I can't give a definitive answer to that. I think it is just something that evolved over time until finally, the medical associations picked up on it and made it policy maybe 2 or 3 years ago.
I recall when I was in my intensive research stage several years ago, there was bits and pieces that I picked up on that lead me to that conclusion. I learned that the foreskin opening of very young boys was surrounded by non-elastic tissue that would later be replaced by elastic tissue. I knew from my restoration research that scar tissue is an issue and that scar tissue is not very elastic. I learned that the foreskin is bonded to the glans and that forcible separation could cause scar tissue adhesions that would not separate. Common sense would indicate that opening the foreskin up would potentially expose the area to infectious agents and then I learned that the preputial space is protected from infection by the enzyme lysozime and that cleaning it would disturb that protection.
I started posting the mantra of "Just leave it alone" and that was picked up by others. I remember that one very knowledgable intactivist disagreed vehemently with me and asserted that while cleaning was not necessary, it was beneficial and helped to avoid potential problems. It was not long afterward that the medical associations established their policy of "Just leave it alone" and she has not spoken to me since! Now, among those who have researched the issue at all, no retraction and no cleaning is common knowledge.
While I am not claiming credit for it, this shows the power of the internet. I posted that information every where I could. The information to support it was in many different places, just not in one place and it took some research to put all of the elements together to understand exactly why the foreskin should not be retracted. I think I may have had some role in that and in spreading it around. There is a possiblilty that someone saw my very detailed explanation of exactly why it should not have been done and made it policy. I do know that I have been instrumental in spreading the information. Maybe that's the difference in someone's life that we all want to be!
Frank
I recall when I was in my intensive research stage several years ago, there was bits and pieces that I picked up on that lead me to that conclusion. I learned that the foreskin opening of very young boys was surrounded by non-elastic tissue that would later be replaced by elastic tissue. I knew from my restoration research that scar tissue is an issue and that scar tissue is not very elastic. I learned that the foreskin is bonded to the glans and that forcible separation could cause scar tissue adhesions that would not separate. Common sense would indicate that opening the foreskin up would potentially expose the area to infectious agents and then I learned that the preputial space is protected from infection by the enzyme lysozime and that cleaning it would disturb that protection.
I started posting the mantra of "Just leave it alone" and that was picked up by others. I remember that one very knowledgable intactivist disagreed vehemently with me and asserted that while cleaning was not necessary, it was beneficial and helped to avoid potential problems. It was not long afterward that the medical associations established their policy of "Just leave it alone" and she has not spoken to me since! Now, among those who have researched the issue at all, no retraction and no cleaning is common knowledge.
While I am not claiming credit for it, this shows the power of the internet. I posted that information every where I could. The information to support it was in many different places, just not in one place and it took some research to put all of the elements together to understand exactly why the foreskin should not be retracted. I think I may have had some role in that and in spreading it around. There is a possiblilty that someone saw my very detailed explanation of exactly why it should not have been done and made it policy. I do know that I have been instrumental in spreading the information. Maybe that's the difference in someone's life that we all want to be!
Frank
