“It shrinks in the cold!” – something not only George Costanza is familiar with, but also every man and person who has a penis.
While the erectile length can be blamed on your partner just not doing it for you, the question remains as to why the hell it’s so small when it’s flaccid?!
It’s barely 3 inches on a warm day, and you’ve seen many men that were clearly not growers but showers – so why is your flaccid penis so soft and the 9mm among tanks?
As most men know, the male body undergoes a very frightening phenomenon when a small and flaccid penis gets engulfed with blood, becoming erect and suddenly gaining girth, length and lives up to the term of erectile tissue.
Overall penis size is determined by genetics, overall health, body fat, and other medical factors such as blood circulation.
A penis requires blood to remain erect, thus poor blood supply will obviously mean a lesser penis or erection. It is thus crucial you remain as healthy as possible to keep hold of your inches.
What Determines Penis Size?
The average penis has a length of a flaccid penis stands at 3.61 inches, and increasing by 30% when erect to about 5.16 inches.
The penile tissue is comprised of two cylinder like tubes that become filled with blood when you are aroused, and the small penis becomes a big penis capable of producing semen. It is clear then, that having great blood flow is key to penis size.
Penis size is influenced by a great deal of things – but the biggest ones being genetics and general health. If your parents genetic data are to have a smaller flaccid penis, chances are you might have one too.
Even your parent’s hormonal levels play a role – medically reviewed journals show that a hormonal shortage of your mother whilst pregnant with you could have led to your lack of penis length.
Health also greatly dictates how big you are. Yes, PT class is coming back to bite you because more body fat has been linked to shorter flaccid length.
Having just 5% of bodyfat more than usual can have a significant impact on your penis length, and even just shaving your pubes can grant you an extra inch or two.
A study in 2009 found that bodyfat and obesity both negatively affect penis size but also erectile dysfunction.
What Makes A Flaccid Penis Small?
Contrary to popular believe, penile tissue (the penis) is not a muscle. It consists of two narrow chambers that determine the flaccid and erect dimensions.
When aroused, these fill with blood and an erection is achieved, allowing semen to exit the penis. However, most men still tend to be unsure if it is normal for penises to be that small when flaccid.
The simple answer is, a flaccid penis is that small because there is no excess blood flowing to it. As mentioned, the penis is not related to muscles – and therefor the size is completely dependent on blood flow.
A flaccid penis might also appear smaller due to external factors such as temperature and body fat.
Why Does My Flaccid Size Change So Much?
Since the average flaccid penis size is 3.61 inches, and about 5.16 inches when erect, there is quite a difference between the two extremes – but also many men will back the notion that the size varies great dependent on temperature, stress levels and even hydration; but why?
The reason why temperature has such a great influence is due to the constriction of blood vessels. One Urologist even claims that once temperature drops below 60 degrees Fahrenheit men could lose up to 50% of their size!
Now of course this claim hasn’t been medically reviewed by a study, and this shrinkage doesn’t last forever – luckily. Once temperatures rise the penile tissue will have greater access to oxygen and therefor gain back it’s size.
Another factor to consider is stress. External stress can wreck havoc on your body in regards to cortisol and general health markers, all of which can influence the size of your shaft.
Smoking and drinking can also contribute to this stress, potentially raising blood pressure by 20 percent. There are medical treatments for these kinds of stressors, however if the stress is psychologically induced, it might be best to look at therapy.
Will Stretching Devices Increase Flaccid Length?
Stretching devices attach to the male genitalia, and as the name suggests is a lengthening method.
This device has the claim of increasing the length of penises by 1.5 – 2 inches in just 3 months – granted you wear them a few hours a day. There are a range of these sexual devices available, with a couple of scientific research behind them.
Penile extender devices like quick extender pro works by attaching to the penile tissue and then stretches it to be longer. A 2010 review found these to be just as effective as surgery when it comes to erect length.
While this stretched tissue will only do justice for the length size, it will definitely increase the length of a flaccid penis as well – up to 2 inches even.
Surgical Enhancement Methods
In search of penis enlargement, men will sometimes turn to the medical world. Surgeries to enhance the penis do exist – however only one is cleared by the FDA – Penuma.
Penuma is the act of doctors placing a piece of medically safe silicone into your flaccid penis, with reports saying the average penile length increase was 1.5 – 2.5 inches – flaccid and erect.
