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A Gallery of Circumcisions

1. Skin-bridges

 

Skin-bridge 13

A skin-bridge is formed when the raw remnant where the foreskin was cut attaches to the raw surface of the glans and heals that way. This happens after the doctor has lost interest in the case and the mother, who has been told her son's circumcised penis is now "low maintenance" and has no idea what it is "supposed" to look like, does not notice that anything is the matter. It is not only ugly, but creates a space where smegma may be trapped and - unlike under the intact foreskin - can not be readily cleaned.

skin bridge 16
This bridge has been pulled
so tight it has begun to tear.
closeup of skin bridge 16

 

skin bridge 25-flaccid skin bridge 25 skin bridge 25 Skin bridge 25 - erect
The owner of this bridge didn't know
what was the matter till he read this page.
He has since had the skin bridges resolved (cut):
skinbridge after resolution
His doctor told him the scarring may never totally disappear.
Another "resolution" is further down the page.

 

This bridge pulls the glans out of alignment,
and creates wrinkles in its surface. Its owner writes:

I was so happy to [find] your web site with the pictures of
others with a "bridge". I honestly thought I was the only one.
Skinbridge stretching glans 1 Skinbridge stretching glans 2
I have found the area under the bridge to be very sensitive,
and enjoy rubbing it with my finger twisted in there.
This underlines the fact that circumision reduces sensitivity,
by exposing the glans
Bridge stretching glans 3 - end on Bridge stretching glans 4 with batteries
Click on each image to enlarge

big skinbride with cotton bud
big skinbridge with cottonbud angle  view
Note the skin tag on the left side of the glans and the hole in the skin bridge,
which goes right through it. There are two other holes that don't appear here.


The owner of this was 18 when he took the first picture. There is also a small skin tag on the right side of his glans. He later had the bridge resolved. A scar on his glans may still be seen (click to enlarge).

18 year old's skin bridge  Skinbridge No 29 after separation

 

The owners of these bridges have made a virtue of necessity:

Skin bridge 17
Two skin bridges
The owner of these did not know they were caused by his circumcision till he visited this site.

 

Skin bridge low on shaft with hypodermic
This bridge indicates how far down the shaft circumcision damage can extend.
The frenulum has been removed almost completely.

 

Skin bridge 28

The 19-year-old owner of this bridge only discovered that anything was amiss last year. He writes:

A girlfriend of mine pointed it out to me and then the research came, and I stumbled upon your site and boom, there it was. It doesn't hurt or cause any problems, but it's good to know what it is. I have thought about it getting it "fixed" but sort of too embarrassed about it. ... I know one thing for sure, I don't think I'll be taking showers in the locker room anytime soon. ... putting a ring through it, now thats an idea. But still not too keen on this thing.

 

Skin bridge 21

 

Skin bridge 22 - light coming through
Light at the end of the tunnel...
Skin bridge 23 with complication
This seems to have an additional
tiny bridge leading to it.
So much for being "cleaner".

 

Skin bridge 24
This one has an additional bridge further down the shaft. The expression "penis butcher doctors" starts to seem less extreme.

 

Skin bridge 19

 

Multiple skin bridges
Multiple tiny skin bridges
(which would not make this penis either "cleaner"
or "easier to keep clean")

 

Not only is this an unusually wide and tight skin-bridge ...





Skin-bridge 14




... but the folding over of the raphe may be further damage.

 

Skin bridge 15 - encircling side-on Skin bridge 15 - encircling full-on Skin bridge 15 - encircling side-on, skin wriinkled
This mess seems to completely encircle its victim's glans...
Skin bridge 15 side on Skin bridge 15 flaccid
... well, almost. The actual circumcision seems to have been relatively loose.

 

The Center for Reconstructive Urology website

Penile Skin Bridges - Penile Skin Adhesions

Subsequent to circumcision, some men develop skin bridges [weasel-wording: Circumcising babies creates skin-bridges on some of them...] that originate along the distal penile skin and cross the coronal sulcus of the glans penis and fuse to the glans penis. These are also called penile skin adhesions.

Image of penile skin adhesions.
Penile skin adhesions in a 20 year old man.
Image of penile skin bridges
Penile skin bridges. Note that these bridges cross over the coronal sulcus, the groove at the base of the penis. It is mentioned on internet discussions on this topic that with gentle retraction, these adhesions can be separated. However, in the above case, this would not be advisable. The only reasonable options are observation and incision of the bands with suture closure under local or other anesthesia. Treatment is not required, and observation is very reasonable. However, when these adhesions are associated with discomfort during sexual relations or if the patient finds the adhesions unacceptable...

 

Pictures of porn actor Marcus Iron
and his penis with its two skin bridges
were removed from this postion at his request.

Some skin-bridges are minor...

Skin-bridge 2

 

...others are more serious:

Skin-bridge 6-g33

 

bridge 9

 

bridge 26

 

The small bridge on top has notched the corona. Another on the right pulls the glans around in that direction.

Skin-bridge 10

 

 

Skin-bridge 5

 

Skin-bridge and knotted vein
The knotted vein further up the shaft may also be a circumcision artifact.

 

Skin-bridge 7

Skin bridges can result from adult male genital cutting.
This man, 43, was cut nearly two years earlier on medical advice in Italy. As well as the bridges, there seems to be excessive cutting into his sulcus and odd scarring at the sutures.

The top and left bridges cause him pain during sex, by pulling on the base of his glans. When his penis is flaccid, he can feel an assymetrical tension between the lower and upper sides.

(Click on each image to see larger)

Skin-bridge after adult cut Skin-bridge after adult cut Skin-bridge after adult cut Skin-bridge after adult cut Skin-bridge after adult cut
There is no sign of his frenulum

 

Skin bridges can be "resolved" (cut)...

Skin bridge repaired 1 Skin bridge repaired 2
Click on each thumbnail for a larger image
These pictures - of two bridges on the same penis -
were taken a week after the operation
with stitches still in place.
The yellow material is Neosporin antibiotic.

... but the result is still unsightly:

Skin bridge repaired

 


This tiny bridge is confined to the shaft.
Penis with skin bridge on shaft Shaft skin bridge exposed by paperclip
There is another, open on one side only, further round the penis. Its owner says both need to be cleaned out regularly. The frenulum has also been ablated and split.

Skin bridge in an intact penis

Intact penis (with skin bridge) Intact penis with skin bridge

A skin bridge can occur in an intact penis, apparently caused by forcible retraction in infancy tearing the adhering glans and foreskin apart and leaving two wounds that healed together. The skin-bridge is at the top of the picture. The structure in the middle is the frenulum, a normal part of most intact men's anatomy.

 

Actor Rupert Everett appears in a book of male nudes and has a small skin bridge.

 

Skin-bridges Skin-tags
Scarring Unevenness
Galloping
Gangrene
Excessive
skin removed
Varicose Veins Malapposition
Wound dehiscence
For further complications see
the list of Reasons Not To Circumcise
and the Complications page
which includes death.

 

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