Читать книгу Sex For Dummies - Pierre Lehu A., Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer - Страница 38

You can measure a penis in several different ways, and a man usually chooses the method that makes his penis seem the biggest. Although the basic penis measurements are length and circumference, the mood of your penis at the moment you pull out that tape measure is a key factor.

Even if two flaccid penises look about the same size, they may be very different in size when they become erect. (And a man may have different-sized erections depending on how aroused he is.) In the locker room, the man with the biggest flaccid penis feels the most cocky; but the real proving ground is in the bedroom.

One of the reasons that a man may think his penis is too small is the way he looks at it. (And no, I’m not going to suggest that he put on rose-colored glasses.) Most of the time, he looks down at his penis, and when he does, his eyes play a trick on him called foreshortening, which makes his penis looks smaller than it appears to someone else looking at it. To see his penis the way his partner does, all he has to do is stand in front of a full-length mirror and take in that view — I think he’ll be surprised. If he takes a look both before and after he has an erection, I’m sure his ego will get a nice boost.

Although you can’t deny that men have different-sized penises, does the size of the penis make any difference where it really counts — inside the woman’s vagina? In most cases, the answer is a very big no.

The vagina is elastic; it has to be to allow babies to be born vaginally. So a woman’s vagina can accommodate a big or a small penis. Because most of a woman’s nerve endings are concentrated at the entrance to the vagina, the sensations that a bigger penis may cause aren’t all that different to her from those caused by a smaller penis.

Obviously, if a man has a minuscule penis, a woman may not feel it very much, which is a slight problem. But, as Chapter 12 explains, most women need direct clitoral stimulation to achieve an orgasm. Because no penis can do that trick while performing intercourse, the issue of size becomes even less important.

Men ask me all the time if some way exists to make their penises bigger. I know of only one way to do this, and I’m passing it on only because it actually also promotes good health. Although most of the penis is visible, part of the penis is buried beneath the skin and is called the crus. If a man has a lot of fat in his pubic area, then more of the length of the penis is buried beneath the skin. With weight loss, a man can reverse this trend so a greater portion of the penis becomes exposed; thus, his penis can “grow.” The approximation doctors use is one inch of penis length gained for every 30 pounds of excess weight lost. (Sorry, all you skinny guys, but losing extra weight won’t help you.)

Some surgical techniques can enlarge a man’s penis. One technique can make most of it, except for the head, fatter, which leaves the head looking disproportionate. The other technique makes the penis longer, but requires the doctors to cut certain ligaments so the penis doesn’t point as high as before, which can cause the man to lose sensitivity. These side effects, as well as other risks, greatly reduce the value of these procedures, which is why very few surgeons perform them. In my estimation, the risks make such surgery not even worth considering. If you are intent on learning more of the gory details, however, make an appointment with a urologist.