Things You Didn't Know About Your Penis

Interesting Facts That Men And Women Will Find Educational - And Surprising

(WebMD)  Here are some things you might have wondered about your penis, but were
afraid to ask.

No. 1: Your Penis Does Have a Mind of Its Own

You've probably noticed that your penis often does its own thing. You may remember times when it was completely inappropriate to have an erection; and yet you couldn't wish it away.

It's true that you have less command over your penis than body parts like your arms and legs. That's because the penis answers to a part of the nervous system that's not always under your conscious control. This is called the autonomic nervous system, which also regulates heart rate and blood pressure.

Sexual arousal usually isn't voluntary. The conscious mind is complicit in it, but a lot of sexual arousal goes on in the sympathetic nervous system. In addition, impulses from the brain during the REM phase of sleep cause erections, whether you're dreaming about sex or about a test you forgot to study for. Heavy lifting or straining to have a bowel movement can also produce an erection.

Just as the penis grows without your consent, sometimes it shrinks. "The flaccid penis varies in size considerably within a given man," says Drogo Montague, MD, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic. Exposure to cold water or air makes your penis shrink. That's a function of the sympathetic nervous system.

Psychological stress also involves the sympathetic nervous system, and stress has the same effect as a cold shower, Montague says. When you're relaxed and feeling well, your flaccid penis looks bigger than when you're stressed out.

The penis is "kind of a barometer of the sympathetic nervous system," Montague says. So the greeting, "How's it hanging?" is more apt than you might have realized.

No. 2: Your Penis May Be a 'Grower' or a 'Show-er'

Among men, there is no consistent relationship between the size of the flaccid penis and its full erect length.

In one study of 80 men, researchers found that increases from flaccid to erect lengths ranged widely, from less than a quarter inch to 3.5 inches longer.

Whatever the clinical significance of these data may be, the locker-room significance is considerable. You can't assume that a dude with a big limp penis gets much bigger with an erection. And the guy whose penis looks tiny could surprise you with a big erection.

An analysis of more than thousand measurements taken by sex researcher Alfred Kinsey shows that shorter flaccid penises tend to gain about twice as much length as longer flaccid penises.

A penis that doesn't gain much length with an erection has become known as a "show-er," and a penis that gains a lot is said to be a "grower." These are not medical terms, and there aren't scientifically established thresholds for what's a show-er or a grower.

Kinsey's data suggest that most penises aren't extreme show-ers or growers. About 12 percent of penises gained one-third or less of their total length with an erection, and about 7 percent doubled in length when erect.

No. 3: Your Penis Is Shaped Like a Boomerang

Your penis is shaped like a boomerang. Just like you don't see all of a big oak tree above ground, you don't see the root of your penis tucked up inside your pelvis and attached to your pubic bone.

In an MRI picture, the penis looks distinctly boomerang-like, as noted by a French researcher who studied men and women having sex inside an MRI scanner.

One method of surgical "penis enlargement" is to cut the ligament that holds the root of the penis up inside the pelvis. This operation may give some men a little extra length if more of the penis protrudes from the body, but there are side effects. This ligament, called the suspensory ligament, makes an erection sturdy. With that ligament cut, the erect penis loses its upward angle and it wobbles at the base. The lack of sturdiness can lead to injury.

No. 4: You Can Break Your Penis

There is no "penis bone," but you can break your penis all the same. It's called penile fracture, and it's not a subtle injury. When it happens, there's "an audible pop or snap," Montague says. Then the penis turns black and blue. And there's terrible pain.

Penile fracture is rare, and it typically happens to younger men because their erections tend to be quite rigid.

Here's how to avoid penile fracture: don't use your penis too roughly. A common way that penile fracture happens, Montague says, is when a man is thrusting too hard and fast during sex, and slams into his partner's pubic bone. Also, a woman who moves wildly while on top of a man during sex can break a man's penis.

Peyronie's syndrome is a related condition that tends to show up more in older men, Montague says. An older man's erection may not be as rigid, but still is hard enough for sex. Over time, if the penis bends too much a certain way during sex, small tears in the tissue can form scars, and the accumulated scar tissue gives the penis an abnormally curved shape.

Not all penis curvature is a problem, however. "There is a lot of variability in what normal is," Cummings says.

No. 5: Most Penises in the World Are Uncut

A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV /AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that worldwide only 30 percent of males aged 15 and up are circumcised.

Rates vary greatly depending upon religion and nationality. Almost all Jewish and Muslim males in the world have circumcised penises, and together they account for about 70 percent of all circumcised males globally.

The United States has the highest proportion of males circumcised for non-religious reasons. A whopping 75 percent of non-Jewish, non-Muslim American men are circumcised. Compare that to Canada, where only 30% are. In the U.K. it's 20 percent; in Australia it's merely 6 percent.

The practice of circumcising baby boys for medical and cosmetic reasons has become controversial in the U.S. But recently the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UUNAIDS recommended circumcision for adult men, based upon evidence that men with circumcised penises have a lower risk of being infected with HIV.

The CDC estimates that about 65 percent of all newborn boys get circumcised in the U.S.

[Greg--Green]

My Indian name is "Runs With 3 Legs"

[suck_my_vagina]

why do they call erected ******* a boner if there is not a bone in the *****?

[zokmul]

wow... i didn't know that ***** was blurbed out by the site, but they allow it in articles... wierd

[zokmul]

two things...
one.. it's funny that adults will not even type out *****
and two... what could make a ***** perminantly smaller?

