Have Phimosis, Tight Foreskin, Pain During Penis Erection. Take Betamethasone?

i am 23 years old male. i suppose i have phimosis , because i cannot pull down the foreskin of my penis , even in the flacid condition. However, i have good amount of foreskin. Its just that the hole of the skin is too small to pull the foreskin down. Till the age of 12 or 13, i remember that i comfortably pulled down the foreskin during bath (in flacid state) to clean the complete head of penis. But i left this hygenic habit after the age of 12 or 13. Also i never masturbated by the traditional method of pulling the penis up and down. Means that i never required to pull down the foreskin for masturbation. I used other methods of masturbation. So ultimately, from the age of 12 or 13, i have never pulled down the foreskin of my penis. Now from last few months i have started having pain in the penis while erection and ejaculation . The pain is intense for a moment when ejecting the semen in first throw. After the first throw of semen there is no pain. Also i do not have any pain while urinating. I went to my family doctor, who is a physician, MD (medicine). He told me that the pain is due to phimosis only. And he told me that it should be operated by circumsion. Now, i have researched a lot on this on internet in past few days. I want to ask whether in my case, can phimosis be cured by manual streching of foreskin, slowly & steadily ? And is it advisable to apply any creams like .05% betamethasone ? Do these creams have any side effects ? Or should i just try manual streching regularly, without using any cream ? I want to keep circumsion as the last option only, as i dont want to loose my foreskin.