How large is the average penis? Is there such a thing as an
average penis?

Dr.Joe's Data Base

We prefer to think they're all special. Here are the statistics on erect
penis lengths for white college men, in quarter-inch lengths. The Alfred C.
Kinsey Institute for Sex Research reviewed the data and found that of the
college males it measured (from the point where the penis meets the body
along the top to its tip), 0.2 percent checked in at 3.75 inches erect, 0.3
percent at 4 inches, 0.2 percent at 4.25 inches, 1.7 percent at 4.5 inches,
0.8 percent at 4.75 inches, 4.2 percent at 5 inches, 4.4 percent at 5.25
inches, 10.7 percent at 5.5 inches, 8 percent at 5.75 inches, 23.9 percent
at 6 inches, 8.8 percent at 6.25 inches, 14.3 percent at 6.5 inches, 5.7
percent at 6.75 inches, 9.5 percent at 7 inches, 1.8 percent at 7.25
inches, 2.9 percent at 7.5 inches, 1 percent at 7.75 inches, 1 percent at 8
inches, 0.3 percent at 8.25 inches, 0.3 percent at 8.5 inches, 0.1 percent
at 8.75 inches and 0.1 percent at 9 inches. Convert everything to metrics
if you aren't satisfied with your size in inches.

For those of you convinced that girth is what it's worth, here are the
circumference figures (measuring around the penis): 0.3 percent at 1.5
inches, 0.4 percent at 1.75 inches, 0.4 percent at 2 inches, 0.2 percent at
2.25 inches, 0.3 percent at 2.5 inches, 0.3 percent at 2.75 inches, 0.4
percent at 3 inches, 0.4 percent at 3.25 inches, 0.9 percent at 3.5
pinches, 1.1 percent at 3.75 inches, 6.3 percent at 4 inches, 6.3 percent
at 4.25 inches. The bulk of the college men were in the next few
categories: 17.1 percent measured 4.5 inches, 11.7 percent were 4.75
inches, 24.1 percent were 5 inches, 9.9 percent were 5.25 inches, and 11.5
percent were 5.5 inches. There were a few fire hydrants tossed in: 3
percent at 5.75 inches, 3.9 percent at 6 inches, 0.5 percent at 6.25
inches, 0.5 percent at 6.5 inches and 0.1 percent at 6.75 inches.

A more recent study of a sample of 60 men by researchers at the University
of California at San Francisco determined that the average size of their
erect penises was 5.1 inches long and 4.9 inches in girth. If you believe
all these figures (the Kinsey respondents pulled out their rulers in
private), now what? Do you guys realize how hard it is to type that many
numbers? It's all right if you have a home computer and nothing better to
do with an evening, but that's it for statistics.

* Does penis size matter?

J. Scott Verinis, in Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, suggests that
the size of a man's penis initially matters both to the male and the
female. "However," he says, "as the relationship progresses, the size
of the penis becomes less important to most women, and factors such as
the quality of sexual performance and the nature of the interpersonal
relationship receive higher priority." The men, however, continue to
value the size of the penis at all stages of the relationship. (That
makes sense--it's their burden to bear.) So probably the truth is:
Size matters to some of the people all of the time and to all of the
people some of the time, but not to all of the people all of the time.

* Is there any way to make my penis larger?

First, a word to the wise: Numerous studies have shown that clitoral
stimulation--not the size of the man's penis--is the key to sexual
satisfaction in women. If you suspect that you're underendowed (and
you're probably not--see the average measurements listed above), see a
urologist or an endocrinologist for an examination that can determine
whether there is a physiological or hormonal cause for your problem.
Many of the products you see advertised make claims that are not only
ineffective, they are also potentially dangerous.

If you're determined to change the size or shape of your penis, there
are surgical methods available that involve either injecting or
inserting fat into the penis to increase girth, cutting the suspensory
ligament that holds the penis at the pubic bone to increase length, or
both. One doctor who performs the procedures is Dr. Harold Reed of Bay
Harbor Island, Florida (305-865-2000), who will send you a brochure
and background information on request. Reed says his average patient
gains 1 inch to 1.25 inches in length. He charges $2000 to $6000
depending on the procedure. Another is Dr. Melvyn Rosenstein, who has
done almost 4000 enlargements and offers a $12.95 video and
information kit about the procedure (800-336-9996).

We can't say this enough: Penis enlargement is still controversial in
the medical community. The American Urological Association, for one,
won't recommend it, noting that injecting or grafting fat
("augmentation phalloplasty") to increase girth or cutting the
suspensory ligament of the penis to increase length have "not been
shown to be safe or efficacious." Proceed cautiously.

* Is there anything I can do to correct a curve in my penis?

