FEC and Measurements

[urethramaster]

Hello everyone!

I had a question regarding FEC. I feel like I always get a different result, and I wanted to make sure that I am taking the measurement correctly. I have read over the instructions on measuring the FEC on TLCTugger.com, so I am familiar with how to actually do it. However, I came across a few problems of my own and wanted to inquire about them.

1. When you are erect and measuring your glans, should you flex your PC muscles? I found that if I flexed them, my FEC was 77%, but when I relaxed them, I could relatively easily make it 100%. I wasn't sure which measurement was one I needed. This is obviously frustrating as you aren't sure whether you're making any advancements.
2. How far should you pull up on your foreskin? The thing is that the website mentioned that you shouldn't do it if it hurts too much. Us tuggers obviously have a lot of will, and are determined to pull as much as we can get out of it. It's hard for me to gauge just how much to pull up. There is an uncomfortableness if I do it for too long or too hard, but not actual pain. I could even potentially pull it even higher than I think I can. May be a difficulty in gauging the FEC.

If anyone has any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[mjwise]

The key is to do something you can reproduce for yourself. FEC isn't really directly comparable between men so it's just a matter of picking or defining a method that works for yourself and sticking to it. For me, I do it at the same time of day (in the morning at the same time, after at least 8 hours has passed with no tugging) using only my right hand to push up the slack. I do it when seated. I only measure on the dorsal side. For me, like you, I can push and pull the skin to close to an elastic limit and it doesn't hurt in the short term, so I do. Then I'll take the lowest/most conservative measurement of coverage of three measurements spread over a few minutes.

For you, pick whether you're going to flex PC muscles or not and just stick to it. If you can pull more without hurting yourself, then do so. The key elements to an FEC measurement are being as erect as you can be, tugging on the skin in a predictable way, and stopping before pain.

[Guest]

There is an old answer to the question "How many social classes are in the US?", which is: "There are the controlling (very) few, and then there is all the rest of us. So two classes. Anything else is just taste, availability, and window dressing". Same thing applies to measurement of a biological tissue which is designed to stretch, and grow only when it wants to. You either have enough to cover your flaccid penis, or you don't. Anything, at any point, before that is just somewhere "not yet", and very unclear "where" at any of those points (as you've found to be true).

So you can say to yourself, "Not there yet", which is the most accurate, or you can say "I think I gained x amount of new skin, or maybe it's just temporary stretch, or the effect of PC muscles, or.....whatever".

[mjwise]

Same thing applies to measurement of a biological tissue which is designed to stretch, and grow only when it wants to. You either have enough to cover your flaccid penis, or you don't. Anything, at any point, before that is just somewhere "not yet", and very unclear "where" at any of those points (as you've found to be true).

This may be true, but given the amount of time that can pass before coverage occurs, it's useful to have a metric that can measure progress towards coverage. I think inability to see progress and not knowing when to make technique adjustments if growth isn't happening are the top reasons men give up trying to restore. The FEC number provides a means to measure skin growth progress that is not casually visible.

The CI scale is, in my opinion, more for finding your beginning point and perhaps your desired endpoint - it is far too coarse and subject to too many variables to measure progress. Really, it's just a collection of 20 points in time of other men's penises. The FEC is about actually measuring progress with your penis.

[Guest]

Your second point is a good one and I certainly agree with it; been singin' that song for a long time, especially when new folks seem to get caught up in the trap of rough measurement. I'd use the term 'arbitrary' rather than coarse. The trap in it, in other words, is looking outside yourself for validation. That's always been my gripe because 'outside yourself', ie coarse measurement, doesn't work in the long run, as you point out.

I think your first point illuminates the fundamental issue in restoration, and I can put it under the same banner I described in my above post: just two classes of people; those with the spirit and endurance to make it, and the all the rest. I use the word 'spirit' advisedly. Going the distance begins with making yourself the sole guide in this practice, and believing in your own power from the inside, out. Making yourself the guide (not some arbitrary measurement/quasi "system") is the first aspect of restoration; the first thing restored, if you will. You restore this quality, and you've already won the goal; everything needed though out the process springs from that.

Guys seem to put all this effort and angst into worrying about what to do, when your skin does it all. All anyone has to really do, is just hang in; that's all. So two mantras: Your skin does it all; Just keep going.

[urethramaster]

Hey guys,

I appreciate all of your responses! You both have some really solid points of advice.