By Casey Simpkins

Sex and Relationship Therapist

July 25, 2020

Premature ejaculation (PE) is a commonly heard complaint from guys. It can cause embarrassment, trouble with relationships, erode confidence and self-esteem. One popular idea is that circumcision can prevent premature ejaculation and help guys last longer. The thought is that by reducing the sensitivity of the penis we can use circumcision to prevent premature ejaculation (cumming too soon.) Can having a circumcised less sensitive penis really mean having more fun?

Premature ejaculation is usually an issue for young men. They generally get excited fast, and can have difficulty holding it back. Perhaps this was a biological adaptation. After all males want to shoot off their baby making DNA torpedoes as rapidly as possible before a wild beast should pounce in the middle of sex, or before another male in the pack fights for the female. Fast ejaculation could have been an evolutionary adaptation.  But since we can now have sex in the safety of our bedroom (or at least the back seat of our car), cumming too quick is viewed as a social faux-pas. Especially when the Kleenex are out of reach.

Sex Reinforces Bonding

Humans are also a social species, and sex strengthens our relationships and bonds. During sex our brain releases mood altering hormones like oxytocin, the love hormone. But we need to be stimulated long enough for these hormones to work their magic.

Understand Circumcision

So first we have to understand what is circumcision, and what are it’s effects. Males that had their foreskin removed are called cut, and men with their foreskin are called uncut, intact, or natural. Circumcision (really genital cutting) usually involves the cutting, clamping, crushing, and removal of the foreskin on a baby. Essentially the foreskin is crushed under a device to get the blood vessels to clot, then the foreskin is amputated.  (Whether circumcision actually provides any future benefit is another subject I won’t entertain here. However suffice to say no medical association in the world recommends it and many, like the Danish Medical Association in 2016, they actually say circumcision of babies is medically unacceptable.)

Anatomy Lesson To Understand Circumcision And Premature Ejaculation

The foreskin contains over 20,000 nerve endings, concentrated in the region known as the ridged band. The nerve endings terminate in sensory receptors known as the Meissners Corpusles. They are the fine touch receptors, or when they are stroked they transmit “Oh What A Feeling” up your spinal column to your brain.
So if you didn’t have all those Meissner’s stimulating the brain to shoot your load, would you be better off? Well before we come to that conclusion, we need to bring a few more things into play.

Neural Disruption

Infant circumcision disrupts the neural circuitry. It’s mostly a crushing injury due to the clamps typically used on babies. Neurologists (doctor’s that specialize in the nervous system) call this injury “neurotmesis,” or neuron death. During the healing process after an infant circumcision, the remaining nerves attempt to reconnect to the missing parts. When that proves to be impossible, they either die or reconnect themselves with existing nerves in unpredictable ways. This is like a bad car mechanic reconnecting your gas pedal so sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Imagine driving that car.

Side note: Adult circumcisions typically use stitches instead of the crushing clamps used on babies, and the penis is more developed. So someone cut as an adult will have a different set of circumstances compared to someone cut as a baby.

Foreskin in Action

The foreskin glides back and forth during sex. Its a double layer of skin, so it unfolds on itself when you thrust inside. It’s like a warm-blooded Slinky toy. The sensitive ridged band we mentioned earlier gets just as much sensation as you want depending how has we work the Slinky. The thrusting during sex, over which we can control the tempo, also controls the sensory output of the foreskin’s ridged bands to the brain. And they actually help a guy stay in control of his orgasm. The way nature designed it to work.

The foreskin also helps the penis adapt to different vaginas (or other body parts)! Whether a vagina is loose or tight, dry or juicy, the foreskin helps to keep the signals to the brain consistent to make sex pleasurable and lasting. And to keep the oxytocin hormones peaking for both partners, or multiple partners !

Get The Sensation

Now a circumcised guy actually gets most of his sensation from the remnants of the foreskin at the scar line (that mysterious dark ring around a cut guy’s penis just below the head). Also the remnants of the frenulum (the underside of the head.) This is where the nerves that use to be connected to the foreskin got terminated. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle, anything can happen there, from not enough sensation, to uncontrollable sensory input. Like a hair trigger, it can be a shortcut to busting your nut. So now we might starting to doubt whether circumcision can prevent premature ejaculation.

Medical Experts Confirm Circumcision Causes Orgasm Dysfunction Like Premature Ejaculation

Medical research backs this up. A 2011 study found that “Circumcision was associated with frequent orgasm difficulties.” (2011; “Male circumcision and sexual function in men.” Morten Frisch, Morten Lindholm and Morten Gronbak – Statens Serum Institute, National Institute of Public Health.)

Another study in 1996 said “Circumcision removes an important component of the overall sensory mechanism of the human penis… the ridged band helps control the ejaculatory reflex.” The Prepuce: Specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision:  Taylor, Lockwood, and A. J. Taylor, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

Better Cures for Premature Ejaculation Than Circumcision

If you are having issues with PE, you don’t need to undergo circumcision to prevent premature ejaculation, especially when the “cure” can leave you worse off. So let’s see what else can be done.

You can wear a condom which give less sensation than going bareback and slow down the 3-2-1 countdown timer.

A urologist can prescribe an SSRI (anti-depressant medication). One of the off-label uses of these drugs is to delay orgasm.  There are also new drugs in the clinical trial pipeline that will help to delay orgasm by blocking some of the effect of oxytocin, specifically for preventing PE.

Guys can practice a routine of “Kegel” exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles which can help them hold back orgasms.

Lastly, a guy can wear a cock ring to hold back from busting your nut. I wouldn’t mind if a guy wore one, in fact I think they are hot.

Conclusion On Circumcision And Premature Ejaculation

While both cut and uncut men can ejaculate too quickly, cut men are more likely to experience premature ejaculation or have other orgasm difficulties. The human penis is a biomechanical wonder that nature engineered very precisely.  To say circumcision is good, under the illusion that circumcision can prevent premature ejaculation just sounds to me like a fairy tale. A tale designed to put a positive spin on the weird practice of genital cutting.

Bottom line, when someone is cut, the nerves in the penis can become mis-wired and give unpredictable results. Intact men have more control over the sensation received through their foreskin. Plain and simple.

Now the next time you cum too fast when you’re on that partner hookup, just blame the stupid circumcision.

Originally published May 18, 2017 (updated)