Preputial infibulation: from ancient medicine to modern genital piercing

Abstract

Procedures to prevent the eversion of the foreskin have been in use since antiquity for various reasons. Beginning in ancient Rome as a supposed means of preserving the voice, preputial infibulation largely disappeared in Europe until it experienced a revival during the Victorian era as a clinical weapon in the medical ‘war on masturbation’. Although circumcision was the most common method of preventing masturbation in the USA and Britain, infibulation was frequently used as an alternative, being used in mental institutions and orphan asylums, and receiving endorsement from leading medical authorities.

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