Patient's question:
I often hear people talk about phimosis and often see similar advertisements on TV, but I've always been confused about the difference between phimosis and paraphimosis. When I'm not erect, I can forcefully retract it, but when I'm erect, I can't. Is this phimosis or paraphimosis? I really don't understand.Doctor's answer:
Hello, phimosis refers to a condition where the foreskin opening is too small, preventing the foreskin from retracting to reveal the glans penis; while excessive foreskin means the foreskin covers the entire glans penis, but the foreskin opening is not too small and can retract to reveal the glans penis.Phimosis has two types: physiological phimosis and pathological phimosis. Physiological phimosis is when the foreskin can be retracted to reveal the glans penis with manual manipulation during erection, or even naturally slips back during erection. Most cases of phimosis are physiological, so they do not pose any obstacle to sexual activity.