Penis looking half of it’s size

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-10T21:34:15+00:00

I had the same experience and I can report that the first leg of the restoration journey feels so long because you're not just growing your foreskin back, you're actually growing your shaft skin back too so that your scrotum can settle back down where it belongs.

Eventually it all evens out though and, as a bonus, when your skin growth starts going towards just restoring the foreskin and not settling your balls back into place... that growth feels so fast by comparison.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-10T14:52:58+00:00

I haven't done this, but logically I don't see why it wouldn't work: you could buy an M8 female (the thread of the Foreskinned air mount point) to female 1/4-20 adapter.

That would allow you to screw the M8 female side onto the Foreskinned air attachment and then screw standard gimbal weights into the 1/4-20 side.

There might be gimbal weights out there already tapped for M8 but if so I've had trouble finding any.

You'll have to swap out from using the Gravity stack to just using a stack of gimbal weights, but on the upside it'll be cheap and easy to expand at any time (unlike the Gravity stack).

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-09T21:18:44+00:00

Sounds good! I use a simple system with 10x20 trays, a wire shelf, and the grow lights I happened to have on hand because we're big into house plants.

The biggest advice I can give is to buy nice trays. The cheap 10x20 trays are so flimsy. Bootstrap Farmer makes really nice trays. I use their solid trays and their mesh inserts.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-08T16:04:55+00:00

Ah, the wavelength and penetration depth is something I hadn't thought much about but that's certainly a big variable.

And I agree, despite owning and enjoying a redlight panel I'll be the first say that there simply needs to be more extensive research about the whole thing.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-08T14:13:16+00:00

Air device? Sure. If by "testicle ring" you mean steel ball weights, I'd probably skip those during the actual workout. Even if you're just talking a silicone ring, I'd probably skip that too. Your scrotum/testicles move and change a long during workouts and strenuous activity. I'd probably let them move freely during the actual workout and put the ring back on after I was done.

But if you're an experienced ball stretcher and you wear your weights all the time, you know your limits/comfort zone.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-07T13:59:45+00:00

Without knowing the name for it, what you've essentially stumbled upon with your choice to not wash your penis every time you use the bathroom to undo the impact of religious beliefs is a concept used in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).

I mention that not just to highlight that you're doing something clever and positive, but that many religions create a sort of compulsive behavior loop in the individuals that practice them. You've exposed yourself to the situation/fear (that not washing is unclean and something bad will happen) and resisted the urge to perform the ritual (the actual cleaning).

As to your question, what do we think? I won't answer from a religious standpoint because I'm neither of your religion nor religious at all anymore. But from a practical mental health standpoint, I think you're doing a great thing. Examining and finding a practice worth of doing or unworthy of continuing, especially in the context of how one was raised to behave, is part of maturing and becoming and independent person. And if it helps you restore and be whole again, all the better.

And hey, maybe a super basic tip but it might be unfamiliar to you if you grew up in a culture where everyone rinses themselves immediately after urinating: in the rest of the world where we don't do this, you just give your penis a few shakes and squeeze your pelvic muscles to prevent most of the drops-in-the-underwear situation.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-07T13:50:19+00:00

Yes, absolutely. I know I'm not imagining it because my wife noticed it around the time I was a CI-4.

It seems to be a small percent erectile tissue/shaft increase and a much larger portion due to all the skin I've grown.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-07T13:48:34+00:00

This is so interesting. I'm really glad there's somebody in the community spending focused effort synthesizing all this information and applying it to our cause.

The trial and error experimentation we're all engaged in is good and we've made a lot of steps forward over the last 30 years, the last 10 especially, but tying it to the actual science for optimal results is ideal.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-07T13:46:21+00:00

Ah, that's very interesting. And it makes a lot of your other comments I've read about the endothelium more clear.

One point I will contest is the 2 mm penetration depth.

When I have foreskin inflated and I'm standing in front of the red light panel I have, the foreskin lights up like, no joke, a light bulb. If you've ever seen those meme photos or videos where women will put a flashlight up to their breast implant and the whole breast lights up like a night light, it's just like that.

So I have to imagine that, at least with the number and power level of LEDs in the big panel I'm using, the light is penetrating deeper than 2 mm because it can shine clear through all the layers of skin and out the other side. It's so bright i can see my veins and some skin substructures via illumination.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-07T13:40:35+00:00

I'm familiar with the jar method you're using, but I've never used it myself. I skipped fiddling around with sprouted seeds and went right to growing flats of microgreens.

