When I was 5 the school doctor found I had a tight foreskin, but was able to pull it back, causing me pain.

When I went to the toilet my friends showed me how to masturbate to make my foreskin slacken, and after a while, even though it was painful at first, it did become normal.

When I was a teenager, I happened to see my best friend's penis swelling up at the end like a balloon when he had a pee, and he said he too had a tight foreskin, but was not able to retract it as I had done.

When he was 15 years old he went into hospital to be circumcised. I had never seen a circumcised penis before and I was quite impressed that it looked nicer than mine.

I remarried at 41 having spent 17 years with my first wife, then two years with a female partner without any sexual problems, but after 7 years we began to have penetration difficulties.

Every time we had sex, we both became dry and sore to the point that it was no longer enjoyable indeed it was putting us off having sex altogether, it was so painful.

Around this time I was suffering irritation around the end of my penis, and although I washed under my foreskin frequently, it smelled awful again soon afterwards. It always felt dirty wet and uncomfortable.

My wife's previous husband had been circumcised and we decided that if I was circumcised it should solve our problems

I made an appointment to see a surgeon privately and arranged for a circumcision operation, which was done a couple of weeks later under local anaesthetic. I was now 48 years old

As I lay on the operating table on my back, a screen was placed in front of me so I could not see what was happening, but I have often wished I could have seen how the operation was done. I drove home about a half hour later, with a bandage around the end of my cock, and was in no pain.

Over the next couple of weeks I bathed my cock in warm salt water to dissolve the stitches where my foreskin had been cut away, and my cock healed well.

Over the next couple of weeks I was able to return to normal, and have a proper sex life, as well as learning how to pleasure myself without a foreskin and masturbate dry.

Both myself and my wife are delighted with my circumcised cock, it doesn't smell any more. and I always feel clean, dry and comfortable.

We both think it looks a lot nicer without the ugly foreskin and it feels smooth and silky to touch.

We have oral sex which we didn't have before, and our love life has greatly improved.

We have now been married 29 years and I have never regretted being circumcised 22 years ago. We both agree it is the best thing I have ever done, and now I am 70 we still have an active sex life.

Originally my cut line was about an inch below the head of my penis rim and my circumcision looked tight, but nowadays when I am flaccid I can draw the skin halfway up the head of my penis as though I have grown an inch of foreskin and I don't like how it looks.

I am seriously considering being recircumcised to make it look high and tight,as I would prefer it to look.

However,when I am erect it looks OK.

We had our two youngest boys circumcised, then aged 5 and 10 because we found that the younger had a tight foreskin which wouldn't retract and he wet the bed because he was in pain when he tried to pee, and the older one had a long foreskin which was always developing sores at the end, and had been caught in his trouser zip a time or two.

These two boys are now 25 and 30 years old respectively both have normal sex lives with their partners and are extremely delighted with the difference circumcision has made to their lives.

Personally I wish my parents had had the 'foresight' to have me circumcised when I was young, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone thinking about having it done.

A number of my friends have been circumcised in later life and all of them tell me they are as pleased as I am that they had it done, and wished they had had it done earlier in life too.

Norman (UK) June 2005