Darkened Skin and swollen frenulum

Greetings. I've been recently on a very intense PE routine. While many exercises were incorporated, it's the clamping and resultant darkened skin I want to talk about. I was hitting this routine consistently for almost 3 months. I would do 1 or 2 clamping sessions in my girth routine, each one lasting about 5 minutes, sometimes a bit longer, but not much. I noticed the darkening skin, but figured well, that's the price you pay, and it doesn't look that bad. Then, just a few days before Xmas, I noticed my frenulum was somehow enlarged and swollen looking. This looked a bit frightening quite honestly, so I immediately ceased all PE activity. After several days, nothing had changed and I began to be concerned. The thought of Penile cancer kept coming to mind. I also noticed that the ongoing "pump," which had me thinking I was making gains, was fading, and fading fast. By the time I went to see my doctor, all seemingly made gains had pretty much disappeared, my flaccid and erect size pretty much the same as 3 months ago. Now you can talk about cementing and that sort of thing, but I still think I should have retained some? Anyway, I go to my doc on Jan 03 to show him the still enlarged frenulum. and by that time, the darkened skin was REALLY obvious. I'm like a white guy with a black dick, it's that pronounced. I knew the risk, I just didn't think it would be this bad. So, I'm showing my doctor my swollen frenulum, all the while trying to cover over my foreskin and shaft. Fortunately, if he noticed the darkened skin, he didn't comment on it. Which is a good thing as I wouldn't know how to respond. In any event, he assured me I do not have penile cancer and that the swelling was due to penile papules, as there are some tiny bumps as well. Cause? Irritation he said. he didn't ask how and I offered no information. He prescribed a combination corticosteroid/anti-fungal cream, which I've been applying twice daily, with no results. I think he's mistaken. While I don't think I have cancer, I think the extreme stress and pressure exerted on my penis head has caused my frenulum to swell and thicken, and it may be permanent. So, here I am, with a rather unsightly frenulum, 90% of my foreskin multiple shades darker than my penis head or surrounding skin, and no gains to boot. Very discouraging fellas.

I put this on the clamping forum because I noticed the swelling while clamped. And of course, the clamping caused the discoloration. If anyone has any comments, suggestions or solutions, I'd be happy to hear them.

I have warned men time and tome again of the risks of clamping but people still do it. Clamping, for many, will end in your case. Corticosteroid will not deal with discoloration, it deal with skin irritation. Something I have taught many to use daily to avoid skin irritation. Clamping can bring discoloration, sometimes permanent. It can also cause swelling of tissue due to retainment of fluid. The frenulum being swollen is simply something that happens with clamping. I would not say that you gains have been lost or not cemented, it may be you anxiety that is causing poor measurements. My advice is to stop clamping. Take a week off and concentrate solely on deep tissue penile massage using heat if possible. As far as discoloration goes, you can use one of the methods on the forum to deal with that, check out them all in the Discoloration Forum

doublelongdaddy;749921 said:

I have warned men time and tome again of the risks of clamping but people still do it. Clamping, for many, will end in your case. Corticosteroid will not deal with discoloration, it deal with skin irritation. Something I have taught many to use daily to avoid skin irritation. Clamping can bring discoloration, sometimes permanent. It can also cause swelling of tissue due to retainment of fluid. The frenulum being swollen is simply something that happens with clamping. I would not say that you gains have been lost or not cemented, it may be you anxiety that is causing poor measurements. My advice is to stop clamping. Take a week off and concentrate solely on deep tissue penile massage using heat if possible. As far as discoloration goes, you can use one of the methods on the forum to deal with that, check out them all in the Discoloration Forum

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Thanks for the reply, DLD. I should have mentioned that I have experienced discoloration in years past, due to clamping. But it didn't seem quite as severe as this time. The good thing is that it eventually faded, but took a long, long time. Whether it will this time or not remains to be seen. As for taking a week off, I've done no PE whatsoever since before Xmas. Partly because of the fear that I had done permanent damage (and maybe I have) but also because I've been ill with a horrible flu for the past week and a half. I will return to PE, but I'm still working on a strategy. I figure since I have a Phallosan, I may give it a fair shake. I may focus all my energy on length with the Phallosan, perhaps preceded by some bundled stretching. No more hanging weights, and absolutely no more clamping, ever. I'm still not sure the swollen frenulum was due entirely to clamping though. I mean, there is a huge amount of pressure on the head and frenulum brought into play from hanging and even intense manual stretching. I measured the other day after more than 3 weeks off and still have 6" mid girth, so while I have not reached my goal, it's nothing to sneeze at. I'll check the discoloration forum and see what I can find. As I've mentioned in a couple of past posts, I've considered getting circumcised. That will certainly remove the discoloration, although a somewhat drastic method. Not sure if I should continue with the cream the doc gave me. Been using it for about 10 days and everything still looks the same. Decades of PE and it's come to this. Well, not much I can do about it now.

