The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex (25 page)

A true story, and happily not my patient:
A young man lies on a stretcher waiting for his surgeon to finish the patient before him.
The IV is already running and it won’t be long before he’s wheeled into the operating room.
He’s convinced that his six-inch penis is too small.
He is too young to sign his own consent for surgery.
His parents had to do it—he’s only fifteen.

A surgeon friend of mine contemplated entering the field of penile enlargement and ran an ad in a New York City magazine offering free consultations.
He received over 700 responses, and 90 percent of the men he evaluated had normal to large equipment!
This story illustrates two of the three main issues surrounding penile enlargement surgery:
The demand is monstrous, but true need is minimal.
The third issue that must be examined is the extreme variability and sometimes disfiguring results these operations produce.

Although a legitimate medical condition known as micropenis attributable to low testosterone levels during fetal life exists,
you don’t have it!
For most men, the notion of a small penis exists in their head and not between their legs.
Sure, we may want it bigger, but when you take into consideration the risks involved, it’s far better to stick with what you have.

The average erect penis really is about six inches—this is not a lie propagated by a bunch of underequipped men.
Does this mean that with only five inches you have micropenis?
No way!
Six inches is average, and average implies that normal-size men fall on either side of this number.
The research of Dr.
Albert Kinsey in the late 1940s measured penis size and found that 95 percent of men had penises between 4.
9 and 7.
3 inches.
(How’d you have liked that job?
) They considered anything below or above this length abnormal.
(Still, I haven’t heard anyone with eight inches complaining.
) Most doctors today consider only those penises under four inches abnormally small.
There are also genetic differences in penile size between races, and I know you know what I’m talking about.
Anytime you measure your penis, expect extreme variability depending on where you place the ruler.
Do you push into your pubic bone or rest the ruler against skin?
And how hard is hard before you measure?
Most doctors armed with only a tape measure can get an extra inch out of any penis—enough to allay their patients’ fears.

Over the years numerous devices guaranteed to increase penile length and girth have appeared on the market.
Most operate on a suction/vacuum principle, drawing more blood into the penis—sort of an overinflation.
A cock ring keeps the blood in place.
Although you may get a temporary increase in swelling, scientific evidence does not support any lasting effect.
More important, anytime you overinflate your penis and use a cock ring, you run the risk of priapism.
(And think how impressed your partner will be while he waits for you to blow up your dick!
)

Surgical procedures to both lengthen and thicken the penis have recently come into vogue.
These operations are not endorsed by the American Urology Association.
Never submit to this surgery for purely cosmetic reasons
(because the end result is often ugly), and you should never consider it if your penis is over four inches long.

I have witnessed countless men arriving at an ambulatory
surgery center prepared to undergo penis enlargement by a surgeon they had never met, known only from a magazine advertisement.
They watched a movie about the procedure and signed a consent.
Within one hour of their arrival they lay on an operating table and only then did they meet their surgeon.
This is not the way to have any operation, let alone something as risky as penis enlargement.

Although penile lengthening and widening are often performed together, each procedure is entirely different.
Lengthening surgery does not add new inches to your penis, it only increases the amount visible.
A normal penis disappears into skin and fat in your pubic area, where ligaments anchor it to your pubic bones.
You can feel these extra inches through your skin whenever you get hard.
Suspensory ligaments support your penis so that it angles up when erect, but doctors cut them during lengthening surgery.
Then the root of your penis falls away from your pubic bone and adds to your visible length.
Sounds fine until you get an erection.
Then you end up with what I call a dive-bomber dick, pointing straight down instead of up.
Although it still gets hard and works fine, you need to pay more attention when guiding it into your partner.
In addition to cutting ligaments, the surgery often damages nerves at the top of the penis, decreasing sensation.

Some doctors also attach a flap of skin and fat from your pubic region to the end of your penis, so your penis will hang even lower, even though its actual length isn’t increased.
You’re left with a nasty scar quite visible beneath even the thickest pubic hair.
I have even heard surgeons recommend that men hang weights from the end of their penis to stretch it.
When all is said and done, most men end up with about an inch of extra visible penis for all their trouble.

Doctors thicken your penis by adding fat.
Originally this was done with a sort of reverse liposuction procedure
whereby fat removed from one part of the body (usually the love handles or pubic region) was injected under the penile skin.
The fat grew there, but results were poor because fat can have a variable take—it can be reabsorbed in some areas while too full in others.
Penile skin is thin and does not have much fat of its own, so any imperfection is readily visible.
Most men who submitted to this surgery ended up with a lumpy, bumpy penis—their own version of a French tickler.

Surgeons now increase girth by adding circumferential bands of fat harvested from other areas of the body.
In essence, multiple doughnuts of fat are sewn onto the shaft beneath the skin.
You end up with a thicker penis and a tiny head.
(Sound pretty?
) When your penis hardens, you may see sunken valleys between ridges of fat.
(Sound even prettier?
)

Because the penile root lies beneath pubic skin and fat, some men increase their visible length just by dieting.
If this doesn’t work, try liposuction to remove unwanted pubic fat without damaging important suspensory ligaments.
Both alternatives are safer and less disfiguring than ligament-cutting operations.

If your penis or testicles begin to shrink (frightening, isn’t it?
), this can be the result of decreased testosterone production.
AIDS is a frequent cause of falling testosterone levels, as is steroid abuse.
See your doctor for a thorough evaluation.

We certainly appreciate our penis and testicles from a physical sense, but we need to understand how they work.
Problems do arise, and, fortunately, there are excellent treatments available.
Many men agonize over size, and almost
all think they’re too small.
Unfortunately, there is no good, safe way to make a penis bigger.

Whenever you have a problem, see your doctor.
Don’t let embarrassment and fear delay treatment.


Keep your foreskin clean and dry.


If you can’t retract your foreskin or bring it back down, see your doctor.


Don’t get pierced on impulse or let anyone other than a professional do it.


Don’t take anti-impotence medications unless you really need them.


Don’t undergo penis-enlargement surgery simply for cosmetic reasons.