Maybe when you were in puberty.
There are a few immutable facts in life: The sun is hot. Water is wet. And no man has ever wished he had a small penis.
When it comes to the latter, testosterone could have something to do with it. Testosterone affects all manner of men’s sexual health. It stokes desire and it helps guys get hard (and stay) hard. But does it affect how big your dick is to start?
About the Experts
Michael Werner, M.D., F.A.C.S., a urologist and founder/director of Maze Sexual & Reproductive Health in New York, specializing in male sexual dysfunction and infertility.
Andrew Sun, M.D., a urologist at Urology Partners of North Texas who focuses on erectile and sexual dysfunction
Testosterone does influence penis growth when males are young, but not mature size. Testosterone spurs penile growth by working with androgen (male sex hormone) receptors in the tissue of the penis. Testosterone then converts to another androgen, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which aids the growth of external genitalia. Defects in testosterone production at this stage can result in conditions, such as micropenis (1).
An older study with rats found testosterone increases the number of androgen receptors in penile tissue. This increase makes the tissue more responsive to testosterone, which supports normal growth of the penis (2).
“It would not be fair to say that men with higher testosterone levels have bigger penises or that men with lower testosterone levels have smaller penises,” says Michael Werner, M.D., F.A.C.S., a urologist and founder/director of Maze Sexual & Reproductive Health in New York. “It’s sort of the luck of the draw.”
During puberty, testosterone is produced in the testicles and adrenal gland which leads to a number of physical changes, including growth in the penis and scrotum.
After puberty? Well, what you have is what you have. Genetics are thought to play a role in how big you are, but it’s not fully understood what accounts for variations in penis size.
“There is no relationship—as long as the man has adequate testosterone—with his testosterone and his penis size,” Werner says. “That is probably more genetic than anything else.”
Sorry, but no. Testosterone does not cause penis growth after puberty.
“You cannot inject yourself with testosterone in the hopes that it would make your penis bigger,” says Andrew Sun, M.D., a urologist at Urology Partners of North Texas. “That’s probably not going to happen.”
However, testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) can improve erections for those with erectile dysfunction (ED) due to low testosterone.
“It does put more muscle into the corpora cavernosa—the erection chambers—which helps with erections, but it does not at all lengthen the penis,” Werner says.
Long-term ED that’s caused by low testosterone could cause the penis to atrophy over time. “The penis is a smooth muscle, and like any other muscle in the body, it shrinks if not used,” Sun says.
So what is the average length? Werner says most men fall between 4.5 to 6 inches when the penis is stretched and measured from the pubic bone to the tip. The Kinsey Institute puts the average range between 5 to 6.5 inches (3).
“Men are obsessed with penis size,” Werner says. “I always tell my patients that the average man thinks that he’s smarter than average, more handsome than average, drives better than average, and has a smaller penis than average.”
Men consistently underestimate their penis size, Werner says, pointing to porn as a primary culprit, where being gigantic is a job requirement.
“You’ve picked the top 2 percent to compare yourself to,” Werner says. “Plus, they’re using injections so that they never lose the erection.”
About 5 percent of men are smaller than average and about 5 percent are larger than average. Men who have smaller flaccid penises tend to enlarge more during an erection than men who have larger flaccid penises. This means a small flaccid penis is not a good indicator of how big you can get when the time comes (3).
And the idea that women only want guys with extra-large penises? Not true. A 2015 study published in PLOS One found women preferred 3D models of penises that were only slightly larger than average. And their picks were different depending on the type of sexual relationship (4).
With surgery, yes. Phalloplasty can increase the length or girth, but usually not by a whole lot. Research has found varying rates of success and patient satisfaction afterward (5).
Implants of either rigid or inflatable devices are another surgical option.
Stomach liposuction won’t change the size of your junk, but it can make it look bigger by removing fat around it (5). So can losing weight the old-fashioned way, Sun says.
“So many patients come in and are like, ‘My penis is disappearing,’” he says. “I’m like, ‘It’s not that. Your penis is great, man. It’s your belly that’s making it look smaller.’”
Whereas surgery might be most helpful for people with micropenises or another related health condition, research has found most men interested in enlargement surgery had penises in the normal range (4).
Medication can help provide stronger erections, and daily low-dose PDE5 drugs (Viagra, Cialis, etc.) can increase blood flow and give the appearance of increased size for a time, but no meds will actually change the length or girth of the penis long-term.
Werner uses this analogy: “A full tire looks bigger than a deflated tire, but there’s a capacity for that tire. So that’s the same thing as a full erection versus a partial erection—the tire itself is the same size.”
TRT can offer relief for erectile dysfunction and improve your sex life—if low T is the root cause of the ED. For starters, it can boost libido. It can aid arousal and make erections stronger and longer-lasting. All of this can make sex better. TRT does require monitoring of estradiol levels, though, as estrogen conversion can occasionally cause the opposite effect.
Testosterone also helps to regulate the release of the feel-good reward neurotransmitter dopamine, which reinforces how pleasurable sex is and makes you want to do it more frequently.
Testosterone plays an important role in the growth of the penis in the womb and during puberty. After that, T doesn’t affect size. TRT can help with erectile dysfunction in men with low testosterone, making the penis appear larger when erections are stronger, but it won’t actually increase its size.
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