Penis size is of great concern to many men. Some consider having a large penis a mark of masculinity; others are concerned that their penis is too small. This has led to the creation of a whole industry devoted to penis enlargement.
| Table of contents |
|
2 Penis size myths and legends 3 Penis enlargement 4 Self-treatment methods 5 Surgical methods 6 References 7 See also 8 External links |
Based on the data in the UCSF study published in 1996, the "typical" erect penis is between about 4 to 6.25 inches, with an average of 5.1 inches, as measured along the penis from the tip of the erect penis to the pubic bone. But, this only represents a typical range, and a penis that is outside this range is not abnormal. However, a very few men have very small penises: this is known as a micropenis, and is a very unusual condition, which will generally have been detected in early childhood. Penis-enlargement self-treatments are not effective for this condition.
The length of the flaccid penis is no guide to the size of the erect penis; indeed, some men with small flaccid penes may have larger erections than other men with larger flaccid penes that do not increase as much in size when erect.
Men also tend to misjudge the size of their penis relative to that of other men they have seen naked, simply because of the foreshortening they have always seen by looking down at their penis from above. In addition, as Paul Fussell noted in his memoirs, men who are overweight or have large guts may fail to allow for the partial concealment of the penis by their adbominal region.
A survey by sexologists showed that almost all men who believed that their penis was of inadequate size actually had a normal-sized penis. Most sexologists believe that worries about penis size come from some other source of anxiety or perceived inadequacy.
In some cultures, mass hysteria involving the believed removal or shrinking of the penis has been observed. See penis panic for a detailed discussion.
Many cultures have a persistent urban legend that the penis size of some minority groups is larger than the norm. In the United States, the minority group chosen are African-Americans. This appears not to be supported by anything other than anecdote. Fanon covers this subject in some detail in "Black Skin, White Masks", and tends to agree that this is a myth -- a conclusion that he backs up with statistics.
The only reliable penis-size studies commonly quoted in the literature are the Kinsey study, the UCSF study, and an Italian study, none of which even attempted to correlate size with race. There is an ongoing government study in India, as well, commissioned with the goal of helping reduce the high condom failure rate there. This study is not likely to answer the question either. There have been many other studies with claims of varying rigor - for example, the LifeStyles condoms study -- but they are generally flawed by selection bias.
Some men dissatisfied for some reason with their penis size seek to enlarge their penis. Many commercial advertisements for penis enlargement treatments are sent via e-mail spam, direct mail, and in sexually-oriented magazines for penis enlargement aids. Many of these are probably misleading and in the case of e-mail spam, are perceived as disturbing or offensive by many users.
In general, where there is a perceived problem with penis size, medical advice should be sought, rather than attempting self-treatment. Most self-treatment methods are believed to be either ineffective or dangerous, or both. In particular "penis enlargement pills" or ointments offered over the Internet are a scam.
Penis-enlargement self-treatments are not effective for the condition of micropenis; again, medical advice should be sought.
The method usually referred to in advertising is the penis pump. This is a cylinder that is fitted over the penis, and a pump creates a vacuum. These are valuable sexual aids for men who have difficulty achieving and maintaining an erection, as they can be used to achieve an erection, with a compressive ring on the base of the penis then maintaining the erection. However, their efficacy at increasing absolute penis size is marginal. They apparently have no measurable effect on shaft size. There may be some possibility of achieving a slight increase in size of the glans penis, but this may come at the cost of a roughened and coarsened texture of the mucous membrane covering the glans. Excessive use of these devices can also cause burst blood vessels. Attempts at using vacuum cleaner base units for this purpose have resulted in severe damage when the fan of the vacuum cleaner is contacted.
A second method is known as jelqing or jelquing. Depending on the source, this technique is described as having secret roots in tribal Africa or the Middle East, or as an elaborate practical joke which has been taken literally by some gullible readers. In jelqing, the penis is milked from its base to the glans penis while in a semi-erect state, thus allegedly encouraging more vascularity in the corpora cavernosa and associated tissues. Internet claims range in gains from .25 inches to 3 inches or more in length and 1 to 5 inches in girth. However, there have been warnings that one possible cause of the growth is the presence of scar tissue caused by the exercise, which may harm penile function.
An innovation in cosmetic surgery takes fat cells from elsewhere in the body and injects them below the surface of the skin of the shaft of the penis to increase the thickness (but not length) of the penis. The penile shaft normally has little or no fat, and this method results in an unnatural appearance and feel, as well as risking radical shifting of the fat injected.
Another method is to cut the basal penile ligament, which can result in a apparent lengthening of the penis by up to two inches in some individuals. However, it also means that, while the penis elongates and hardens with an erection, it can no longer become truly erect, but only hangs. The results of this surgery vary greatly between individuals, with some subjects reporting no measurable lengthening at all.
Another method is to replace the two corpora cavernosa with inflatable penile implants. This is performed primarily as a therapeutic surgery for men suffering from complete impotence; an implanted pump in the groin can be manipulated by hand to fill these cylinders from an implanted reservoir in order to achieve an erection. The replacement cylinders are normally sized to be direct replacements for the corpus cavernosa, but larger ones can be implanted. However, the result is an uncomfortable stretching of the other penile tissues which can have a number of complications.
An experimental method is a complete penile transplant. With modern techniques and anti-rejection drugs, this certainly should be possible, but there has been no record of a successful attempt until very recently, when a rather odd situation occurred in which a penis was taken from a male infant with two penises and attached to another male infant lacking a penis. The overwhelming drawback to this method, apart from the necessity to ever after take anti-rejection drugs with their side effects and restrictions in lifestyle, is the unfortunate fact that, performed on an adult, the penis then is an organ dead to the touch, which largely negates its usefulness. The ultimate consequences of the first penis transplant noted above are still unknown.
Overview
Penis size myths and legends
Penis enlargement
Self-treatment methods
Surgical methods
References
See also
External links