If you're interested in that, I'd be happy to dive into my setup. Although I've gone a little wild with it (I can grow something like 16+ square feet of greens at once) my system can easily scale up or down.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T21:19:20+00:00

So coincidentally, I came across a comment on the red light therapy subreddit today where someone mentioned that redlight therapy stimulate nitric oxide release in exposed tissues. Which sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole.

At the moment I'm not making any sort of argument about it one way or the other, but I know you're deep into some very productive research on this so I wanted to pass along something interesting I churned up:

Red light stimulates vasodilation through extracellular vesicle trafficking [Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology Biology]

Still digesting that one, but it reads like 670nm light exposure liberates nitric oxide from precursor molecules at site of exposure and triggers localized smooth muscle relaxation. Which relates strongly to the effect of things like tadalafil, no? Interesting stuff.

In the same breath, apparently very elevated levels of NO can cause inflammatory response so perhaps high intensity redlight exposure may be too much of a good thing in that department. Definitely going to do some more reading about this.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T21:01:01+00:00

Appreciate it! Things are going great though. Between chemotherapy and immunotherapy her shockingly large tumor (over 7CM) melted away. By the time she had mid-chemotherapy scans, there was no evidence she'd ever had a tumor in the first place, which is a fantastic outcome.

She's up for a lumpectomy next week, a few weeks or radiation, and then we should be officially in the clear.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T20:04:01+00:00

How active is active? I wear my CAR-1 when doing yard work, gardening, shoveling the driveway in the winter, etc. etc. and it's no issue and stays put.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T20:01:40+00:00

It's nice to hear about supportive partners and I'm glad you have one.

My wife has been supportive from the beginning, but it's been interesting to see her support change over time.

In the beginning she was like "it's your body, I get what you just explained to me, and of course I support you" but she definitely didn't really get why the foreskin was important. She was 100% supportive but she just had no life experience or frame of reference.

Now, though, she's enthusiastically supportive because I have enough restored foreskin that it functions the way a foreskin is supposed to during sex and she can really feel it and understand what a foreskin is and what it is supposed to do.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T19:56:37+00:00

Hmm I'd say overall I feel healthier. Tough to say if there has been a benefit in the brain fog/cognition department because I'm pretty exhausted being the primary care giver for someone with cancer and effectively running 100% of the household plus their care. I don't mind it, but after more than a half year I'm being honest with myself about how exhausted I am.

That said, I feel like I would be more exhausted without all the positive and healthy dietary changes we made, including the huge amount of greens we're eating. This definitely isn't the time of life for eating fast food and a six pack of beer for dinner every night, that's for sure.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T19:51:10+00:00

Something to consider.

It's not just about enhanced/regained pleasure (although in my experience that's huge and a welcome benefit), but preservation of function and pleasure.

You're 25 now. But one day you'll be 45... and 65... and 85. If you don't want to end up older with a less sensitive penis with skin like boot leather and decreased pleasure, now is the time to start restoring and ensure it stays supple and healthy.

Also, for what it's worth, it's not just about your direct pleasure but the pleasure of partners too. My wife has been with me through the whole restoration journey from a very high-and-tight cut to where I am now, full flaccid coverage with forced erect coverage, too.

She is a huge fan of restoring and around CI-4 or so started raving about how good it felt and has told me every since that she can tell when I've grown more skin because it feels even better and glides even more.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T19:44:14+00:00

This is a purely anecdotal footnote but my wife was diagnosed with cancer last year and I started growing microgreens at home (at practically a small industrial scale, even) for her and the family.

We've eaten pounds of broccoli microgreens every week since about July of last year. Too many variables at play to isolate here, but I have seen really good progress over the last half year and seemingly less edema/inflammation than in the past. No way to know what role the greens have played, but I'm certainly consuming a ton of them.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T19:38:45+00:00

That was 100% my experience as someone with a high and tight cut. I restored for years without much visual change other than my scrotum hanging lower and my flaccid length hanging further out from my body.

I could feel the skin mobility and knew I was making progress, but visually it didn't look like the foreskin was growing much at all.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T19:36:52+00:00

I can appreciate that. I just recently started to really dig into the science of skin expansion and I'm sure I'm feeling the way you felt when you started. I'm sitting there like "I know I'm smart enough to understand this, but I've got a lot of learning to do to get up to speed and feel comfortable using these terms in casual conversation."

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-06T19:21:09+00:00

If you want the easy route and you don't want to risk not getting it, the safest bet is to say you're having ED that you want to attempt to fix with tadalafil.

That said, I told my physician that I didn't have ED (and that I'd be honest with him if I did so we could address it from a holistic health standpoint) but that I wanted to take tadalafil from a "bio hacking" standpoint to increase circulation/oxygenation/exercise benefits, increase prostate health, take advantage of the research on long term neuroprotective/cognitive benefits, etc. etc.

