Prostatectomy

• Posts advise that stretching a semi-erect penis could add up to an inch in length and girth by exploiting the body’s repair mechanisms.
• Jelqing is just the latest in a long line of dubious penis enlargement techniques stretching (sorry) back millennia.
• The ancient Greek method of lengthening the foreskin with a kynodesme (dog leash) seems positively mild compared with ancient Indian methods.
• Penis pumps are also used for erectile dysfunction, but unlike some online claims, they don’t lengthen the penis.

Surgical interventions

• Fillers are increasing in popularity, particularly hyaluronic acid (HA) injections.
• HA is popular because it is doesn’t generate an immune response.
• Surgery to cut the suspensory ligament anchoring the penis is the most widely accepted surgical elongation method.
• A recent review concluded that evidence for supporting surgical procedures for penis enlargement is weak and the complications are under-reported.

Not needed, in most cases

• A micropenis, usually diagnosed at birth, is where the penis is 2.5 standard deviations less than the average stretched penis length (2.3 to 2.5cm depending on ethnicity).
• It is typically caused by a deficiency or imbalance of hormones such as testosterone or human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), or genetics.
• The female vagina is on average 2.5 to 3.8 inches deep, but lengthens during sexual arousal to accommodate a penis longer than this.
• The female genitalia have multiple erogenous structures that can result in orgasm, so penile length isn’t the key characteristic.

A closer look at jelqing

• The top two consist of numerous spaces that are surrounded by smooth muscle, which keeps most blood out of the spaces.
• During an erection, the muscles relax allowing blood to flow in, filling these spaces, and enlarging penile volume.
• While the theory sounds good, smooth muscle cells in the penis don’t respond in the same way skeletal muscle does.
• If jelqing, or any other trend, was really that effective, we would have seen evidence of it in medical journals, and the sale of extra-large underwear would be making the headlines.

Adam Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.