In the July 1989 issue of Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, Dr. John
Gregory and Michaela Purcell, RN, report that curvature of the penis
is an increasingly common ailment. In the Seventies, urologists saw
two to three cases a year; nowadays, they see one to two a month.
There is some evidence that Peyronie's disease (which causes curvature
of the penis) runs in families, but perhaps the majority of cases of
acquired curvature are the result of trauma. The initial accident may
be minor, but as the injury heals, scar tissue forms and deformation
results. The curvature often becomes less severe within six months but
seldom straightens completely. The authors do not recommend rushing
into therapy unless the curvature actually interferes with
intercourse. In the past, doctors have treated the condition with
vitamin E, ultrasound, aminobenzoate potassium and steroid and
collagenase injections. However, current opinion holds that any
changes observed were the result of natural improvement. In severe
cases, surgery can straighten (and consequently shorten) the penis. In
the worst cases, doctors can perform a penile implant. Our advice: See
if the situation improves over time. If not, check with a doctor.

* Is there any way to prevent premature ejaculation?

Got a minute? Sex researchers Masters and Johnson found it's possible
to recondition sexual responses. They developed the squeeze technique,
by which a man--working closely with his partner--can learn to
exercise control over his ejaculation. Simply put, when the woman
feels that her partner is becoming aroused, she puts her first and
second fingers just above and below the coronal ridge (imagine holding
a cigar) and her thumb on the underside of the penis. She applies
pressure for about four seconds front to back, never side to side. The
mistake most novices make is to wait until the man is experiencing
ejaculatory inevitability (pulling his hair out, bouncing like the
springs of a flat-bed truck, shadow-boxing with the big one). Rather,
you use the squeeze throughout the foreplay--before insertion. Once
you've mastered this, you can switch to a basilar squeeze technique,
in which either the man or the woman slows his excitement by squeezing
the base of his penis (again, front to back) for about four seconds.

Here's another method that doesn't involve a partner: In her book,PE:
How to Overcome Premature Ejaculation, Dr. Helen Singer Kaplan
describes a start-stop method that will teach you the sensations of
orgasm and what it feels like just before you come. When you
masturbate, "stop stimulating yourself when you reach a high level of
arousal, near orgasm. Stop for a few seconds--not long enough to lose
your erection but long enough for your excitement to go down a little.
Then start the rhythmic stroking of the shaft and tip of your penis
again. Interrupt three times. Let yourself come on the fourth time as
fast and as freely as you can. During this whole experience, try to
concentrate on your pleasurable penile sensations. Do not try to hold
back." The method involves moving onto a wet masturbatory technique
(using petroleum jelly or soapsuds) to simulate the vagina. You focus
on your own sensations, learn to stop and then to let go.

To make this easier, Kaplan suggests learning to rate your sexual
arousal: "Rate the degree of your sexual excitement (not your
erection) on a subjective scale that runs from zero to ten. Zero is
when you are feeling absolutely no excitement at all and ten is when
you reach orgasm. You should have been stopping penile stimulation
when you were at about eight and a half. If you tried to go until nine
and a half, you went a bit too far, and if you stopped at four or
five, you ended the stimulation a bit too soon. Remember, the aim of
this program is not to keep your excitement down until you want to
come. That is no fun at all, and besides, that doesn't work. The
objective is for you to learn not to ejaculate while staying at the
intensely pleasurable sexual plateau stage that precedes orgasm and to
be able to relish the delicious sensations of being highly aroused
instead of trying to hold back. During intercourse, most men stay
somewhere between five and seven, except for brief peaks of eight or
so, until they are ready to go all the way." The scale is useful for
gauging your behavior during intercourse. For example, if you reach an
eight and a half during foreplay, don't try to penetrate. Let yourself
cool down (refrain from rubbing or thrusting against your partner's
body). The pace you adopt to keep yourself at six may be just the kind
of luxurious lovemaking your partner desires most.

And here's more: In an article in Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality,
Daniel Weiss and Dr. David Marcotte suggest that by learning to relax
the pubococcygeus muscle (the muscle used to control urination), a man
can avoid premature ejaculation. The authors believe that the method
is superior to the squeeze technique invented by Masters and Johnson,
because it does not require partner cooperation or interruption of the
lovemaking. We don't know of any gyms devoted to the relaxation
response, but two experiments by Raymond Rosen suggest the shape of
things to come. Rosen hooked up 40 male students to a red light and
had them listen to a recording of pornography. The light would go on
whenever the student got an erection and go off whenever he quelled
the erection. Students soon learned to go from full erection to
half-mast at will and were better at doing so than those who had not
been hooked up to the light. In a related experiment, Rosen told
students to try to increase the size of their erections--an orange
light would change intensity according to size. By the end of the
study, students who were guided by the light were able to turn on at
will. Rig up something yourself and work out.

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* Why can't I come when my girlfriend is giving me a blow job?

Many men find it difficult to climax while being fellated. You may
have a hang-up about coming in your girlfriend's mouth. You may need
more friction. Add a hand (yours or hers), or one of you can add
manual stimulation elsewhere--touching, rubbing, squeezing, etc.--to
assist the process. You may need a better view--so that you can see,
and therefore believe, that it is actually happening to you. Do it in
front of a mirror or in better light or standing so that you can look
down on the action. Or perhaps you need to be more active. (During
intercourse most guys get carried away by the thrusting action--it
could be that you are simply doing it with an unfamiliar rhythm.)
Finally, try switching the order, intercourse as foreplay, then come
in her mouth.

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