Penis enlargement, or male enhancement, is any technique aimed to increase the size of a human penis. Some methods aim to increase total length, others the shaft's girth, and yet others the glans size. Techniques include pills, hormones, massage, stretching, inflation, incision, injections, and implants. While some techniques are hoaxes, others may be somewhat effective, perhaps at great risk of complications.
Some surgical methods have the most evidence of effectiveness, but have fairly frequent complications, sometimes severe, including scarring that leads, after all, to penis shrinkage or erectile dysfunction. Noninvasive methods have received little scientific study, and most lack scientific evidence of effectiveness, although scientific evidence supports some elongation by prolonged traction. Some quack products may improve penis erection, mistaken by consumers for penis enlargement.
Because of great risk and uncertainty, medical professionals are generally skeptical and avoid attempting penis enlargement. Medical doctors do treat micropenis as a medical condition, however, usually by surgery, which can be warranted to improve urinary or sexual function. On the other hand, non-medical interventions are marketed to men whose penises are usually of normal size, yet believe that a larger penis will improve their sexual appeal or prowess. Most men seeking penis enlargement have normal-size penises, and many may experience penile dysmorphophobia by underestimating their own penis size while overestimating the average size.
Surgical methods
There are several surgical treatments, all carrying a risk of significant complications. The Second International Consultation on Sexual Dysfunctions concluded, "Most men will not wish to proceed to surgery when properly informed of the likely outcome and risks of complications" Procedures by unlicensed surgeons can lead to serious complications.
Pills and supplements
Penis-enlargement pills, patches, and ointments are sold online. While some products contain ingredients generally recognized as safe, others contain questionable ingredients, sometimes undisclosed. Such products have rarely been tested for safety or efficacy, and are generally assumed ineffective.
Physical techniques
Physical techniques involve extension devices, hanging weights, and vacuum pressure. There is also significant overlap between techniques intended to enlarge the penis and techniques intended to achieve other, related objectives, such as reversing impotence, extending the duration of erections, or enhancing sexual climax.
Pumping
Commonly called a "penis pump", a vacuum erection device, or VED, creates negative pressure that expands and thereby draws blood into the penis. Medically approved VEDs, which treat erectile dysfunction, limit maximum pressure, whereas the pumps commonly bought by consumers seeking penis enlargement can reach dangerous pressure, damaging penis tissue. To retain tumescence after breaking the device's airtight seal, one must constrict the penis' base, but constriction worn over 20 to 30 minutes can permanently damage the penis and cause erectile dysfunction. Although vacuum therapy prevents penis deterioration and shrinkage due to erectile impairment, medical doctors do not view it as effective to enlarge a healthy penis.
Jelqing
Performed on the halfway tumescent penis, jelqing is a manual manipulation of simultaneous squeezing and stroking the shaft from base to corona. Also called "milking", the technique has ancient Arab origins. Despite many anecdotal reports of success, medical evidence is absent. Meanwhile, journalists have dismissed the method as biologically implausible, or even impossible, albeit unlikely to seriously damage the penis. Still, if done excessively or harshly, jelqing could conceivably cause ruptures, scarring, disfigurement, and desensitization.
Traction
Traction is a nonsurgical method to lengthen the penis by employing devices that pull at the glans of the penis for extended periods of time. As of 2013, the majority of research investigates the use of penile traction focuses on treating the curvature and shrinkage of the penis as a result of Peyronie's disease, although some literature exists on the impact on men with short penises
Society and culture
In Vietnam, many Vietnamese men attempted self penis enlargement by injecting liquid silicone into their penises, and subsequently suffered from complications such as infections, necrosis, tumors, swelling, deformities, sexual dysfunction, and were hospitalized.
See also
- Plastic surgery
- Sex-reassignment surgery
- Tissue expansion
References
