# Do you think circumcised men subconsciously MISS their foreskins? (Phantom Foreskin Scenario)



## KGB (Jan 30, 2010)

When people have limbs or organs removed, there's typically a sensation called "Phantom Pain" that remains. Basically your body still believes the part that was removed should still be there and your brain still tells you that the missing part hurts or itches.

I also saw Taboo on the National Geographic channel about Misfits. A guy that was suffering from Body Integrity Identity Disorder eventually amputated one of his legs because it felt like it didn't belong there. Basically his brain had a mental map of what his body should look like (from birth), and anything else that deviated from that made him feel incomplete.

So do you think all men have a type of mental "map" in their brains that tells them there should be a foreskin there, and when there's not, would they subconsciously miss it? Could that potentially affect their behavior?


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## MommytoB (Jan 18, 2006)

I would think that they do miss what they use to have but don't realize they are missing something until they find out for some reason or another .

The wondering what it would be like is like a signal of missing something that was supposed to be there.


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

I dunno. They say conjoined twins who are separated in infancy (sometimes very soon after birth) show evidence of having "phantom twin syndrome", as it were - batting at where the other twin used to be, and calming down if they're lain (laid?) down in the same position in which they were originally joined (eg chest to chest). Rather bigger-picture stuff, but I suppose it proves phantom... something... syndrome can occur at least temporarily in very young children.

I doubt it's a widespread phenomenon with foreskins though, TBH. A lot of men don't even realise intact penises exist, and seem to be perfectly fine with theirs before finding out. I've never heard of FGM victims having "phantom labia syndrome" either, even when the procedure is performed much later in life than most MGMs. Does phantom limb syndrome fade over time?


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## serendipity22 (Sep 19, 2006)

Quote:

A guy that was suffering from Body Integrity Identity Disorder eventually amputated one of his legs
And what disorder was the surgeon who did this completely unnecessary surgery suffering from?

Ive noticed that people who run around getting unnecessary surgery for themselves or for their child (alleged Munchasens by proxy) are deemed to be mentally ill, while the behaviour of the surgeon is deemed acceptable.

Quote:

Do you think circumcised men subconsciously MISS their foreskins?
Yes, but there is usually no conscious connection.


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## KGB (Jan 30, 2010)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *serendipity22* 
And what disorder was the surgeon who did this completely unnecessary surgery suffering from?

Ive noticed that people who run around getting unnecessary surgery for themselves or for their child (alleged Munchasens by proxy) are deemed to be mentally ill, while the behaviour of the surgeon is deemed acceptable.

The man that had BIID placed his leg in a container of dry ice for about 4-6 hours. He was taken to the hospital where they tried to save his leg. He ended up at the hospital for a week until they deemed it unrecoverable and amputated it.

The man said he felt relief once the leg was gone. He struggled with it his whole life. He described it as if a normal person was born with a 3rd leg. It would feel unnatural to us and we would want it removed to feel "normal". His brain was telling him that he should only have one leg. He was not mentally unstable. Here is the link to the video:

http://www.sling.com/video/show/2587...Leg-is-This%3F

That particular story has nothing to do with circs, but it brought up an interesting theory about people possessing a "neuroligcal body map" that tells us exactly what our body structure should be. So it made me wonder if hacking off a foreskin creates a contradiction between the body and the neurological map resulting in a type of incompleteness (phantom pain scenario).


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## claddaghmom (May 30, 2008)

LOL I was just wondering the same thing! We reviewed nerve redifferentation in my class last week and it got me to thinking about foreskins and MGM.

I guess one thing I would wonder....how much tactile sensation was received in-utero? Because if I am seeing this right...the primary issue with amputation is that the amputated body part had differentiated nerves attached to it. So was there enough stimulation of enough nerves while in the womb and immediately before circumcision for there to be phantom pain?

Would the pain of MGM be enough to align those nerves?


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## Night_Nurse (Nov 23, 2007)

I have no idea. Although I have worked with plenty of amputees (below the knee) to know that they do experience phantom pain. Interesting concept and I do see where it's plausible for foreskin as well, though I'd never thought of it that way until you mentioned it.


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## Oubliette8 (Apr 15, 2009)

I would imagine that if they do, they simply associate it as a normal penile sensation. Without ever having consciously known their foreskin, I don't think they'd realize that the "phantom" sensation was relating to their foreskin. I get phantom pain in a wisdom tooth I had removed a few years back, if I'd never known the tooth, and the sensations it experienced (in this case, pain, it had a large cavity) I don't think I'd make the connection that its a phantom pain- it feels like the tooth that was there, but is no longer, hurts. If I didn't have knowledge of a tooth previously being there, I'd just think it was a strange oral sensation.