Can you tell us your weekly clamping routine in detail? In my opinion, 5 min is on the short side. My sets are 10-15 and the odd time I've done 20min if I have absolutely amazing erection quality. What's your warmup and cool down routines as well?

Can I also directly you to a thread that was made 14 years ago on a topic of no clamping gains. Please look specifically at DLD and REDs responses. Very interesting stuff!!!

http://www.mattersofsize.com/forum/...-clamp-girth-exercises-are-not-permanent.html

Fillerup;749967 said:

Thanks for the reply, DLD. I should have mentioned that I have experienced discoloration in years past, due to clamping. But it didn't seem quite as severe as this time. The good thing is that it eventually faded, but took a long, long time. Whether it will this time or not remains to be seen. As for taking a week off, I've done no PE whatsoever since before Xmas. Partly because of the fear that I had done permanent damage (and maybe I have) but also because I've been ill with a horrible flu for the past week and a half. I will return to PE, but I'm still working on a strategy. I figure since I have a Phallosan, I may give it a fair shake. I may focus all my energy on length with the Phallosan, perhaps preceded by some bundled stretching. No more hanging weights, and absolutely no more clamping, ever. I'm still not sure the swollen frenulum was due entirely to clamping though. I mean, there is a huge amount of pressure on the head and frenulum brought into play from hanging and even intense manual stretching. I measured the other day after more than 3 weeks off and still have 6" mid girth, so while I have not reached my goal, it's nothing to sneeze at. I'll check the discoloration forum and see what I can find. As I've mentioned in a couple of past posts, I've considered getting circumcised. That will certainly remove the discoloration, although a somewhat drastic method. Not sure if I should continue with the cream the doc gave me. Been using it for about 10 days and everything still looks the same. Decades of PE and it's come to this. Well, not much I can do about it now.

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I hate you are experiencing these issues Fill and hope it will clear up for you. As for the 6" mseg after that much time off, that is impressive if you ask me and it would be pretty special at my house

Hey Fill, do you have any other symptoms? Are you functioning normally? EQ ok? If it's just the discoloration and FR, I'm sure you've done nothing permanent. Maybe use The PF for a spell (the sleeve could potentially solve the FR issue) and the discoloration should dissipate with time.

You just got to be more careful. You learned a good lesson and now be more cautious. The discoloration most likely will fade, if it doesn't there awesome solutions. Forego any type of erect work and stick to flaccid stretching until; l things completely clear up. Take this time a an opportunity to gain more length.

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. I had some other shit going on a couple days ago that really had me worried. Remember, as I tell this, I have done ZERO PE in well over 3 weeks. OK, so I go to the bathroom for a leak and I notice dried blood on my foreskin. I retract the foreskin and I can see blood in the tip of the urethra. I start to urinate and the first bit of urine is red, or rather pink as it's somewhat diluted. There is no blood in the urine stream, just at the very tip, as though I'd somehow broken a blood vessel at the inner tip of my urethra. How? Beats me. Like I said, I've done no PE in weeks. Later that day I urinated again and there is tiny bit of pink, and that was the end of it. No blood of any kind since. So, I don't know what that's about. I haven't even masturbated, as I've just been too sick with the flu. Now a couple of you asked different questions. First to "EggHed:"I didn't have a specific clamping routine. Rather, it was a component of my girth routine which consisted of the following: 5 minutes warmup with heated rice bag, maybe 5 minutes of bundled stretches followed by 15-20 minutes of very intense jelq. Then I would apply the cable clamp while erect or close to it. I would clamp down fairly tight until I was as engorged as possible, then quickly loosen then push the cable clamp as far into my groin and fat pad as possible while kegeling and clamp very tightly. Then I would do squeezes, and often grip tightly at the base and push the blood forward. Then apply the other hand as well to increase the pressure towards the head. Sometimes I would do some erect bends and sometimes just edging. But yes, about 5 minutes and I'd remove the clamp, then 5 minutes into the bathmate. Sometimes that would be the end of my workout, although sometimes I would repeat the clamping and bathmate. I did not use heat to warm down because I figured the bathmate was already full of very warm water so that heat, I felt, was sufficient. Also, I often applied the cable clamp for maybe 1/2 hour as a type of cock ring, so it wasn't real tight. I should mention that all through my workout, I went at max intensity, because that's what I kept hearing: Intensity, intensity, INTENSITY!!!! Well, take it from me. There's such a thing as too intense, and the risk of injury is high.

Lookn4girth: Thanks for the well wishes. I'm not sure if and when I'll get back into the game, but I can tell you this: I will be much gentler with myself.

