Whether you’ve thought about it for a day, a week, a month, or your entire life, when it comes to enlarging your penis the first thing to establish are your options. With many scams and dangerous devices available it pays to do your research so that you know what treatments work, and which options are safe.
Here we will break down the different penis enlargement options, including their safety profile and how effective they are.
Penis enlargement surgery
Lengthening surgery
Known as a suspensory ligament release, this surgery involves the division of the ligament at the base of the penile shaft that attaches it to the pelvis. The concept is that by dividing the ligament, the penis will hang lower, increasing flaccid length. It does not change erect length.
Lengthening surgery carries a number of risks, including complications of anaesthesia, infection, and scarring. There is also a risk of the procedure failing, and the ligament scarring down, causing a loss of penile length.
Overall, lengthening surgery has a variable outcome, and many surgeons do not believe it to be reliable enough to consider as an option.
Thickening surgery
Dermal fat grafting
This involves harvesting a strip of fat from another part of your body, often your thigh or abdomen, and transferring it onto your penile shaft. Your penis must be opened with an incision, meaning you will have a scarring. The goal is for the grafted tissue to increase penile thickness.
Dermal fat grafting can be an effective way to increase penile thickness with permanent results, however it carries a number of risks. Firstly, there is a risk of general anaesthetic. Surgically, scarring and cosmetic issues can occur, and there is a risk of the graft failing, which can result in permanent cosmetic deformity of your penile shaft. There is extensive downtime, and high costs associated with this procedure.
Fat transfer
Fat transfer is a process whereby fat cells are taken from one part of your body with liposuction and injected beneath the skin of your penile shaft. While it is an effective way to gain significant increases in penile thickness, there are a number of significant risks involved.
There are risks of liposuction, including damage to your organs (if the fat is taken from your abdomen), risks of general anaesthetic, and risks of the fat injection. It is common for a large volume of the fat to not survive, and it may not survive evenly, causing an irregular shaft contour. Transferred fat can also calcify, causing hard nodules of scar tissue along your shaft. Lastly, if the fat is inadvertently injected into a blood vessel, it can travel to your lungs resulting in death.
Implants
Known as ‘Penuma’ or ‘Himplant’, this treatment involves the insertion of a silicone implant along your penile shaft to increase thickness. It is effective, but has a number of drawbacks. There are the procedural risks of anaesthetic and surgery, including infection, scarring, and implant mal-position. Further, if your surgery is complicated by an infection, it will require the removal of the implant.
Perhaps the biggest problem is that the implant cannot be easily removed, so if you, your partner, or a future partner are not happy with the outcome, you will need another (expensive) operation to take it out, which also has its own risks.
Penis enlargement fillers
Hyaluronic acid fillers
Hyaluronic acid fillers are the gold-standard treatment to increase penile girth. They are simple, quick, effective, and fully reversible, giving a significant element of safety. Risks are uncommon, but are generally easy to treat by dissolving the filler (done by a quick injection of hyaluronidase). They include infections and reactions to the filler, as well as contour irregularities (which are usually only noticeable when flaccid.
Results from hyaluronic acid gradually wear off, often lasting around 5 years or more.
Collagen stimulating fillers
Collagen stimulating fillers are placed the same way as hyaluronic acid fillers, and achieve the same result, but they cannot be reversed. They also cause collagen synthesis which often leaves hard lumps of scar tissue along your shaft, with cosmetic deformities being a common issue. Unfortunately, if you have a complication from collagen stimulating injections, you will most likely need surgery to address the problem.
The filler results from collagen stimulators are temporary, and wear off gradually over time.
PMMA fillers
PMMA fillers work in the same way as other fillers but give a permanent result. Risks include infections, contour and shape issues, and reactions to the filler. Unfortunately if you change your mind, your current or new partner doesn’t like the result, or you have a side effect, you will need surgery to remove the filler.
Silicone injections
Silicone injections are not approved for use and should never be used to augment your penis. They are dangerous.
Penis enlargement devices
Penis pumps
Penis pumps are a device designed to help men suffering with erectile dysfunction achieve erection. They have in-built safety mechanisms that limit the negative pressure to avoid causing damage to the penile tissues. Using penis pump to increase your size can cause permanent damage which may result in erectile dysfunction.
Traction devices
Traction devices aim to increase penile length by stretching the tissues. While there is some evidence that they work, they require near-constant use for years to have a chance at working. Many of the devices are quite bulky, therefore making it an unfeasible option for most men.
Penis enlargement exercises
Jelqing
Jelqing is an exercise technique that involves milking the penile tissues from base to tip. There is no scientific way (theorised or proven) that it can increase penis size.
Penis enlargement medicines, lotions and patches
Medications, vitamins and supplements
There are no medications or supplements that have been shown to be effective at increasing penis size.
Lotions
Lotions and topical preparations cannot increase the size of your penis.
Patches
Drug delivery patches that claim to increase penis size are ineffective.
Summary
If you want to increase your penis size, the best first step is to ascertain exactly what you want. Is it length? girth? flaccid size? erect size?
Once you have defined your concerns and goals, you can then list the possible treatments that have been shown to work, and consider their risk, cost, reliability and recovery.
Following this, contact a few clinics to gather information, and if the treatment and doctor align with your goals, and are professional, then consider taking the next step.
