A skin-bridge is formed when the raw remnant where the foreskin was cut attaches to the raw surface of the glans and heals that way. This happens after the doctor has lost interest in the case and the mother, who has been told her son's circumcised penis is now "low maintenance" and has no idea what it is "supposed" to look like, does not notice that anything is the matter. It is not only ugly, but creates a space where smegma may be trapped and - unlike under the intact foreskin - can not be readily cleaned.

This bridge has been pulled so tight it has begun to tear.

	The owner of this bridge didn't know what was the matter till he read this page.
He has since had the skin bridges resolved (cut): His doctor told him the scarring may never totally disappear. Another "resolution" is further down the page.

This bridge pulls the glans out of alignment, and creates wrinkles in its surface. Its owner writes:
I was so happy to [find] your web site with the pictures of others with a "bridge". I honestly thought I was the only one.
I have found the area under the bridge to be very sensitive, and enjoy rubbing it with my finger twisted in there.
This underlines the fact that circumision reduces sensitivity, by exposing the glans
Click on each image to enlarge

Note the skin tag on the left side of the glans and the hole in the skin bridge, which goes right through it. There are two other holes that don't appear here.

The owner of this was 18 when he took the first picture. There is also a small skin tag on the right side of his glans. He later had the bridge resolved. A scar on his glans may still be seen (click to enlarge).

  

The owners of these bridges have made a virtue of necessity:

The owner of these did not know they were caused by his circumcision till he visited this site.

This bridge indicates how far down the shaft circumcision damage can extend.
The frenulum has been removed almost completely.

Light at the end of the tunnel...

This seems to have an additional tiny bridge leading to it. So much for being "cleaner".

This one has an additional bridge further down the shaft. The expression "penis butcher doctors" starts to seem less extreme.

Multiple tiny skin bridges
(which would not make this penis either "cleaner"
or "easier to keep clean")

Not only is this an unusually wide and tight skin-bridge ...

... but the folding over of the raphe may be further damage.

This mess seems to completely encircle its victim's glans...
... well, almost. The actual circumcision seems to have been relatively loose.

The Center for Reconstructive Urology website Penile Skin Bridges - Penile Skin Adhesions Subsequent to circumcision, some men develop skin bridges [weasel-wording: Circumcising babies creates skin-bridges on some of them...] that originate along the distal penile skin and cross the coronal sulcus of the glans penis and fuse to the glans penis. These are also called penile skin adhesions. Penile skin adhesions in a 20 year old man. Penile skin bridges. Note that these bridges cross over the coronal sulcus, the groove at the base of the penis. It is mentioned on internet discussions on this topic that with gentle retraction, these adhesions can be separated. However, in the above case, this would not be advisable. The only reasonable options are observation and incision of the bands with suture closure under local or other anesthesia. Treatment is not required, and observation is very reasonable. However, when these adhesions are associated with discomfort during sexual relations or if the patient finds the adhesions unacceptable...

Pictures of porn actor Marcus Iron and his penis with its two skin bridges were removed from this postion at his request.

Some skin-bridges are minor...

 

...others are more serious:

 

 

 

The small bridge on top has notched the corona. Another on the right pulls the glans around in that direction.

 

 

 

The knotted vein further up the shaft may also be a circumcision artifact.

 

Skin bridges can result from adult male genital cutting.
This man, 43, was cut nearly two years earlier on medical advice in Italy. As well as the bridges, there seems to be excessive cutting into his sulcus and odd scarring at the sutures.

The top and left bridges cause him pain during sex, by pulling on the base of his glans. When his penis is flaccid, he can feel an assymetrical tension between the lower and upper sides.

There is no sign of his frenulum

Skin bridges can be "resolved" (cut)...

Click on each thumbnail for a larger image These pictures - of two bridges on the same penis - were taken a week after the operation with stitches still in place. The yellow material is Neosporin antibiotic.

... but the result is still unsightly:

This tiny bridge is confined to the shaft.
There is another, open on one side only, further round the penis. Its owner says both need to be cleaned out regularly. The frenulum has also been ablated and split.

Skin bridge in an intact penis

A skin bridge can occur in an intact penis, apparently caused by forcible retraction in infancy tearing the adhering glans and foreskin apart and leaving two wounds that healed together. The skin-bridge is at the top of the picture. The structure in the middle is the frenulum, a normal part of most intact men's anatomy.

Actor Rupert Everett appears in a book of male nudes and has a small skin bridge.

Skin-bridges	Skin-tags
Scarring	Unevenness
Galloping Gangrene	Excessive skin removed
Varicose Veins	Malapposition
Wound dehiscence
For further complications see the list of Reasons Not To Circumcise and the Complications page which includes death.

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