Tunde Ajaja

To many men, the size of the penis matters. And according to a professor of urologic surgery at Harvard Medical School and urologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Michael O’Leary, “I think there isn’t a guy in the world who hasn’t wished his penis were an inch or two longer.”

Many men believe that the bigger the penis the better. Not only because it enhances their masculinity, some think big penis boosts their sexual performance.

Thus, in a bid to boost their sexual prowess, some men use different kinds of products to increase the size of the penis.

But, experts have warned that those drugs, creams, pumps, specified exercises and even surgery that people rely on do not work. They said people who try those things might be putting themselves at risk.

They noted that even the surgery that seems like a solution has limited benefits and that it often has side effects. Yes, the penis might appear bigger, but it could be accompanied by erectile dysfunction, tissue damage, burst blood vessels and other complications.

O’Leary, who is a renowned urologist, told WebMD, “Trust me, if I knew of a way to safely and effectively increase penis size, I’d be a billionaire. But I don’t. Nobody does.”

Also, a urologist in Beverly Hills, Jennifer Berman, said it was high time people disregarded all the pills, supplements, ointments and creams because, according to him, they do not work.

He told WebMD, “I think it’s safe to say that all of that stuff is complete nonsense. The main target for penis enlargement advertising is insecure guys who think all their power lies in their penises. These guys are easy victims.”

While some men see surgery as the ultimate solution, these experts identified the side effects of lengthening surgeries to include infections, nerve damage, reduced sensitivity, and difficulty getting an erection.

More importantly, they pointed out that the scars could leave such a person with a penis that is shorter than what they had previously, apart from the pain that could be a consequence.

It was also revealed that the surgery could leave the penis looking lumpy, discoloured, bumpy, uneven; and even render it dysfunctional.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States has warned that supplements for penis enlargement tend to appear attractive and give an impression that they are made of all-natural ingredients, but that people should also be wary of them.

According to a post on Men’s Journal, a survey by the FDA revealed that one-third of supplements that claim to improve sexual function contain undisclosed prescription drug ingredients or similar substances that could pose serious health hazard. This is partly because the herbal supplements are largely unregulated.

An expert in erectile dysfunction, Dr Louisa Draper, also said the solutions advertised as penis enhancement products are ineffective, saying they have not been medically proven to help, and that more importantly, they could pose a threat to the person’s health.

She said, “It’s important to remember that male enhancement is a big industry which reinforces men’s insecurities about the size of their penis. Penis enlargement pills do not work, and neither do creams, lotions, supplements or other male enhancement products.

“There are no legitimate medical studies to confirm the claims made by any of the manufacturers of “penis enhancement” pills. Avoid buying unlicensed and potentially dangerous medicines – they are likely to do more harm than good.

“Contraptions designed to stretch your penis are wrongly advertised – although penis pumps can help men with erectile dysfunction, they do not increase the size of your penis. There is also no particular exercise which could cause permanent enlargement.

“It is possible to increase your penis size with plastic surgery. However, there is a risk of side effects and according to a study conducted in 2006, only 35 per cent of men who underwent penis enlargement surgery were happy with the results.”

While speaking on the effects of some of the popular methods, Draper said against the belief that vacuum penis pump permanently increases the penis size, it only makes the penis look larger temporarily – usually for treating erectile dysfunction, and frequent use could damage elastic tissue in the penis, leading to firm erections.

She explained further that using penile extenders, which involves hanging a weight on the penis for hours does not increase its size. Rather, she said it could cause tissue damage and that there had been reports of it causing Peyronie’s disease, which manifests in painful sex and erectile dysfunction.

“Rather than resulting in enlargement, using penile extenders could cause injury and have a negative effect on your ability to get an erection. You should consult a doctor before experimenting with any device to enlarge your penis, as there is a risk of side effects and injury,” she added.

Also speaking on surgery, which could be through penis length surgery, penis girth surgery or liposuction, she said penis length surgery, which involves cutting the ligament with which the penis is attached to the pubic bone and adding to the base to increase length, could actually increase the size of the flaccid penis by up to 2cm but it does not affect the size of the erect penis.

More importantly, she said such a person might find erections less satisfactory because the ligament that should provide support had been cut off. Also, such persons tend to experience pain during sex.

On the penile girth option, which often involves injecting fat taken from other parts of the body to increase the girth of the penis, she warned that it could result in scarring, disfigurement, lumpiness and infection. “The body usually reabsorbs the injected fat, so the penis soon returns to its original size,” she added.

Why the craze for big penis after all?

The way advertisements for penis enlargement products are spreading like wildfire seems to suggest that there is increasing demand for them. Whereas, experts stressed that most of the men who feel their penises are too small do have a normal penis size but the comparison stems from the penises they see in videos.

What makes for a normal penis size? A report in the British Journal of Urology International noted that the average length of a flaccid (not erect) penis is 3.61 inches, and when erect, the average length is 5.16 inches. Also, the average girth when it is not erect is 3.66 inches, while the average girth for an erect penis is 4.59 inches.

Of course, these figures vary among individuals, but Draper pointed out that a penis is not considered small medically unless it measures below three inches when fully erect, in which case it is called micropenis. It is usually caused by genetics and hormone while peyronie’s desease or prostrate cancer surgery could reduce a man’s penis size.

On how to know the penis size, the man should measure the length from the top of the penis (where it connects to the pubic bone) to the tip of the glans (the round, sensitive part on top of the penis). To get the girth, the man should measure the girth around the base or the middle of the shaft.

However, experts have emphasised that size should not matter in a man’s sexual performance, but that people should be creative with what they have.

And it should be noted that not all women are impressed by penises that are as big as walking stick.

It also appears that most women are not keen on the size, as long as the man is creative with what he has.

A study at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that 84 per cent of women feel “very satisfied” with their man’s penis size, 14 per cent wish it were larger and two per cent would prefer a smaller penis.

Meanwhile, men who still believe they have small penis are advised to improve their performance by losing weight and/or pot belly fat, putting a stop to smoking, being mindful of what they eat, being creative in terms of styles and engaging in extensive foreplay, especially clitoral and nipples stimulation.

And of course, to address the low self esteem or bad feeling that could emanate from perceived small organ, men are advised to communicate with their partner on their fears, ask for their preference and how they could make do with what is available.

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