Partial circumcision?

Hello all,

I’ve been thinking recently about a woman I used to date who was from Germany. When we first got together she was playing with my penis and asked me if I’d had a “partial circumcision”, to which I said no. She said my foreskin must be quite short and that it looked like two ex-boyfriends of hers who had both had partial circumcisions as teenagers.

I didn’t ask much further but she seemed to imply it was something quite common in Germany.

Has anyone heard of this procedure? What is it? And is it common in Germany, and if so why?

Thanks guys!

The term 'partial' is a bit subjective, but it usually means that the ridged band at the tip of the foreskin was removed, but most of the hood was left intact. This is done to enable retraction when the tip is phimotic while still maintaining some coverage. What I have heard is that this is the preferred method in Germany, but I can't back that up with any solid sources. What is considered a 'full' circumcision or just 'circumcision' was at one time called a 'radical' circumcision, and there is some evidence that the traditional Jewish method going back millenia was what would be referred to as a 'partial' today. There are some writings of Jewish men pulling their remaining foreskin foreward to participate in Greek games, where the foreskin was tied with a string called 'kynodesme'. This would only be possible if they had enough foreskin remnant to cover the glans.

A complete circumcision consists in the excision of all:

1- inner preputial mucosa

2- ridged band

3- outer preputial tissue

4- frenulum

5- part of the penile shaft skin.

This placed residual shaft skin under tension with the result that the flaccid penis appears to be shorter and semierect. This is the favourite surgical style for prevention of masturbation and hygiene. Nowadays it is quite rare and thight circumcision are generally deprecated for the medical risks they may procure to the patient such as painful erection and impotence.

So almost all are partial circumcisions with different degrees of removed tissue.

What @fennf is referring to is a tip circumcision common with some pediatrician in the 70s for phimosis treatment. It preserve the frenulum and part of the prepuce intact. At that time preputialplasty was not common and the dorsal slit is generally considered not aesthetically pleasant. It is also common in some religious ritual circumcisions.