Phimosis
Phimosis (from Greek φίμωσις phimōsis 'muzzling'[9][10][11]) is a condition in which the foreskin of the penis cannot stretch to allow it to be pulled back past the glans.
[18] Rickwood, as well as other authors, has suggested that true phimosis is over-diagnosed due to failure to distinguish between normal developmental non-retractability and a pathological condition.
[28] Lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (thought to be the same condition as balanitis xerotica obliterans) is regarded as a common (or even the main)[29] cause of pathological phimosis.
[30] This is a skin condition of unknown origin that causes a whitish ring of indurated tissue (a cicatrix) to form near the tip of the prepuce.
Phimosis may occur after other types of chronic inflammation (such as balanoposthitis), repeated catheterization, or forcible foreskin retraction.
[31] Phimosis may also arise in untreated diabetics due to the presence of glucose in their urine giving rise to infection in the foreskin.
[32] Beaugé noted that unusual masturbation practices, such as thrusting against the bed or rubbing the foreskin forward, may cause phimosis.
[27] If phimosis in older boys or adult males is not causing acute and severe problems, nonsurgical measures may be effective.
[citation needed] Surgical methods range from the complete removal of the foreskin to more minor operations to relieve foreskin tightness: While circumcision prevents phimosis, studies of the incidence of healthy infants circumcised for each prevented case of phimosis are inconsistent.
[20][31][43] When phimosis is simply equated with nonretractility of the foreskin after age 3 years, considerably higher incidence rates have been reported.
[45] According to some accounts, phimosis prevented Louis XVI of France from impregnating his wife, Marie Antoinette, for the first seven years of their marriage, but this theory was later discredited.
However, the presence and nature of his genital anomaly is not considered certain, and some scholars (such as Vincent Cronin and Simone Bertiere) assert that surgical repair would have been mentioned in the records of his medical treatments if this had indeed occurred.
Fig 1. Penis with tight phimotic ring making it difficult to retract the foreskin.
Fig 2. Foreskin retracted under anaesthetic with the phimotic ring or stenosis constricting the shaft of the penis and creating a "waist".
Fig 3. Incision closed laterally.
Fig 4. Penis with the loosened foreskin replaced over the glans.