The ridged band is part of the prepuce or foreskin described by Dr John R. Taylor (a Canadian pathologist and genital integrity (sometimes called anti-circumcision) activist at the 1991 Second International Symposium on Circumcision, ', organised by leading anti-circumcision organisation NOCIRC in San Francisco. He and others later followed up on this in an article concerning anatomical and histological study of the human foreskin that was published in the British Journal of Urology supplement in 1996. Taylor et al. described a band of highly innervated and vascularised tissue located just inside the tip of the foreskin of the human male near the mucocutaneous boundary. Winkelmann (1959) earlier had suggested that the mucocutaneous boundary is a specific erogenous zone.[1]

The ridged band lies at the boundary between the outer skin of the penis and the bulk of the inner mucosa. It contains nerve endings arranged at the crest of rete ridges. These nerve endings are Meissner's corpuscles, which are sensitive to light touch and specifically stroking and fluttering sensations as experienced on the nipples, soles of the feet, and elsewhere.

The ridged band is often excised during circumcision.[2]

The description of the ridged band arises from an anatomical study of foreskins obtained from cadavers, and in itself does not appear to be controversial, although it has yet to be confirmed. However, the suggestion of a sexual function[3] [4] for this part is of the foreskin is a hypothesis, inferred only from its innervation, and has not been confirmed by studies. Studies have shown differing results over the consequences of removal of the foreskin (see Medical analysis of circumcision).

Taylor et al. postulated:

We postulate that the `ridged band' with its unique structure, tactile corpuscles and other nerves, is primarily sensory tissue and that it cooperates with other components of the prepuce. In this model, the `smooth' mucosa and true skin of the adult prepuce act together to allow the `ridged band' to move from a forward to a `deployed' position on the shaft of the penis. In short, the prepuce should be considered a structural and functional unit made up of more and less specialized parts.[5]

Taylor further claims that the ridged band is designed to be stimulated through movement during sex.[6]

See Also

• Erogenous zone
• Foreskin
• Gliding action
• Male circumcision
• Medical analysis of circumcision
• Mucocutaneous boundary

External links

• Winkelmann RK. The erogenous zones: their nerve supply and significance. Mayo Clin Proc 1959;34(2):39-47. URL: http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/winkelmann/

• Taylor JR, Lockwood AP, Taylor AJ. The prepuce: specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision. Br J Urol 1996;77:291-295. URL: http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/taylor/

• The Ridged Band: Specialized Sexual Tissue URL: http://research.cirp.org/ (Dr John R. Taylor responsible for site content)

References

• Masters WH, Johnson VE. Human Sexual Response. Boston: Little, Brown & Co 1966

• Kristen O'Hara with Jeffrey O'Hara. Sex as Nature Intended It. Hudson, Massachusetts: Turning Point Publications, 2001: pp. 139, 148-49. (ISBN 0-9700442-0-8)

• Paul Fleiss, M.D. and Frederick Hodges, D. Phil. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Circumcision. New York: Warner Books, 2002: pp. 7-8, 13, 14. (ISBN 0-446-67880-5)