It's become something of a joke that men are always worrying about penile size. However, it happens to be true! We get a constant flow of emails from men who are worried that they are 'too small'.

Any woman reading this article may find it puzzling that so many men are concerned about the length of their penis - and that they wish they had 'just a couples of inches more'! But that's the way many males are.

Let's now look at the basic facts.

Length of the penis
To the average man, his penis is, consciously or unconsciously, one of the most important things in the whole world. At an early age he discovers it and immediately becomes fascinated by it.

But then a note of uncertainty enters his mind: 'Isn't mine rather small?' Look at his Dad's; look at his big brother's; look at those he sees in the changing room at the swimming bath. And he asks himself if he will ever be as big as that.

And so he goes on through life, always a tiny bit sensitive about the size of his organ, always convinced that it would be nicer if it were just that little bit longer. No matter how often textbooks repeat that penile size doesn't matter, and that women aren't attracted to a man because of the length of his organ, the average male continues to think the same way.

The average female is amused at the sheer folly of men in being so obsessed with their penile measurements. So if you're a woman, the one thing you need to bear in mind about this ludicrous male preoccupation is this: when in bed with a man, never belittle his penis (even as a joke) or say anything to indicate that you think it's small - the poor chap may take you seriously, and if he does, he'll be deeply hurt.

We have actually known men who became impotent after someone had made an unthinking remark about their dimensions.

Now, the ridiculous thing about all this was that all of these men had a perfectly normal male organ. Each one just thought he was very small compared with other men.

The trouble is that every man sees his own phallus in a foreshortened view - the angle at which he looks down on it inevitably makes it seem shorter than it is. Of course, when he glances at another man's organ in a changing room, there's no such foreshortening effect, so very often it'll look as though the other guy is slightly better endowed than him. A lifetime of comparison of this sort (and virtually every male does a quick mental check on each naked man he comes across) can very easily make a man feel a bit inadequate.

But it's important for a man to realise the true facts about the length of the penis. When it is in a non-erect condition, the male organ usually measures between 8.5cm (just over 3") and 10.5cm (just over 4") from tip to base. The average figure is about 9.5cm (or 3 ¾"), but this kind of precise measurement is really rather valueless because so many factors (for instance, cold weather or going swimming) can temporarily cause a shrinkage of an inch or more. So you needn't be worried if you happen to fall short of the average figure.

Of course, it's true that some men have big penises and some have smaller ones, just as some men have small feet and some have big feet, but the measurement is not - repeat not - an index of virility. By and large, a non-erect penis is big or small largely because of the degree to which its veins and other blood vessels are open or shut.

Most people imagine that a tall, husky man will usually have a large penis, but this is not so at all. The distinguished American researchers Masters and Johnson measured the penile lengths of over 300 men. The largest organ (measuring 14 cm, or 5 ½" in the flaccid state) belonged to a slim man who was only 5' 7" tall; the smallest (measuring 6cm, or 2 ¼") belonged to a fairly heavily built man of 5' 11".

It's also worth pointing out that there is no correlation between penile size and race.

The erect penis
We've talked so far about the length of the male organ in its ordinary non-erect state. But now long should it be when it's erect? Well, the interesting thing here is that most penises are very much the same size when erect. The man whose non-erect organ is smallish will usually achieve about 100 per cent increase in length during sexual excitement, while the man whose limp penis is on the largish size will probably only manage about a 75 per cent increase. In round figures, this means that the great majority of men measure between 15cm (6") and 18cm (7") in the erect position, with the average figure being about 16.5cm (6 ½").

So you can see that even if a man genuinely has got an organ that is small when he's in the non-erect state, he's also got a built in compensating factor that will probably bring him up to not far off the same size as the guy he sees in the shower room who appears to be vastly 'better equipped' sexually.

There's one final point that's of great importance and that virtually every man forgets: it doesn't matter how long or how short your penis is, because the vagina is so cunningly designed that it will accommodate itself to any length of penis.

You see, the vagina of a woman who hasn't had a child is only a mere 7.5cm (3") long when she's not sexually excited. The figures for women who have had babies are only slightly different. And even when she has been aroused, her vagina usually extends only to a length of about 10cm (4"). So it's obvious that any man's penis will fill her vagina completely, unless, of course, he happens to be one of those very, very rare guys with an erect penile length of less than 4".

You're probably wondering how on earth a man with an average length penis of 6 ½" manages to insert his penis into a normal woman's vagina at all. Well, the answer is quite simple - the vagina has the most remarkable capacity for lengthening if something is introduced into it gradually. So the exceptional man whose penis is, say, 20.5cm (8") long can still make love to literally any woman, providing he excites her properly and introduces his organ very slowly. If he does this, her vagina will quite happily lengthen by 150 per cent or even 200 per cent to accommodate him.

Medical advice
If you're really worried that your penis is the wrong size, go and consult a doctor. If you're not happy about consulting your GP on such an intimate matter, then you could go and see one of the medics who spend their entire day checking men's penises.

These doctors can be found at:

urology clinics

sex medicine clinics

genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics

family planning clinics - though these do tend to be more oriented towards female patients.

What about operations?
A number of private clinics - in London and elsewhere - now offer operations that claim to make the penis look bigger. The expense of this type of surgery is very great! And there is a risk of complications, like bleeding, infection, or deformity.

We recommend that you do not agree to undergo such surgery unless you have seen an NHS consultant urologist who feels that you really need it.

Very occasionally, a man with a big penis feels that he wants it reduced in size. This can be done, but there is quite a risk that the operation might go wrong. Again, we advise you not to have this operation unless an NHS consultant urologist has said it is necessary.

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