Big Schwanz Acht: Do I have any other symptoms? Well, I've already described the bleeding, although that seems to have cleared up. EQ? Sucks. Often very difficult to get an erection, and if I do, to maintain it. Bear in mind, I am 61 years old, which is a factor all it's own. I've also been a heavy drinker but resolved to change that in the new year. Haven't had a drink in 10 days, which doesn't really count because I've been too sick to drink anyway LOL. But I am determined to shut it down, maybe permanently. We all know that excess alcohol use can lead to impotency problems, so I want to nip it in the bud before that happens. But I've had no morning wood since I stopped PE, so that's not a real good sign. Again, though, I've been really sick with this flu. So, maybe it will come back. For the record, yes I was doing regular daily kegels. Yes, I imagine the discoloration will eventually fade, but I know from experience it can take months or even years. I might play around with the Apple Cider Vinegar application I read about on the discoloration forum.

DLD: I'm even afraid to do manual stretching. It still applies considerable pressure to the glans and frenulum. I May just stick to the PF for a few months and see how that goes. It's also a good way to know if gains can be made with the PF by itself, as the company claims. I don't know when I'll start up, maybe in a couple more weeks. I do have some concern about EQ though, and I wonder if all this intense girth work hasn't created a venous leak of some kind. If so, I just might be screwed. Imagine years of PE, designed to enhance one's sex life, eventually leaves you without one. I hope that's not the case.

not sure if this helps or not, but that part of your body is perhaps the most resilient given its toughness and rich blood flow. hang in there, bro from The Great White North

The blood you are seeing is a small cut on your urethra. This is actually very common in high pressure activities. Very scary but nothing to worry on, just a small cut that will heal with a week. I understand you concerns about stretching, but how much longer with the frenulum be injured? Perhaps this is a permanent state? Not sure completely but the frenulum should help very quickly. Men who have removed their frenulum heal up within a month so, as stated by BSA, the penis is extremely resilient and will heal on its own in most cases. Has the frenulum changed in at all?

I'm going to chime in and say you likely over stressed your penis and urethra. Stretching, (I'm assuming pulling on your glans), then intense jelqs (more glans stress- blood pushed forward), then clamped squeezes and such??? Are you surprised? Not trying to be a jerk, but come on man.
I'd give your poor penis a couple months off. Jelqs have a documented history of causing problems with high pressure as do high intensity clamping techniques. Urethra bleeding comes from rupturing capillaries in the lining of the urethra. Usually feels like a needle poke, followed by some blood.

When you resume PE, go with squeezes that allow you to remove excess pressure from the glans. Horse squeezes where you squeeze the glans, SSJs modified with a glans squeeze, even clamping with just prolonged edging rather than any clamped squeezes are great examples.

In fact more so here lately I'm recommending to my own clamp customers simpler approaches with clamping like clamped edging and the feedback I'm getting has been great. I don't think most men need aggressive clamping to see good results.

Getting too carried away with it causes issues like yours, thrombosed veins, and long term bruising and darkening.

stillwantmore2;750331 said:

I'm going to chime in and say you likely over stressed your penis and urethra. Stretching, (I'm assuming pulling on your glans), then intense jelqs (more glans stress- blood pushed forward), then clamped squeezes and such??? Are you surprised? Not trying to be a jerk, but come on man.
I'd give your poor penis a couple months off. Jelqs have a documented history of causing problems with high pressure as do high intensity clamping techniques. Urethra bleeding comes from rupturing capillaries in the lining of the urethra. Usually feels like a needle poke, followed by some blood.

When you resume PE, go with squeezes that allow you to remove excess pressure from the glans. Horse squeezes where you squeeze the glans, SSJs modified with a glans squeeze, even clamping with just prolonged edging rather than any clamped squeezes are great examples.

In fact more so here lately I'm recommending to my own clamp customers simpler approaches with clamping like clamped edging and the feedback I'm getting has been great. I don't think most men need aggressive clamping to see good results.

Getting too carried away with it causes issues like yours, thrombosed veins, and long term bruising and darkening.

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Yes, I know I was hitting it pretty hard, but that was because I had read so many posts expounding on how "intensity" was key to success. But there is a limit, as I fully realize. The bleeding caught me off guard because it occurred 3 weeks after I had ceased all PE activity. You would think it would happen during active sessions, not weeks after cessation of all such activities. So that was weird. In any event, it's been a month with no PE. I may start at the beginning of Feb. but I think I'll go just with light stretching and the Phallosan for long sessions at low pressure. I'm not sure if I'll ever do clamping again. I think even with just edging, the darkening would occur. And I've read posts from guys who have got this darkening simply by using pumps, including the bathmate, with no clamping at all. So, it appears you can get this darkening from either. But it never happened with jelqing. I think slow, easy and cautious is the way I'm going from here on in.

doublelongdaddy;750144 said:

The blood you are seeing is a small cut on your urethra. This is actually very common in high pressure activities. Very scary but nothing to worry on, just a small cut that will heal with a week. I understand you concerns about stretching, but how much longer with the frenulum be injured? Perhaps this is a permanent state? Not sure completely but the frenulum should help very quickly. Men who have removed their frenulum heal up within a month so, as stated by BSA, the penis is extremely resilient and will heal on its own in most cases. Has the frenulum changed in at all?

