Restoration Progress Speed

[BackToNatural]

I have a question for any veteran restorers who have progressed beyond CI-4. Does restoration generally go faster the more skin you have? I.e. if you're tugging more skin, more cells would multiply in any given skin growth cycle, thus lending to faster growth than at CI-1-3? I'm currently what I would call CI-3.8; when I'm in my smaller flaccid states I have complete coronal coverage with some rollover onto the glans. However at my average or larger flaccid states the skin merely bunches up a lot at the corona and would otherwise be rolling over if I weren't in my larger flaccid state. I'm unsure of the definitions on the CI chart (yes, I know this chart isn't accurate like the FEC method is); I'm more concerned with my "status" on the chart rather than precise numbers indicating how many millimeters I've grown in X amount of time. Could I be considered a CI-4 in the early stages or am I still stuck at CI-3? I may upload a photo later tonight, though I'm posting this on the fly as I'm about to head to work. All feedback from CI-4+ restorers is appreciated

[greg_b]

This question comes up frequently. And it sounds plausible, so it is a good question. But in practice, I have not seen any increase in progress that could not be more plausibly attributed to a change in technique. And, if you think about it, if it was generally happening, it would not be a question that comes up frequently, rather it would be a given with lots of men saying, just wait until you get more skin....

From the discussions we have had, I think there are two hypotheses that might explain this. First is that it actually happens, but the effect is so small that it is typically not recognized. some modeling by Tormod suggests this possibility.

The other, is that we can only effectively tension a narrow band of skin, so that even as the skin grows, no more skin is being triggered to grow. I lean toward this hypothesis, as my experience with inflation seems to support it. when I switched to inflation, I had an increase in progress. And, it seems plausible that inflation does a better job of tensioning more of my skin tube, as the balloon conforms to the shape of my skin, ie fills the skin tube completely.

In the end, it really doesn't matter. All we can do is tug until we grow as much skin as we want.

[Guest]

Short of a formal study (nobody should hold their breath for that), I lean in the same direction greg does.

Tension is only the stimulus (the kick starter), so at any point in time only a small area of skin sees enough tension to cause a few more cells to form. This area is probably really close to where the skin is gripped, either by your fingers or a device. Any skin farther away from that isn't stimulated to form new cells because it doesn't see as much tension. Skin naturally stretches, so when you put tension on it you will see a decrease of tension, because that stretching dampens the intensity of tension. Things are never simple.

And, you have to add the fact that only some cells out of all the rest can divide. Not all cells can divide, even if they do see the right amount of tension.There is only one layer of skin where cell division can happen at all. That's the bottom layer of skin. Any cell above that is either dying, or is already dead, and all these cells can't divide.

So the net effect is ... not many new cells are formed as a result of tension. And this whole process happens slowly because that's the natural rule of skin and the process of mitosis. Mitosis, whether it's at the usual rate, or at a higher rate due to tension, has a series to steps that have to happen before you get a new cell.

So.......believe it or not, you already are causing cells to grow at an accelerated rate . What science has found is that trying for a faster rate ends up either causing possible injury, or in the case of implanted balloon expanders, possible substandard, poorly developed skin. You don't want that. Luckily, you can't get substandard skin because we restorers can only tug at the good rate. So when you hear some guy on a forum tell you that he did it in "one year", he either started with an intact, real foreskin (some of them are naturally short) or he's just trying to impress anyone who'll listen.

But all of this depends on how often (in episodes) you can apply tension. Most people work for a living, so they can't devote all day to tugging. If you can, then try many cycles of tension throughout the day, with some time off, and see what happens. You may see an "increase" from something in the past, but it won't be because you somehow went beyond the natural rules of skin, and mitosis. So I can pretty much guarantee it will take you a number of years to see significant growth.

Otherwise, do it when you can. Like greg says, all you can really do is tug, experiment, until you get what you want.