether you’re missing out on something.

Of course, pleasure is just one of a host of factors in the great circumcision debate. Some choose it for medical reasons such as phimosis (where the foreskin is too tight), while others site religion and hygiene as factors.

But do other guys feel something you’re not feeling because they’ve got something you don’t?

For many uncircumcised men, the idea of being circumcised gives them the willies – a fear compounded by an assumption that pleasure decreases in the absence of a foreskin.




But does being circumcised have any effect on sensitivity?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, psychologists have found that while women slightly prefer circumcised penises for BJs and intercourse, men were way more positive towards intact members for all sexual activities.

So is there anything to back up the assumption that it just feels ~better~ with some extra packaging?

A new study by the American Urological Association looking into penile sensitivity in circumcised and intact men has found that, actually, the procedure has very little effect.

Scientists looked at 62 men, aged between 18 and 37 and assessed their sensitivity to touch, pain and heat in four penile areas – the glans penis (the head), the midline shaft, the base of the shaft and foreskin (if present).

And they found that although the foreskin (for those who had it) was slightly more sensitive than other areas, on the whole, circumcision had no real effect on any stimulus type in any of the other areas tested.

They concluded that establishing a ‘direct link between penile sensitivity and the perception of pleasure/sensation’ might be more relevant.

However, other studies have stressed the importance of foreskin in male sexuality and pleasure, with men saying that more effort was required to achieve orgasm after circumcision.

One report found that of 255 circumcised men, 48 per cent reported a decrease in masturbatory pleasure post op, and 20 per cent said their overall sex lives had worsened – compared to the eight per cent who reported an increase in pleasure.

Martin* was circumcised six months ago in the hope of reducing the risk of developing the prostate cancer that killed his father.

‘When you have it done as an adult, you have the option of having your frenulum removed – and I kept mine as it maintains sensitivity,’ he told Metro.co.uk.

‘My glans was more sensitive after the op due to rubbing on clothes, and this meant that I got more unexpected erections during the day. It was like being a teenager again.’

Martin says that sex feels the same as before and that in fact, he prefers the feeling of masturbation now.

‘The only real difference is that I can’t masturbate dry now – if I did, it would get sore and the head is too sensitive to rub with my hand. But I actually prefer the feeling of it now with lube.



‘It may well desensitise more as time goes on, and it may take more stimulation or longer for me to climax, but after six months there hasn’t been any loss in sensitivity.

‘My only regret is that I didn’t have it done sooner.’

In other words, it’s horses for courses.

MORE: Do enjoy watching these men react to a video of live circumcision

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