Avoid Penis Surgery

A man's concern about his penis can lead to avoidance of sexual relationships, and even of sporting and other activities where other men might see him naked. Such men are not only embarrassed by the apparent smallness of their penis, but frequently also feel ashamed and silly about their anxiety, too.

Does penis size matter?
The answer to this question rather depends upon your perspective. If you believe that you have a small penis, it may matter very much to you, however unimportant the issue might seem to others.

Some men become quite obsessed by the size of their penis and will consider almost anything, including surgery, to enlarge it. Most of these men will have a penis that falls within the suggested normal size range, but that does not always make them feel normal or better about themselves. Both they, and their doctor, should recognize that this is primarily a psychological problem, connected to physical and sexual self-image, rather than a physical handicap.

Researchers have repeatedly shown that penis size does not affect partner satisfaction during sexual intercourse. Some men born with a severely shortened and malformed penis, even less than 2 inches long when erect, enjoy very satisfactory sex with their partners.

Treatments aimed at increasing penile length or girth can be divided into non-surgical treatments and surgical treatments, but I will stop here only at the second method, the surgical treatment.

Since 1971, penile-lengthening surgery has been offered to men with severe shortening due to congenital abnormalities (abnormalities present from birth), surgery (for penile cancer or Peyronie's disease) or trauma (accidental or deliberate amputation).

Cosmetic surgery to increase penile girth, or thickness, began in the USA in the late 1980s. There are two types of penis surgery-for length and for girth.

Penile lengthening: the most common technique to lengthen the penis is to cut its suspensory ligament then perform plastic surgery to provide additional skin to cover its new length. The results of the only reliable study indicate that dividing the suspensory ligament alone results in an average increase of around 0.25in in length, while skin advancement increases the length gain to around 0.75in. These figures do not compare well with the claims made by some clinics. Some people, undoubtedly, do better than average, while others do worse.

After surgery, some men find that they have gained a small increase in flaccid length, but the erect penis is about the same size and now points towards the floor!

Increasing penile girth (thickness): this treatment may be performed with a lengthening procedure or on its own. There are two techniques in common use: the injection of liposuctioned fat, from the abdominal wall or thighs, into the dartos fascia, under the skin of the penile shaft and placing grafts of dermis (a layer of tissue from under the skin surface that is well supplied with blood vessels) and fat from the groin or buttock area within the penile shaft.

The results following injection of liposuctioned fat can be deeply disappointing. Up to 90 per cent of the fat can disappear within a year. Grafts seem to do rather better, but there is no reliable published data on long-term results.

At least one person has died from bleeding after augmentation surgery. Apart from the risks of infection and bleeding, specific complications exist for each procedure, such as Scrotalisation of the penis, in which the penis appears to arise from the scrotum instead of the abdominal wall; 'Dog-ears' at each end of the operation scar; Sloughing of the skin used to increase penile length (the skin has a poor blood supply and therefore dies, leaving a deep, ulcerated area). The penis can be left with a deformed appearance, with irregular fatty lumps all over it in the case of girth surgery.