You may be surprised to learn that Botox—a drug most famous for it’s ability to reduce facial wrinkles by temporarily paralyzing specific muscles—has a number of potential sexual applications. For instance, it has been used to treat vaginismus and it is currently being studied as a treatment for premature ejaculation (learn more here).

But that’s not all—some doctors have also studied Botox as a potential penis enlargement treatment. Yep, you read that right.

Specifically, in a 2009 study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, a group of medical doctors reported on the results of a small study of 10 men who received Botox injections in order to treat a “hyperactive retraction reflex” of the penis.

In other words, these are guys who have penises that are perfectly normal in size, but who experience greater than usual retraction or “shrinkage” of the penis in certain situations, such as when they’re cold or stressed. To the extent that other people are around to witness this, these guys report feeling embarrassed.

This reflex is a function of contraction of the dartos muscle, which is a thin layer of muscle that sits just under the skin of the penile shaft and scrotum.

What the doctors in this study did was make 4 injections (ouch!) to the base of the penis—two below the penis where it meets with the scrotum and two above where the penis meets with the pubic area. Doctors then followed up with these patients several times over the next 8 months to assess the outcomes.

The vast majority of patients (70%) reported that the frequency and severity of penile retraction decreased substantially and said they were satisfied with the outcome. The remaining 30% reported no effect and were dissatisfied.

Objective penile measurements demonstrated that penile length was indeed greater post-injection, even when ice was applied to the penis (yep—doctors literally iced these guys’ members before and after injecting them to see what happened to their size). Specifically, after the injections, penises remained about ½ inch longer when exposed to cold.

However, I should note that these changes were specific to flaccid penis size—there were no changes in erection size.

No side effects were reported, and the effects lasted up to six months (although they began to fade somewhat after four months). In other words, continual injections would be required to maintain the effect.

So there you have it—Botox does appear to be a potential method for increasing penis length. However, its applications are limited in that, as far as we know, it can only be used to temporarily maintain a larger flaccid penis size among men who have a particularly strong shrinkage reflex.

Want to learn more about Sex and Psychology ? Click here for previous articles or follow the blog on Facebook (facebook.com/psychologyofsex), Twitter (@JustinLehmiller), or Reddit (reddit.com/r/psychologyofsex) to receive updates.

Learn more about this study: Shaeer, O., Shaeer, K., & Shaeer, A. (2009). Botulinum Toxin A (Botox) for relieving penile retraction. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 6(10), 2788-2794.

Image Source: 123RF.com

You Might Also Like: