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When women can go in for breast implants, face lifts, and liposuction to enhance their self esteem, why can't men undergo surgery for penis enlargement ?
here is no doubt about the fact that penis enhancement surgery can be of immense value to certain men. However, most present techniques are woefully inadequate, produce dubious results, and are often of short-lived value. Thus, this section is more about why such operations should NOT be performed than about why they should be.
Surgical sculpting of the penis will help three sets of people.
These people are penile cripples. They usually suffer from malformations or deformities of the penis. On account of these deformities, the penis is cosmetically and aesthetically unsightly. Besides, in many of these cases, the patient is incapable of normal erectile ability and copulation.
The second group of men are those with normal penises but who desire a longer or thicker penis to either bolster their own sagging self-esteem or to satisfy their sexual partners' unrealistic expectations of penis size.
The third group, where a phalloplasty procedure might be required is female transsexuals who desire a female-to-male sex change (gender reassignment) operation.
At our center, we receive requests for penis enlargement almost daily.In the 'needy', and in FTM (female-to-male) transsexuals, the necessity for this is quite obvious and justifiable. It is only in the 'greedy' group that there is doubt and controversy.
We all know that breast size isn't really important, but still no amount of explanation or reasoning will satisfy some women who will insist on breast augmentation through implants. And if this is not done they are unhappy indeed.
| If the size of the penis means so much to a man why not give him a penis that will make him happy ? |
The same analogy holds true for the 'greedy' men. Even though their concept of penis size may be unrealistic, they will still insist on a longer and thicker penis. If a penis means so much to a man why not give him a penis that will make him happy ?
Especially if refusal to do so might ruin both his self-esteem and his sex life. What's important is that the technique should provide a real (rather than apparent) increase in both length and girth, in both flaccid and erect states, without causing any significant complications.
But do such techniques exist at all ?! Good question !
Penis enlargement is being practised in many parts of the world, though the currently employed techniques are highly controversial and carry high complication rates. Practitioners of these have come in for a lot of flak both from colleagues within the medical profession as well as the laity.
Broadly, a penis comprises of three cylindrical tubes - the paired corpora cavernosa above, and the urethra (the urine tube, that's anatomically contiguous with the glans penis) below.
The paired corpora (erectile bodies) are attached to the pubic bone by a suspensory ligament that gives the penis stability during erection. In the currently available lengthening procedure, this ligament is cut. This produces a purely illusory and apparent increase in penile length due to gravitational traction - and that too only in the flaccid state.
This means that the penis will not really be much longer in the erect state. Not only that, the patient also loses the important stabilising support of the suspensory ligament which keeps the erect penis steady during the vigorous movements accompanying sexual intercourse.
Likewise, in the currently offered girth-enhancement operation, fat from the lower abdominal wall is drawn out through liposuction and injected beneath the loose skin of the penile shaft to create an illusion of thickening. Alternatively, dermal or other free grafts are layered around the penile shaft, beneath the skin sleeve, to increase girth.
| Fat injection produces only a temporary illusion of thickening |
With the passage of time, the injected fat or free grafts, both of which are avascular i.e. without blood supply, only die - a phenomenon known as necrosis. This necrosis will sooner or later cause the penis to return to its original pre-operative dimensions. Also, in the process of necrosis, fibrous nodules and a cosmetically disfigured, uneven, lumpy penile contour can all occur.
| What most current techniques offer the patient is a few days' opportunity to fool friends in the swimming pool locker room. However, the man won't be able to fool his sexual partners |
What's even worse is that even this temporary, complication-fraught girth-enhancement is often only an apparent, rather than a real one.
So at most, what these techniques will offer the patient is a few days' opportunity to fool their friends in the swimming pool locker room. However, they won't be able to fool their sexual partners. What's even worse is that they will have down-the-line problems of explaining to the same friends why their organ has begun to suddenly shrivel !
The goals of surgery for female-to-male gender reassignment are manifold. In the first place, it is required to create a penis that looks like a penis and not just a skin tube. Yet many available techniques do just that. Secondly, the glans penis has to be created. Next, the organ should be capable of perceiving erogenous sensations to the point of orgasm and should be capable of erection and vaginal penetration. Testicular prostheses have to be implantted. The new man must be able to use a gents' loo without any hassles. And all this plus more without too many complications ! It is certainly a tall order for the surgeon..
Penis enlargement (augmentation, enhancement, lengthening) must be performed only in exceptional situations, by skilled and experienced surgeons. Patients seeking this form of surgery are advised to proceed very carefully. Please remember that many of the results of botched surgery are irreversible.
The Chief Consultant to this site, Dr. Sudhakar Krishnamurti, is currently working on a new technique for penis enlargement that does away with many of the drawbacks experienced with currently available procedures. This technique should become available soon.
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