Things you need to keep in mind is the fact that you need to be circumcised and you will need to abstain from sex for a number of weeks. While this growth is great, it comes with risks such as scarring, nausea and even stroke – and does not aid in circumference increase.
The next surgical method is by a Fat Transfer Treatment. Doctors remove fat from one part of your body, execute a cleaning procedure on the fat, and deposit this fat at the base of your penis.
This penile lengthening method has not been through a lot of University grade studies, however a 2019 study did find that the fat grafting did affect penile length and girth- up to 6.5%.
This procedure relies on stem cells within the fat to ignite penile growth. Unfortunately, these fat treatments are not always successful, and carry drawbacks like abstaining from sex, pain whilst having sex or permanent scarring.
The last surgery lengthening method is called Suspensory ligament division surgery – or ligamentolysis.
This penis therapy won’t do anything for your girth, as doctors simply cut a ligament that allows the penis to hang more freely – so while it doesn’t technically make your penis bigger, it does make a small penis look longer.
While all these procedures are mostly safe, only 30 – 65% of men who receive these enlargement procedures are actually happy with the results.
Can Supplements Help Increase Penis Size?
Even though most men on earth fall within the average flaccid length of penises, many men will turn to supplements or pills as a treatment for their small John. There might actually be some medical truth to this.
Viagra was never intended to increase the erect length – and it doesn’t. Though, if you took supplements that made you healthier, lowered your blood pressure and cholesterol; that might work.
Using supplements as a treatment has very little scientific articles backing it. However, there are a range of supplements that might help. Turmeric has plenty of anti inflammatory properties, with some data suggesting it could help lower hypertension and cholesterol.
Research also shows that Ashagandha Root might enhance your natural testosterone. There are men who uses natural supplements like ashwagandha for penile growth and have shown promise of a boost in their blood flow to the penis. Another supplement treatment some men use, is using Nitric Oxide boosters to relax their arteries.
Since the flaccid length and erect length are mostly determined by blood flow (after genetics), data shows that nitric oxide relaxes arteries slightly resulting in better blood flow.
While the average penile length is constant, by using nitric oxide boosters such as Citrulline Malate or Arginine, you could potentially increase the size of your penis.
Vacuum Pump for Flaccid Penis
Another method you can consider is vacuum pumps, which are a phenomenal medical treatment for sexual impotence.
You can try using penile pump devices for lengthening the flaccid, as they have also been reviewed for penile growth properties.
You’re Probably Normal
Men will almost always doubt their sexual power or authority – it’s part of society. However, this image is not always one that is accurate.
Penises come in all shapes and sizes, and almost all flaccid penises are smaller than erect ones. This is not a reflection on your sexual ability – hence the term “Grower not a shower”.
Men should be proud of who they are, and so should you. More than 50 percent of all men do doubt themselves in a sexual way – and that is way too high of a percentage.
Your penile tissue is most probably completely normal and average. Be happy about that – portray the image that you are a man happy and content with who you are.
References:
1. Veale, D., Miles, S., Bramley, S., Muir, G. and Hodsoll, J. (2015), Nomograms for flaccid/erect penis length and circumference. BJU Int, 115: 978-986. https://doi.org/10.1111/bju.13010 https://bjui-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1111%2Fbju.13010
2. Cho, YG., Song, HJ., Lee, SK. et al. The relationship between body fat mass and erectile dysfunction in Korean men: Hallym Aging Study. Int J Impot Res 21, 179–186 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2009.8 https://www.nature.com/articles/ijir20098#citeas
3. Prause N, Park J, Leung S, Miller G. Women’s Preferences for Penis Size: A New Research Method Using Selection among 3 Models. PLoS One. 2015;10(9):e0133079. Published 2015 Sep 2. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133079 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4558040/
4. Littara, A., Melone, R., Morales-Medina, J.C. et al. Cosmetic penile enhancement surgery: a 3-year single-centre retrospective clinical evaluation of 355 cases. Sci Rep 9, 6323 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41652-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41652-w
5. Hewlings SJ, Kalman DS. Curcumin: A Review of Its Effects on Human Health. Foods. 2017;6(10):92. Published 2017 Oct 22. doi:10.3390/foods6100092 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/
