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On call: penile length

On call

Penile length

Q. My 14-year-old son is preoccupied with the size of his penis. It seems normal to me, but his friends have been teasing him. They say that because he has small feet, he’ll have a small penis. Is there any truth to this?

A. It’s not surprising that your son thinks foot size and penile length are related. It’s actually quite a common belief. More surprising, perhaps, is that some scientists take it as seriously as adolescent boys — or at least seriously enough to test the possibility.

Doctors in London studied 104 men between the ages of 17 and 84, measuring foot size and penile length to see if they are related. In short, their answer was a flat-footed no.

Researchers in Greece went even further. They obtained a whole series of body measurements in 52 men between the ages of 19 and 38 to see if any body dimension was related to the size of a man’s testicles or the length of his penis. They found only one association: Men with longer index fingers tended to have longer penises. You may or may not choose to share these data with your son.

You might not expect penile length to attract the attention of doctors who treat prostate cancer, but you’d be wrong. Doctors in Miami measured penile length in 124 men before and after they underwent radical prostatectomies. The operation appeared to shorten the penis, both when it was flaccid and when it was stretched out. The decrease was statistically significant, but since it averaged just 0.5 centimeter, it’s not likely to be noticeable. The researchers received support from the pharmaceutical industry, not your tax dollars.

It seems clear that lots of men share your son’s preoccupation — and some men even do something about it. Except for the cases of inborn deformities, penile lengthening operations (phalloplasties) are usually performed for cosmetic rather than functional purposes. In fact, most men who seek this operation have normal penile length. Men who go this route risk considerable pain for short gain.

It’s not hard to make light of penile preoccupation, but these concerns can reflect important questions about body self-image. You should praise your son for sharing his concerns instead of letting them build up inside. You can assure him that his fears are groundless, and you might use the occasion to discuss other aspects of sexuality and body image.

Medical myths can be as durable as other stories, but they have the potential to do some harm. In the last analysis, it’s a good thing that doctors have taken the trouble to settle an issue that can be amusing but can also be needlessly hurtful.

— Harvey B. Simon, M.D. Editor, Harvard Men’s Health Watch

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Last updated:	August 21, 2006