[lady1236-2009]

AFTER COLON SUGERY MY HUSBANDS *** HAS GONE FROM 6 IN TO 1 IN ANY ONE HEAR OF TREATMENT OR OF ANY OUTHERS WITH THIS PROBLEM??

[nothappyatall]

Hey, how come the picture in the article has nothing p*nis-shaped in it?

Posted by hypnotoad72"

You missed the caduceus, it has two entwined snakes on it, about as close to a p.enis shape you''ll find in this article I''m afraid

[hypnotoad72]

Hey, how come the picture in the article has nothing p*nis-shaped in it?

[sek1026]

ouch

[nothappyatall]

READ the article TLC where it says;

Rates vary greatly depending upon religion and nationality. Almost all Jewish and Muslim males in the world have circumcised *******, and together they account for about 70 percent of all circumcised males globally.

The United States has the highest proportion of males circumcised for non-religious reasons. A whopping 75 percent of non-Jewish, non-Muslim American men are circumcised.

[tlctugger]

Foreskin feels REALLY good.

No national medical association on earth (not even Israel''s) recommends routine circumcision.

[nothappyatall]

"Dogs are equipped with a ring around the base of their shaft which allows them to enter another dog and literally hook onto them. This is why dogs are often stuck together."
Posted by b_easy63

And you dont think THAT tennis-ball sized portion would be very uncomfortable, even painful for the female whereas a man doesn''t have this!

[newsterl]

Uncircumcised male with foreskin retracted,[photo] presents with large accumulation of smegma Smegma is thought to be the cause of numerous penile and female urinary/genital infections. The male p.enis begins producing even greater quantities of smegma during puberty, and care must be taken to wash the p.enis regularly, from childhood throughout adult life if the male is not circumcised, to prevent the accumulation of this foul smelling substance. The male with phimosis (above photo) who is unable to retract the foreskin even when flacid must be circumcised to prevent the accumulation of smegma. Younger males should be regularly checked to ensure no phimosis exists and that no smegma has been allowed to collect under the foreskin or behind the glans.

[nothappyatall]

Its unfortunate that #5 includes the recommendation from WHO without presenting the full story.

The site above has helpful information that shows the flaws in this recommendation
Posted by vbnvbnvbn"

The HIV argument was flawed at best, but whether or not it was accurate is besides the point, an uncut man will accumulate smegma and this stuff is gross, full of bacteria and smells bad. So it either takes a lot more hygene or the guy smells and a buildup of that stuff occurs- in some a LOT more than others- seen photos and read the accounts.
Being cut as an infant is the proper time and heals fast and well, not as an adult where the healing of already grown flesh may not go well.
Im all FOR the circ procedure.

[shanev137]

Isn''t masturbation a sin?


-----------

It depends on what your other hand is doing.

[nothappyatall]

I dont think anyone here wants to hear about your continual raping of dogs, but here is some information you do not know:"

Its not ''rape'' as you call it, animals can decide for themselves- they do have a brain and teeth, and clearly can show consent or not.


2. The avg dogs *** is over 6 inches long and resides within his abdominal cavity. The little red tip most see is just the top of their ***. Dogs are equipped with a ring around the base of their shaft which allows them to enter another dog and literally hook onto them. This is why dogs are often stuck together."

I knew all that, the ''ring'' is the bulbous glandis and is unique to canids, also, a male dog can be up to around 9 inches not 6


"3. Female dogs go into estrus or heat about 3 times a year at most--all those other times (when you claim you can fvck them) they are NOT at all interested in sexxx."

Do WOMEN only have an interest once a month while in estrus? dogs are MAMMALS, they have all the same parts we do- including a clitorus- learn some anatomy.

"You should also know that raping any animal is bestiality and is against the law as well as being a terrible sin."

Corrections: Not rape, not bestiality (called zoophilia) not a crime in every state, unenforceable at best when its done in private. see the wikipedia.org article on zoophilia and "sin" is YOUR concept that doesnt matter to me.

[b-easy63]

3 inches??? geez, a large DOG is deeper than that LOL you sure you got that number right? where''''s the extra several inches most men have gonna GO?

Posted by newster1 at 01:04 AM : Mar 22, 2008

I don''t think anyone here wants to hear about your continual raping of dogs, but here is some information you do not know:

1. The human *** is about 3 inches in length but can stretch to over 20 inches if necessary (like when giving birth)

2. The avg dog''s *** is over 6 inches long and resides within his abdominal cavity. The little red tip most see is just the top of their ***. Dogs are equipped with a ring around the base of their shaft which allows them to enter another dog and literally hook onto them. This is why dogs are often stuck together.

3. Female dogs go into estrus or heat about 3 times a year at most--all those other times (when you claim you can fvck them) they are NOT at all interested in sexxx. So you are a dog rapist as well as a very questionable human being.

You should also know that raping any animal is bestiality and is against the law as well as being a terrible sin.

[wattermelann]

I am so happy that rapists who sexually assault women are actually hurting themselves a lot along with hurting a woman. But then maybe this is what they are trying to do: hurt themselves. Maybe the cure for these kinds of sexual predators would be sexual reassignment-you know cut it off and turn the remaining outside-in-since nothing else has been found to rehabilitate and cure these freaks!

[thcarson-2009]

How about the old one-eyed snake.

[nothappyatall]

"As for vaginal size, most women are about 3 inches in length, so any male over that size should technically be able to satisfy"

3 inches??? geez, a large DOG is deeper than that LOL you sure you got that number right? where''s the extra several inches most men have gonna GO?

[eyedrive1]

Actually I rather enjoyed the *** in the MRI machine. Cozy, but a little hard on the back.