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## Vinvin (Jul 12, 2015)

Well I conciously miss it plus I have to deal with phantom pain so please don't fucking circumcise your son.


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## JLUK (Jun 16, 2015)

If you want to talk subconscious headmap theory ladies, then simply put yourself in a mans position and think about cutting off the protective labia skin around your own clitoris so that your bud is permanently exposed, making it dry, raw and irritable all day long - until over time the feelings eventually die away. Would you subconsciously or consciously miss it? would you wonder if uncut girls enjoy it more ? would you happily accept that your peers and boyfriends treat it as a useless smelly gross piece of skin that should be tossed away at birth, and that you, like them, should just shut up and get on and deal with its loss ? An unnatural way for a girl to go through life both physically and mentally I would imagine. How would her subconscious deal with it ? And yet the comparison for a man is as direct and simple as that.

+1 to Vanvin, there is nothing phantom about the day-long discomfort I feel around my sensitive gland as its constantly rubbed up against my clothes. There is nothing abstract about the rawness I feel after lovemaking if I havnt had any extra lubrication to hand. There is nothing subconscious about the selfish aggressive jack hammering motions I have to go through with my wife in order for me to get the extra sensations needed to reach orgasm. Its damn obvious that there is something missing that should be there, you dont need a head map to dream or theorize over it, you have to live with it every time you use or look down on it, which is many times a day, every day 7/7.

How you go on to deal with that in your head is then different and it can vary from denial, sadness or through to aggression. Its not a natural situation for a man to find himself in, its not a situation he should be irrevocably forced into by others and then have to deal with himself for the rest of his life. Its not about headmaps telling us that perhaps there should be something there, its a day to day real life practicality and obvious pain.


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## hakunangovi (Feb 15, 2002)

I'm don't think that I was aware that I was missing my foreskin until the age of 6 when I was sent to a boarding school. That first night in the totally open, communal shower rooms was quite a shock as I realized that a lot of the other boys had a penis that did not resemble my own and it was painfully obvious that I was missing something. I had this rather sick, intuition that it was something valuable - turns out it was !!

As I have grown older I miss not having a foreskin more and more, especially, as JLUK points out, as one has more and more trouble feeling enough sensation to even ejaculate.

So, to answer the original question - I would not doubt that there is a subconscious feeling of loss, because I have had dreams involving foreskins. But for sure, once one knows that you are missing your foreskin, there is a very conscious knowledge of that loss that, again as JLUK pointed out , is dealt with in various ways. I would have to say, most often by Denial.


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## Vigorousjammer (Feb 26, 2016)

It's not constant, but I occasionally get sharp pains in the area where the frenulum would be. I suppose that could possibly be phantom pain.
The thing that is constant is having to deal with a less sensitive glans, as it's exposed to the elements day-in and day-out. I'm only 28, but my glans is so dried out, it looks like that of an old man. Not only that, but having it exposed constantly is incredibly uncomfortable. I feel like I don't have adequate protection down there and have to be really delicate with my penis, keeping it from accidentally scraping up against anything (such as a metal shower hose, or the edge of a bathroom sink, for instance), as that would cause additional pain.

Essentially, I feel like this is completely unnatural, and I'd be better off if I had foreskin, not just for the promise of "added sexual stimulation", but also simply just because the foreskin serves a purpose in protecting the penis, and I feel somewhat handicapped without it.


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## hakunangovi (Feb 15, 2002)

I saw an interview once, on a TV show on circumcision/foreskin restoration, where they were talking to Jim Bigelow, the man who wrote the book "The Joy of Uncircumcising", published over 20 years ago. He stated that many men, who go through the rigmarole of restoring their foreskin, do so to gain a feeling of being "whole". I can certainly identify with that sentiment.


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## foreskin_is_normal (Jul 30, 2016)

I consciously miss it. There's nothing I want more than to know what a normal body feels like. I miss it so much that I feel like my life is ruined without it. I get almost no pleasure from stimulation, and I know without any doubt that it is much, MUCH less pleasure than it's supposed to be. I'm always thinking "That's it? Where's the rest of the pleasure? It feels like part of my body is missing." "Circumcision" is the cruelest form of torture you can do to a boy. I actually wish I was aborted instead of being forced to live like this. Sex is a HUGE part of life. People rightfully feel sorry for victims of female genital mutilation because they are unable to enjoy their lives and get pleasure out of sex. Male genital mutilation is just as devastating, and more victims of this need to speak up. Nobody should have to experience this hell.


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