One of the most frequently asked questions (often implied) that a busy urologist hears is, “Is my penis big enough, long enough, or wide enough?” Let me set the record straight.

In my more than three decades of practicing urology, I have seen more penises than can fill the Rose Bowl. Most of those penises are accompanied by a wife, girlfriend, or significant other. Never in my practice have I heard a partner ask me, “Dr. Danoff, can you make my partner’s penis bigger, longer, or wider?” But what I have heard is, “Can you make it a little firmer and attach it to a nicer, sweeter guy, preferably a guy with a Platinum American Express Card?” The essential point is that women are less concerned about penis size than men are, and it is generally men who have penis envy, not women.

The myth that size is important is one of the cruelest hoaxes ever perpetrated on mankind. The culture of misinformation has been so deeply embedded in the collective consciousness that men have become extremely sensitive about the length and width of their penises. There is nothing to worry about because one size fits all!

The variation in size among human penises is less than that among hands, fingers, or noses. Penises can be as short as 1 1/2 inches or as long as 9 inches, and those that fall at the extremes are exceedingly few. Variation in penis girth is minimal and ranges between 1 and 1 1/2 inches in diameter when the penis is flaccid. A very tall man might have a longer penis than a short man, just as a tall man will probably have bigger feet and hands than a shorter man. But the difference in penis size between two such men will be far less than that of their other appendages. A short man might wear a size 8 shoe while a tall man might wear a size 13, but the short man’s penis might be only a fraction of an inch shorter than that of a taller man. I have often seen penises on short men that were as big as or bigger than those of most professional basketball players. Most importantly, the variation in the size of the erect penis is far less than that of the flaccid penis.

I have seen men with large penises who are plagued by sexual dysfunction. I have seen men with relatively small penises who represent the quintessence of superpotency. The length and width of a man’s penis is genetically determined at birth. There is no legitimate surgical procedure to make a man’s penis longer or wider. Remember, all of the action is up front. The tip of the penis is the most sensitive part of the male anatomy, and the clitoris, at the entrance to the vagina, is the most sensitive part of a woman’s anatomy.

Today’s media landscape is polluted with countless ads promoting penile growth that promises to increase the length and width of a man’s penis. Not a day goes by where most men are not faced with some kind of advertisement or junk e-mail offering a sure-fire solution for penis enlargement.  The bottom line is that there is no legitimate way to surgically increase the length or width of a human penis. Nor are there any medications that can do the same. I cannot repeat myself enough: these advertisements are all hoaxes and these products are ineffective and can damage your penis. They are designed to prey on the prevailing self-consciousness and self-doubt that plagues men with regards to the way they view their penis and their sexual confidence. From the sincere depths of my urologic heart, I pity the patient who tries to enlarge his penis. Those of my patients who have tried are my saddest patients.

Some of the fascination with large penises can be attributed to the general cultural viewpoint that “bigger is better.” The phallus is a symbol of potency, physical strength, and masculinity. It makes sense that, psychologically, some people conclude that bigger penises are better than smaller ones. The fascination with large penises is not unlike men’s attraction to large breasts or shapely behinds. Finding someone with these features might enhance the sexual experience because it fulfills a fantasy, not because women with large breasts are better in bed or have more hospitable vaginas than women with small breasts. Physiologically and anatomically, what occurs during intercourse has nothing to do with the size of any body part. The orgasm is exactly the same regardless of the physical features of the partners. An experience that may feel different is actually a result of the power of the mind and the emotions.

Your penis is as big as you think it is. Its size can’t be changed. Learn to love it and it will serve you well.

 

Dudley S. Danoff, MD, FACS is the attending urologic surgeon and founder/president of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Tower Urology Group in Los Angeles, California. He is the author of Penis Power: The Ultimate Guide To Male Sexual Health (Del Monaco Press, 2011) and Superpotency (Warner Books).

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