Shrinking Penis
Q: I am 60 years old, and I think my penis shrank quite a bit. What’s happening to me?? I already wasn’t that large to begin with.
A: As you are well aware, penis size varies from man to man. What a lot of men don’t know is that as they age, their penises and testicles may experience some level of shrinkage. However, other conditions can play a role. As men age, there is also less blood flow to the penis, so it may appear smaller with erections. Also, with extra weight, fatty tissue grows in the pelvic area, and so the penis also may appear smaller (but this is actually only an illusion—if you lose weight, it will return to its usual size). Some men can also have scar tissue build-up, which can also shrink erection size (or cause a curvature in the penis). There is also research to indicate that penis shrinkage can occur following radical prostatectomy surgery. Some medications have also been shown to affect penis size (but not for everyone). Remember that anything that affects the blood vessels in the penis can affect size, especially when in an erect state.
Erectile Dysfunction
Q: I am a 55-year-old man, and lately, I have been experiencing erectile dysfunction on a pretty regular basis. My doctor gave me Viagra, but it only works sometimes. I want to figure out the cause of this, and I don’t want to take pills for the rest of my life. I’m scared my sex life will soon be over. Please help
A: The first step is to figure out what is going on in your penis from a medical point of view. Have your doctor refer you to a urologist to do the proper testing. Personally, I don’t believe in just treating the symptom without figuring out the cause first. If all tests come back fine, then the cause may be psychological. You don’t give me much information to go on, so I don’t know what else is going on in your head or in your life. Performance anxiety is a very common cause of erectile dysfunction. You need an evaluation by a psychologist and/or sex therapist. If it’s psychological, therapy will help. Performance anxiety is entirely curable.