SEXUAL HEALTH: Does size really matter?

Grace stormed the Sexology Clinic panting and in panic. She claimed that she had just escaped from ‘Sobibor’. I wondered what the 30-year-old newlywed meant and asked her to compose herself and explain.

“You know when the Nazis put people in concentration camps and tortured them to death during the Second World War? One of the notorious camps was called Sobibor; I feel like I just escaped from it!” She said.

Grace was a high school teacher. Due to her Christian faith, she had avoided sex, and waited until she got married, however, she could not bring herself to make love on her first night after the wedding.

Everything went well until it was time to consumate the marriage.  “I ran and locked myself in the toilet till morning!” she said, describing what she had seen.

As soon as it was day break, she got out of the toilet and pleaded with John, her husband, to allow her some time to herself. She dressed up quickly and ran to the cleen to seek help.

“I have asked him to join me here; you will soon see for yourself what I mean!” she told me in obvious distress, “I believe you have a way of reducing, em, size I hope?” she asked after she had composed herself.

Grace gave what is generally referred to as penis panic a whole different meaning. Under normal circumstances, this is the fear of a small sexual organ. The imagination that one’s genital is smaller than normal drives men crazy, hence the analogy.

But Grace was worried that her husband’s was too big. She is not the first person to worry about size, though most worry more about small than big sexual organs. This is because generally, we give greater value to bigger genitalia, and those who perceive theirs to be small develop low self-esteem.

In extreme cases, they suffer depression, feel useless and hopeless, while others can go to an extent of committing suicide.

SNAKE BITES

Historically, the fear of small penises has prompted men to go into dangerous lengths in an attempt to enlarge them. The Topinama tribe from Brazil are known to have exposed their manhood to poisonous snake bites. It is said that after six months, the manhood would grow to unimaginable sizes – do not attempt this though, because you will surely die.

 Some tribes in India hanged weights on their manhoods to elongate and enlarge them, sometimes suffering catastrophic consequences. Africans used herbs to try to achieve the same goal. And so across the world, it seems a big manhood means everything. It is no wonder that the Internet is awash with adverts on medicines and gadgets to enlarge this organ.

But many men who claim to have an abnormal-sized male organ do not even know the size of a normal one. One that is not erect varies in size. The size may depend on temperature, time of day, and stress, among other factors. It is therefore important to measure the size of one when it is erect.

RARE OCCURRENCES

The sizes vary. An erect manhood of 12.5 cm to 19.1 cm is considered normal for an adult. That of less than 7 cm when erect is considered abnormally small, while one above 20 cm is considered too long. A circumference of a normal erect penis is just about 12 cm.

Generally, about one in 200 men have a small male organ, also called micro-penis. A big one, called macro phallus, is rare. The biggest one recorded in history was 34 cm long with a circumference of 17 cm, but this is very rare.

Penis growth starts in the womb and continues to puberty. Hormone problems are known to be the main causes of abnormal penis growth. This means that detection of abnormal penis size at birth can sometimes be helped by correcting hormone problems. After puberty, hormone treatment or any other treatment does not alter the size.

Those adverts that promise treaments that guarantee enlargement should therefore be ignored.

John walked in just as I was finishing my explanation to Grace about the different sizes. He was distressed and at a loss. He was pleading for forgiveness too.

“I should have discussed this with you, I am sorry,” he pleaded.

After a brief medical history, I gave John medicine that stimulated his erection to enable me accurately assess the size of his penis. The length was 14 cm, the circumference 12.3 cm. By all standards, John had a normal manhood, I explained to Grace.

After a long talk with the couple, I concluded that they were both sexually inexperienced. I booked them for sex coaching classes which took four weeks.

“Thank you for supporting us, Sorbibo has become paradise!” Grace quipped on their last day of coaching.

“Size does not matter, I told her, it is the skill one employs that separates the boys from the men.

“Over 75 per cent of men with confirmed micro penises enjoy satisfactory sex and their women do too,”  I explained as I waved them goodbye.