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Frenulum still looks pretty much the same. I did apply the cortisone and anti-fungal cream a couple times a day for 2 weeks, but it had no effect. Doctor had no idea this was due to extreme PE, and he thought it was something else. The darkening is a drag, and time will tell if it will gradually disappear or not. One thing's for sure: My days of going super intense are over. If I don't get the 9X7, so what. At least it will still function. I hope.

Intensity and learning to increase it steadily over time, applies more so to length work. With girth work, it's a trickier thing to work with.

Fillerup;750344 said:

My days of going super intense are over. If I don't get the 9X7, so what. At least it will still function. I hope.

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Hey Fill, I feel somewhat responsible and hope you can accept my apology for espousing 'as much intensity as you can muster' to MOS. I know I've 'overdone it' on several occasions, (although I never had a delayed reaction like you), so there's definitely a line that you need to find and stay behind no matter what you think you can handle.
I'm certain you'll heal-up to 100%, but I know how frustrating it is to be on The DL

Intensity should always be progressive and safe. You do not want to stay at a newbie level forever but at the same time you do not want to push too hard. PE takes self awareness and keeping a keen eye on everything in a session. If there is pain, stop and check what is causing the pain. If there is discoloration happening, catch it early and change the exercise. PE has so much to do with personal intensity, meaning how much any individual can take. I started out pretty hardcore and progressed that way over the years. Others may have started more gentle and will need to increase their intensity. For me I have always stuck with a routine until I knew I got every bit out of it. SRT gives so much positive attention to healing that all should read the entire thread.

Big Schwanz Acht;750371 said:

Hey Fill, I feel somewhat responsible and hope you can accept my apology for espousing 'as much intensity as you can muster' to MOS. I know I've 'overdone it' on several occasions, (although I never had a delayed reaction like you), so there's definitely a line that you need to find and stay behind no matter what you think you can handle.
I'm certain you'll heal-up to 100%, but I know how frustrating it is to be on The DL

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No Apology needed BAS. You were not alone in espousing the benefits of intensity, even the necessity of intensity. I think even DLD said his greatest gains came during a 6-month stint of very aggressive exercise. So, what can I say? we all want quick results, and when you get to be my age, well, time is of the essence. Who the hell wants to wake up one morning and say, "Wow, I finally have my 9X7!" Trouble is...your're 75 years old. And you don't give a shit anymore LOL. So, I guess I was giving it a last shot and hitting it just a bit too hard. Wish I were 30 years younger, but, I'm not. So, I'm going easy and will try and work more on EQ than anything else, as it's really in the dumpster lately, probably stress related.

Fillerup;750932 said:

No Apology needed BAS. You were not alone in espousing the benefits of intensity, even the necessity of intensity. I think even DLD said his greatest gains came during a 6-month stint of very aggressive exercise. So, what can I say? we all want quick results, and when you get to be my age, well, time is of the essence. Who the hell wants to wake up one morning and say, "Wow, I finally have my 9X7!" Trouble is...your're 75 years old. And you don't give a shit anymore LOL. So, I guess I was giving it a last shot and hitting it just a bit too hard. Wish I were 30 years younger, but, I'm not. So, I'm going easy and will try and work more on EQ than anything else, as it's really in the dumpster lately, probably stress related.

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You are correct, in my first 3 months my intensity and time was through the roof. I pretty much did PE every waking hour. I did not have the awesome tools you guys had except the PowerAssist which later became the LengthMaster. So it was all manual and most likely about 8 hours a day. I wanted what I wanted and I was not making excuses. I actually expected more than I gained over that six months. I had gained 2" in length over that six months but I think I could have gained even more if I had the tools too.

Fillerup;750932 said:

No Apology needed BAS. You were not alone in espousing the benefits of intensity, even the necessity of intensity. I think even DLD said his greatest gains came during a 6-month stint of very aggressive exercise. So, what can I say? we all want quick results, and when you get to be my age, well, time is of the essence. Who the hell wants to wake up one morning and say, "Wow, I finally have my 9X7!" Trouble is...your're 75 years old. And you don't give a shit anymore LOL. So, I guess I was giving it a last shot and hitting it just a bit too hard. Wish I were 30 years younger, but, I'm not. So, I'm going easy and will try and work more on EQ than anything else, as it's really in the dumpster lately, probably stress related.

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I'm not that much younger than you (+/- 5 years) and am thankful I found out about PE/MOS when I did...you're never too old