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Over the past 15 years, a sizable foreskin restoration movement has sprung up, supported by online forums, national advocacy groups, and a cottage industry of device manufacturers. Men commit themselves to this time-consuming effort in part because they want to feel greater sensations during sex—by shielding the head of the penis, or glans, they believe the foreskin makes it softer and more sensitive.This promise of sexual reawakening isn't necessarily borne of scientific research— one study from 2008 failed to find any evidence that men experienced a marked decreased in sexual satisfaction after circumcision. Some medical experts are also skeptical at the value of foreskin restoration. A urologist who spoke with VICE earlier this year dismissed the practice as "voodoo," saying men who are restoring their foreskins "are fighting much larger demons."Need a whole new member? Motherboard explains how to grow an artificial penis.
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On the other hand, there are guys like James, who's heavily committed to the process. He first got into restoring because his doctor gave him an extremely tight circumcision when he was an infant, leaving a small amount of skin on his penis that essentially condemned him to a life of painful, curved erections. To rectify this, James has committed to a daily routine of tugging sessions in the morning and just before bed. Though he'll take the occasional break, he's managed to make leaps and bounds on the Foreskin Coverage Index—the universal measuring tool adopted by restorers.At first James didn't even rank as a CI-1 on the chart—the lowest possible ranking. But now he's at a CI-8 with plenty of foreskin coverage. His success certainly has a lot to do with his diligence and ingenuity, but it also might stem from his collection of homemade devices. One of them is a heavy-duty piece of gear that lets him carry up to 11 pounds worth of weights."I want to be whole again. I want to look whole. I want to feel that way. And I want sex to be that way also," he said. "I'm pretty far along now, but it ain't all the way to what I was when I was born, that never should've been taken from me to begin with."Any seasoned restorer would agree that James has made remarkable progress. But no matter how much foreskin he restores, he'll always have that original loss to contend with. He's still angry at the doctor who did the procedure. And he's still mad at his mom for approving it."I haven't spoken to my mom in over a year," he said. "My dad passed away quite a long time ago, but my mom doesn't see any wrongdoing in what they did."Follow Peter Holslin on Twitter.