Penis size

Most men do not think rationally about penis size.

What's normal?
According to the Kinsey Institute, many American men mistakenly think the average erect penis is 25 cm (almost 10 inches) long, and worry that they do not measure up. Here are the results of two surveys.

University of California researchers measured the penises of 80 normal men and published their results in the Journal of Urology in 1996. They found that:

Of the men studied, many had penises that were larger or smaller than the average. They also found that the length of the penis when flaccid does not predict the size when erect – smaller penises expand more when erect. So, the researchers found the average erect penis to be about 13 cm long, regardless of whether it is 5 cm or 10 cm long when it is flaccid.

In 2001, the condom manufacturer Durex asked men visiting its website to take part in a penis size survey, and just under 3000 men responded. They measured themselves and reported the results to the website. The average erect length was 16.3 cm (6.4 inches), and the average circumference (measured round the penis at its widest point) was 13.3 cm (5.2 inches). It is difficult to know how reliable these measurements are – there might have been some wishful thinking involved. The survey also showed that a long penis is not usually thick. Durex says, “While the ‘mythical’ well-endowed man with a very long and very wide penis does exist, there are not that many of them about.”

Shoe size and penis size
It is a myth that men with large feet have larger penises; researchers have found no correlation (British Journal of Urology International 2002;90:586–7).

Lose a paunch
If you are carrying a few excess pounds on your abdomen, the first part (called the root) of your penis will be buried in the fat. This makes it look shorter than it really is. Losing weight will make the penis grow!

Penis enlargement
The shaft of the penis can be made thicker by injecting fat under the skin of the penis. The fat will have been removed by liposuction from another part of the body, usually the thigh or abdomen. The glans (the tip of the penis) stays the same size, and so it may look a bit out of proportion. The fat tends to be absorbed by the body, so the injections have to be repeated two or three times a year. The fat can sometimes form unsightly nodules, and there can be puckering of the skin and scarring.

Another method is dermal grafting. Strips of skin and underlying fat are removed from beneath the buttocks; the upper layer of skin is taken off and the rest of the tissue is implanted along the shaft of the penis under the skin. As a result, there may be some scar tissue along the shaft of the penis.

The penis can be made longer by a surgical operation in which the ligaments that attach the penis to the pubic bone are cut. This makes the penis hang down about 2.5–5cm (1–2 inches) further when it is limp, but the size of your erection will not be increased. Also because it no longer has the support of the ligaments, the erect penis will not point as high as before. The operation can be risky, because important nerves that carry sensation can be damaged and infection or bleeding can also occur, and unsightly scarring is common. If you are considering this operation, make sure that you find a reputable surgeon (look at the section on cosmetic surgery). This may be difficult, because not many surgeons are willing to do this operation, because of the problems associated with it.