Man has always placed great importance on the size of his penis. Many cultures associate penis size with masculinity. They worry that their penis is smaller than it should be or that it won’t satisfy a lover.
Some men go to extreme lengths to try to increase the size of their penis. Indian mystics known as Sadhus have been known to stretch their penis from an early age by hanging weights on it, while the Topinama tribesmen of Brazil encouraged poisonous snakes to bite their penis to enlarge it.
In today’s date, the internet is awash with websites selling everything from pills to penis extension procedures that claim to increase the length and girth of manhood. But do these procedures really work?
According to a new study, procedures that promise penile extension do not actually work. Instead, such procedures are ineffective and risky as well, leaving men physically or psychologically scarred.
The research suggests that such procedures carry a high risk of complications, including permanent numbness. When taking a review from those, who underwent penile extension, they reported dissatisfaction with the results afterward.
Gordon H. Muir, MD, One of the authors of the study said, “We found that the overall treatment outcomes were poor, with low satisfaction rates and significant risk of major complications, including penile deformity, shortening, and erectile dysfunction.”
“These procedures should almost never be done. They can cost up to £30,000 or even £40,000, often the man ends up with a penis that is disfigured and there are no more than 20% satisfaction rates with these procedures.”
The study is reported in the Sexual Medicine Reviews journal reporting analysis by Gordon Muir, a urologist at King’s College Hospital in London, and researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London.
For the study, scientists reviewed 17 previous studies which assessed 21 different types of procedure, both surgical and non-surgical, performed on 1,192 men, in Britain and abroad.
Most of the men reported having either body dysmorphic disorder or penile dysfunction disorder, both of which involve an obsessive dissatisfaction with their appearance.
The two commonest involve injections of dermal fillers into the penis and an operation called suspensory ligament incision, in which the surgeon makes a cut above the penis and divides the ligament that anchors it. Most such procedures are carried out by private health providers. The NHS only does them for clinical rather than cosmetic reasons, such as repairing a body affected by trauma.
Muir said, “the bunch of charlatans out there preying on these vulnerable men by offering them procedures that are usually of no value.”
“Some clinics seem to ignore this. Surgeons in the private sector should not do this. It’s wrong on every level.”
“Moreover, the operations involve work that is as simple as a hernia repair, which the NHS costs around £3,000 to do. But some clinics persuade men to pay as much as £40,000 for a procedure.”
“Our view is that only men who have been fully appraised of the technical problems that occur, have been told the truth about that, and been through a full psychological assessment, should consider it.”