History of Circumcision and Foreskin Restoring

Circumcised Men Have Sought Prepuce Restoration for Centuries

Aug 27, 2009

Restoration of the prepuce after circumcision is not new. Historical documentation dating back to Ancient Egypt shows that many men have wanted their foreskin restored.

Circumcision has been a fairly common practice since the beginning of civilization. The first illustration of a surgical procedure appeared as a bas-relief from a tomb in Sakkara, Egypt (approximately 2,200 BC); it depicted a circumcision scene.

Written History

The first written evidence for penis restoration is found in the Bible, I Maccabees 1: 14-15. Hellenistic ideals, under the leadership of Antiochus IV in 168 B.C., included public nudity at athletic games and in public baths. From that emerged Judea and Jews were forced to stretch their foreskin to cover the glans with a weight called the Pondus Judaeus.

Aulus Cornelius Celsus (25 BC – 50 AD), was a Roman encyclopedist, known for his extant medical work. He was the first writer to provide a detailed description of two surgical techniques for uncircumcision in his De medicina libri octo.

Practices of stretching foreskin was also reported in the Talmud (132 AD), during the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (98-138 AD). Hadrian extended a previous ban by Emperors Domitian and Nerva, on the castration of citizens or slaves throughout the Roman Empire to include circumcision.

Aelius Galenus (approximately 129 – 210 AD), better known as Galen, and Paulus Aeginata ( a 7th century Byzantine Greek physician), wrote subsequent works about reversing circumcision.

16th Century

Ambroise Paré (1510-1590), was a French surgeon who gave a new impetus to these medical procedures. He suggested the insertion of a catheter into the urethra to allow passage of urine during post-operative healing.

Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach

Dieffenbach (1795-1847) is the founder of modern plastic surgery and he dedicated an entire chapter in both of his surgical textbooks on the problems of how to restore the prepuce. He coined this surgical procedure posthioplastice.

After recapitulating Celcus' methods, he provided technical improvements to prevent postoperative failure. He suggested that a distal narrowing of the new prepuce to avoid retraction over the glans could be done by triangular excision of the skin or by placing a metal clamp at the preputial tip.

Nazi-Era

Almost no written documentation exists about uncircumcision during the Nazi-era. There are however, numerous personal anecdotes from doctors and patients that tell that this was widespread as any man who was circumcised was in danger of being denounced as a Jew.

Recent History

In recent years there has been many numerous debates about the issue of circumcision. In 1989 the Canadian Paediatric Society reaffirmed its stand against routine circumcision. Also in 1989, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Section 14 guarantees children their own freedom of belief and religion, and Section 24.3 requires signatories to "take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children", which includes circumcision or other cruel or harmful customs.

Nowadays there is a better understanding of the psychological motivations for uncircumcision and the demand for restoring the prepuce is increasing. Surgical methods are not only invasive, there is a notable difference in color and texture of the original penile skin. Today there are non-surgical methods that men opt for that provide results.

Dirk Schultheiss, M.D., Michael C. Truss, M.D., Christian G. Stief, M.D., and Udo Jonas, M.D. (1998).

The copyright of the article History of Circumcision and Foreskin Restoring in Ancient History is owned by Karen Stephenson. Permission to republish History of Circumcision and Foreskin Restoring in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.