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Penis enlargement is the goal of a number of men dissatisfied with their penis size. 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, dangerous or both.
A survey by many 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 a desire for penis enlargement comes from some other source of anxiety (see also penis panic) or perceived lack of masculinity.
Very few men have a very small penis: 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 also not effective on this condition.
Many commercial advertisements are sent via e-mail spam, direct mail, and in sexually-oriented magazines for penis enlargement aids. These are almost universally misleading and in the case of e-mail spam, are perceived as disturbing or offensive by many recipients.
Contents
- 1 Self-treatment methods
- 1.1 Cosmetic
- 1.2 Pills
- 1.3 Penis pump
- 1.4 Jelqing
- 1.5 Traction
- 2 Surgical methods
- 3 See also
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Self-treatment methods
Cosmetic
Rather than attempt to change the actual size of the penis, one may make it appear bigger, by trimming the pubic hair or by losing weight, if one is overweight.
Pills
"Penis enlargement pills" or ointments are commonly offered over the Internet; for the most part, they are scams. At best, they promote blood flow to the penis in one way or another, temporarily resulting in a slightly larger erection. Herbal ingredients have included ginkgo biloba, a stimulant and vasodilator, and yohimbe, a sexual stimulant. While both of these ingredients may increase energy and sexual performance in the short term, neither is capable of increasing the length or size of the penis over time.
Analyses performed by Flora Research of California and by the University of Maryland have uncovered harmful contaminants in a number of "penis enlargement" pills. Contaminants found included mold, yeast, dangerous E. coli bacteria, pesticides, and lead. [1] Dr. Michael Donnenberg of the University of Maryland has described herbal pills marketed by Performance Marketing Ltd. as having "heavy fecal contamination", possibly from animals grazing near the plants harvested for herbal ingredients. [2].
There may however be a placebo effect i.e. a psychological effect of making the user think he has a larger penis, and increasing his confidence, when there is no actual change to his penis size.
External link: Anatomy of a penis pill swindle (MSNBC, June 5, 2003)
Penis pump
Another 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. As the apparatus creates a vacuum around the penis, the penis becomes engorged with blood. The more vacuum that is created, the higher the blood-pressure becomes within the penis. The penis pumps have two very different uses:
1) They can act as valuable sexual aids for men who have difficulty achieving and maintaining an erection, as they can be used to achieve an erection, while a compressive ring is used on the base of the penis to maintain the erection.
2) A "Penis Pump" can also be used to temporarily increase the maximum erect size by increasing the amount of blood and other fluids that are in the corpus cavernosa and surrounding tissue. These temporary gains are well proven and abundantly documented on various "hobbyist" websites. However, their efficacy at increasing absolute penis size is very hard to determine. Some practitioners believe the overload principle which stipulates that as a part of the body is pushed past its limits the natural healing process will accommodate for the extra stress when making repairs; for example, muscles get bigger and in this case tissues lengthen and swell. Over time it is believed that regimen of pumping and or other methods will cause gains, however minor, to be realized.
Many people have a well-justified concern for the safety issues involved in pumping. The pumping process can cause blood vessels to burst, and can form blisters. In some cases the testicles can be unexpectedly pulled into the cylinder and cause an extreme amount of pain as well as possible injury. It is also believed that the rim of the cylinder can cut into the skin and over time cause damage to the ligaments surrounding the penis. However, these dangers are easily avoided by a little instruction and a lot of patience. Far too often newcomers to the practice will use too much vacuum (anything greater than 10 mm Hg) and hurt themselves before ever reading any guides to the hobby. Attempts at using vacuum cleaner base units for this purpose have resulted in severe injury: the machine causes too much vacuum and there is also danger in contacting the vacuum fan unit; both scenarios can cause severe damage.
Penis pumps gained some popular culture notoriety in the Austin Powers films.
Jelqing
Another method is known as jelqing (or jelquing). Jelqing is a technique intended to enlarge the penis by increasing the blood pressure in the penis, with the goal of permanently increasing the maximum erect size of the penis. This technique, also called "milking", involves wrapping the thumb and index finger around the penis while semi-erect and repeatedly drawing them away from one's body to force blood into the glans, thus encouraging more vascularity in the corpus cavernosa and associated tissues. Whether jelqing actually works or not is a subject of controversy.
The word (and technique) is rumored to have various Arabic origins (from the word "milking"); other sources claim the technique has its roots in tribal Africa; however, still other sources claim that it was an American invention and these rumors are simply rumors or propaganda meant to sell jelqing instructions. Currently there are no scientific studies to support the assertion that this technique gives any benefit or improvement in penis size, though there is a growing body of anecdotal evidence.
Caution: Jelqing is inherently dangerous, and even if done correctly can cause injuries, from irritated skin and burst blood vessels to scarring and impaired penile function, including partial loss of erectile function and inability to maintain an erection. It should not be attempted by anyone without a complete understanding of the risks involved.
There are many products (tools, instructions, etc.) that one can buy; however, much of what they offer (instructions) is available on forums and free websites. Before beginning an enlargement regimen, one should contact someone experienced with the technique.
Jelqing is typically preceded by a warmup with a hot compress on the genitals, and concluded the same way.
Jelqing will often increase the size of the flaccid penis in the short-term after only a few sessions, but substantial gains to maximum erect penis size supposedly take a month or more to develop. Internet claims range in gains from .25 inches to 3 inches or more in length and 1 to 5 inches in girth. The upper end of the girth claims are highly suspect and the length claims represent many years of multiple enlargement techniques. 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.
Traction
Another nonsurgical method to lengthen the penis is by employing devices that pull at the glans of the penis for extended periods of time. This is known as traction; where tissues under continuous tension will undergo stretching. If the applied tension is too large injury to the tissues or nerves of the penis can result.
Surgical methods
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.
A related method involves injection of silicone into the penis and scrotum. This technique can cause enormous increases in the girth of the penis (increasing the penis volume by over 900%) but is effectively irreversible and may have side effects including loss of sensation, inability to perform penetrative intercourse, scarring and deformation. Injections of other substances, including collagen, mineral oil and even KY Jelly may have similar effects, but also may cause extreme scarring and permanent disfigurement.
Another method is to cut the basal penile ligament, which can result in an 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.
A further 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.
A practice that is gaining popularity in Indonesia and southern Asia is the implantation of small objects under the skin of the penis, usually close to the glans. Implanted such as Steel ball bearings, plastic pellets, semi-precious stones, rings and studs are used. The reasoning for this form of augmentation is varied: some do it for supposed magical benefits, other for "pleasing the women" although the implant (such as a ring or stud) might be removed before intercourse. Apparently many women have found it to cause pain, discomfort, bleeding, scarring, and infection more often than pleasure.[3]
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 unusual 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.
See also
- Penis removalde:Penisvergrößerung
Search Term: "Penis_enlargement"
Categories: Articles lacking sources | Andrology