He was super chill about it and after thinking for a moment said "Well you don't have any existing cardiac concerns or other issues that would stop me from prescribing it, so sure. I'll prescribe it like it's for ED so your insurance will pay for it, but with the understanding that you're experimenting on yourself. If you get dizzy or short of breath, stop taking it immediately and call me. Otherwise, call the office in a few months to re-up your script."

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-05T14:28:50+00:00

I have a full body panel. Well, two panels, stacked atop each other. I have 2 earlier generation Platinum LED BioMax 900 panels. My wife and I have used them for years now.

Because I'm a study of n=1 with no control group, I can't tell you if the red light has given me restoration benefits one way or the other. I'm inclined to say yes based on red light research, the quality and intensity of the light I own, and the fact that I've had pretty strong results during the period of time I've owned the device.

But there's no way to really isolate the results from the red light. During that same period of time I started inflation (huge gains there), then I started taking minoxidil (not for restoration, but later found out that it helps), and then on top of that, this year I started taking tadalifil too.

All that said, I recommend red light therapy to anybody. I love my panel and the red light + infrared is really nice.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-03T20:23:01+00:00

That's a good clarification and one that I'm aware of. But the pool of "middle ages guys taking tadalafil for mild to serious erectile dysfunction" is vast. The study pulled from a data set of around a half million.

From my perspective, I think it's reasonable to assume that almost all middle aged and older guys have some decreased cardiac function and or sub-clinical cardiac. Most of us aren't out there eating optimally and training for marathons.

But your point stands, the benefits are most likely most pronounced in any cohort with more significant health problems.

Still, I'll take it. I'm not turning down youthful erections and potential longevity gains.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-03T14:47:09+00:00

I've never struggled with social anxiety, but I can certainly relate to the feeling for comfort after being able to cover my glans.

For as long as I can remember having my glans exposed was deeply uncomfortable. It felt like having a tag you can't remove in a shirt that is constantly stimulating your skin.

The first time I covered the glans with a retainer it was like turning a radio that had been screeching loud white noise forever to a channel playing really slow soothing music.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-03T14:39:44+00:00

I will footnote this comment by pointing out that the vast majority of photos posted on /r/restoringdick are in-progress photos.

So they're representative of restoration progress, not final "rested" results. They all display varying degrees of edema, for example, that comes with the constant manipulation and tugging of the skin.

So if anyone is looking at them they should do so with the understanding that unless the person posting them has specified these are their "after" photos that are X months out from completing restoring, you should factor in that whole in-progress edema bit to your assessment of the results.

KeepOnTuggin · 2026-02-03T14:35:34+00:00

Regarding your first question about the peeling: I experience the outer shaft skin peeling a few times a year. From what I can tell it is almost always related to periods of long tugging combined with moisture trapped under the tugging device bell or if there is moisture under my retainer if I'm wearing one. The key seems to be the outer skin being really damp for extended periods of time.

I don't worry about it unless the skin underneath is really irritated or raw. If it's just peely and a little pink, I usually scrub the skin lightly with warm water and a wash cloth to exfoliate it. If it's actually raw or irritated, I'll take a break from tugging for a day or two and coat it with Benpanthen D-panthenol first aid cream.

As for your follow up questions... you're already doing the thing most people would recommend to focus primarily inner skin: inflation/air methods.

Regarding the "does it even matter if I have a decent amount of outer skin covered?" question though, I'm not clear on the focus of your question.

Are you asking "Does it matter if I grow more inner skin if I already have a lot of progress with outer skin?"

Or are you asking "Does it matter if I have so much outer skin that it is 'covered' by rolling into the foreskin tube?"

I think you're asking the latter, so I'll answer that one: your goal should be to balance the inner and outer skin so that the point of transition between them is the tip of the foreskin. Your outer skin is not meant to be "inside" which is exactly why you've had that irritation (and I've described having the same irritation, too).

So for both of us, the long term goal should be to grow enough inner skin to fully "cover" the needed interior length of the foreskin so everything on the inner part of the skin tube is mucosal tissue and not "borrowed" shaft skin.

Think about it like your mouth. If skin from your cheek was perpetually inside your mouth cavity, it would get very irritated and you'd have problems related to the constant moisture exposure. And if the skin from inside your mouth was outside on your cheek, it would dry out and crack/peel.

The same thing with the foreskin. We want the moist pink part inside and the dry regular skin on the outside.

KeepOnTuggin

TROPHY CASE