Glossary

Restoration communities use a lot of shorthand, and the jargon is one of the biggest barriers for newcomers. Here is the vocabulary in plain language, grouped by topic.

Measuring progress

• CI (Coverage Index)
  A picture-based scale from CI-0 (tightest circumcision, glans fully exposed) to CI-10 (full coverage with overhang). Best for describing a starting point. See the illustrated chart.
• RCI (Real Coverage Index)
  A word-based scale that describes how the skin behaves day to day rather than how it looks in a photo. Many find it better than CI for gauging ongoing progress.
• FEC (Forced Erect Coverage)
  A ruler measurement: while erect, pull skin forward as far as it goes and measure how much of the glans is covered as a percentage. Objective and good for tracking slow change.

Methods and actions

• Tugging
  Applying gentle tension to shaft skin to grow it. The core activity of restoration.
• Manual tugging
  Tugging using only your hands, no device. Where almost everyone starts.
• Retaining
  Keeping the glans covered by grown skin, usually with a cone, retainer, or O-ring. Maintains coverage and lets the glans soften; different from tugging.
• T-tape / taping
  A strip of tape stuck to the skin and attached to an elastic strap for tension. One of the oldest methods.
• Dual tension / bidirectional
  A device that pushes against the glans while pulling skin forward, so tension comes from both directions. Needs some slack skin to grip.
• Inflation / direct air
  Using low air pressure inside a device to expand the skin evenly instead of a mechanical pull.
• O-ring
  A soft silicone ring worn to hold skin over the glans for retaining.
• Cyclic tension
  Alternating tension with rest periods, on the idea that skin grows and repairs during the rest phase. Contrasted with constant tension.
• KOT ("Keep On Tugging")
  A community encouragement phrase and sign-off. In this app, a KOT is a bit of encouragement you can send a buddy who is mid-session.

Anatomy and tissue

• Inner skin / mucosa
  The moist mucous-membrane tissue between the circumcision scar and the glans.
• Outer / shaft skin
  The dry, normal skin continuing from the shaft. This is what tugging mainly grows.
• Ridged band (frenar band)
  Highly sensitive concentric ridges at the tip of a natural foreskin, removed by circumcision. Restoration does not regrow it.
• Dartos
  The thin layer of smooth muscle just under penile and scrotal skin.
• Frenulum (frenum)
  The elastic band of tissue on the underside tethering the glans to the skin.
• Corona / sulcus
  The flared rim of the glans, and the groove just behind it.
• Circumcision scar (scar line)
  The band around the shaft marking where skin was removed.
• Keratinization / dekeratinization
  The glans surface hardening from exposure, which dulls sensitivity, and softening again once it is kept covered, which many find restores sensitivity.
• Gliding mechanism
  The natural sliding action of foreskin over the glans that restoration aims to recreate.
• Skin bridge
  A circumcision complication where inner skin fuses to the glans.
• Intact
  The preferred term for a penis that was never circumcised, rather than "uncircumcised".

Community and organizations

• Intactivism
  Advocacy against non-consensual circumcision.
• Foregen
  A nonprofit researching biological foreskin regeneration through tissue engineering. Distinct from tension-based restoration.
• NORM
  The National Organization of Restoring Men, a long-running restoration support organization. See resources.