Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Valentines Day Guide 2008

Media Credit: Jim Moldenhauer

Media Credit: Jim Moldenhauer Medusa's Adult World in Bloomington offers several varieties of male enhancement products.

It seems that checking e-mail or watching TV has become impossible without being bombarded with ads for natural male growth, or penis enlargement. Everyday, e-mail inboxes are clogged with these ads, and as people go through and delete them, one question pops into the back of every male and female (but mostly male) minds.

Do those things really work? Is it true that men can take pills or use pumps to really extend the size of their penis?

Well according to the Food and Drug Administration, the governmental agency that regulates medical devices and medications, no products or devices that claim to enlarge a man's penis have ever been approved by the FDA.

"I would not recommend [penis enlargement products]," James Almeda, health educator and sexual health and peer education coordinator, said. "I don't think there is any research that shows they actually work."

So if they are not actually proven to work, and are not recommended for use, why is there still such a large market for these products?

"There seems to be this assumption with guys that they need to be bigger. Bigger size equates better sex," Almeda said.
"If you look at some of the research, penis size has very little direct correlation with being able to be good sexually. A lot of times there are a lot of other things men need to focus more on, and learn how to please there partner. I hope they wouldn't waste their money on those things."

It turns out that most men who think they have a problem with having a small penis actually have normal size penises. Recent studies have shown that hundreds of men who have visited their doctors for abnormally small penises are in the average range.

Studies show that the average penis measures between three and seven inches when flaccid and between five and seven inches when erect.

Penises are only considered abnormally small when they measure below three inches when erect. This is a condition called micropenis, but even then, research has shown that men with this condition are able to have pleasing sex and are able to father children.

"I am not sure if these are supposed to have any lasting effects," Shane Boger, clerk at Risqués Entertainment Center, said. "Stuff like the Extenze and the penis pumps can have a lasting effect, if you take the pill continuously, and if you do the penis pump every day for a little while. But otherwise most of this stuff is...kind of temporary."

As far as penis enlargement pills and creams, most are filled with vitamins and herbs such as yohimbe (the so called herbal Viagra) or hormones like testosterone. None of these ingredients have ever been proven to be effective.

Penis pumps or vacuum pumps are devices that have also been rumored to enhance penis size. These are used by having a man insert his penis into a round tube that is attached to a pump. He then sucks out all of the air in the tube, and this vacuum effect makes the penis erect and slightly larger.

Penis pumps are actually used for medical purposes. They can be used to treat men with erectile dysfunction. They do not have any lasting effects though. Regular use of the device can lead to damage in elastic tissue which results in less firm erections.

There have been some surgical techniques for penis growth developed, but none of them have been endorsed by any medical organizations yet.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, The American Urological Association and the American Society for Plastic Surgeons have all issued statements against cosmetic surgical procedures which may end in penis enlargement.

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