By Meera Vijayan

JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA: Men should refrain from attempting to elongate their penises to improve their sex life as the process could backfire.

Those who experiment may face disfigurement or lose the member if the penis turns gangrenous due to impaired blood flow. It may also be fatal if left untreated.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre consultant urologist and senior lecturer Dr Lee Boon Cheok was commenting after a welder who attempted to elongate his penis with a nut ended up in hospital.

The welder, from Taman Sri Skudai, ran into trouble when his erection caused the nut to become stuck fast to the base of his penis.

"I would advise men not to try these unconventional methods," Dr Lee said.

He said a lot of people associated penis size with virility, which was unfortunate, as size varied with ethnicity and physique.

"Understanding your partner's physical and emotional needs is much more likely to improve your sexual relationship than trying to change the size of your penis," he said.

Dr Lee noted that most non-surgical methods used for penile elongation such as vacuum pumps, squeezing exercises and lotions merely gave the illusion of length, but did not actually lead to greater length when erect.

"Surgical correction of penile length is not recommended for purely cosmetic reasons. The procedures are risky and unlikely to produce satisfactory results according to current evidence," he said.

Dr Lee said men contemplating penile elongation should be given counselling and should be made aware of the potential risks.

He added that a large lower abdomen may also give the illusion that the penis is shorter than it actually is.

The Star/Asia News Network