Robert Walker, aka @.bobbytony on TikTok, noticed as a teenager that he was uncircumcised. He also noticed that his foreskin felt pretty tight — it wouldn’t pull down.
When an uncircumcised penis is erect, the foreskin usually retracts. Robert, however, had a condition called phimosis. That’s the inability to retract the foreskin over the head, or glans, of the penis. The condition is pretty normal in babies and young kids but goes away with time. Only 1% of 7th graders with uncircumcised penises display the condition.
When Robert spoke to BuzzFeed, he said that pulling the foreskin down felt like a “subtle tear or minor cut.”
He went on: “I felt restricted both physically and mentally when it came to conversing with someone I was interested in and having to explain to them to not pull too hard, or don’t do this, or that. I just wanted to get to the point.”
He explained the entire process in a series of TikToks.
“I was getting so tired of going above and beyond cleaning every time I had to pee,” Robert said.
He also explained how he would clean his penis. With props!
At 25, Robert decided he wanted to get circumcised, which is a more involved process with adults than it is with newborns.
The surgery takes between 30 minutes to an hour and requires some kind of anesthesia. The doctor then removes the foreskin around the head of the penis, cauterizes or stitches the rest of it back onto the shaft, and uses dissolvable stitches.
It takes about three to four weeks to recover.
“The recovery process was easier than I imagined,” he said. “I was back to work in a month, comfortably. The sensitivity of my new and improved penis was very uneasy at first, but not painful.”
He told BuzzFeed, “Now that my head is showing, I am GLOWING. Also, the size. It seemed to look bigger after the surgery, and as a result of these two things, I’m just happy.”