What is a micropenis? Everything you wanted to ask about men with a tiny penis

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The best things come in small packages, or so they say.

Men in possession of a micropenis would probably argue the old adage is true.

Society often obsesses over the size of a man’s penis, with a long penis often considered attractive.

Some guys, though, are at the other extreme. This is everything you need to know.

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What is a micropenis?

Roughly 0.6% of guys are born with penises much smaller than usual.

They can be as small as about one inch in length, and men with the condition are usually diagnosed with a micropenis shortly after birth.

In extreme cases of micropenis, there is barely any shaft, and the glans appears to sit almost on the pubic skin.

What causes a micropenis?

Many things can cause a man to have a micropenis, but testosterone can play a big factor.

Growth of the penis both before birth and during childhood and puberty is strongly influenced by testosterone.

To a lesser degree, the growth hormone can also affect whether a guy gets a tiny todger.

RELATED: This man claims his penis is so long, he can’t work.

Can a micropenis be enlarged?

If it is recognised in infancy, a brief course of testosterone is often prescribed for about three months.

This usually induces a small amount of growth, confirming the likelihood of further growth at puberty, but the micropenis rarely achieves normal size.

No additional testosterone is given during childhood, to avoid unwanted virilization and bone maturation.

Some evidence says that continuing to give testosterone can actually cause a micropenis to get even smaller.

Hormone treatment rarely results in a micropenis achieving average size, so some go as far as surgery in a bid to enlarge their package.

Surgical techniques similar to phalloplasty for penis enlargement have been devised and performed.

They are not considered successful enough to be widely adopted and are rarely performed in childhood, though, so a micropenis man probably shouldn’t get his hopes up.

One treatment option for micropenis is the insertion of a subcutaneous soft silicone implant under the penile skin.

So can a micropenis be successfully enlarged? Probably not is the short answer to this question – penis enlargers are a myth – but there are some exceptions.

Can men with a micropenis have sex?

Yes. But societies expectations of a man’s penis can make getting to the point of having sex much tougher.

Most men with micropenises have sexual problems either because of the way people talk about penis size, or because they haven’t had the opportunity in their sex lives to improve.

Some guys get off on having a tiny penis, though, finding humiliation and role-play hot.

As one guy who has a micropenis told Cosmopolitan: “If a man truly cares about the woman he is with and if she is open-minded, he will find other ways of making her sexually happy.”

RELATED: Does this man have the world’s longest penis? The pictures are quite something

How are guys with a micropenis treated?

Many guys have a very tough time, often having sex much less often, or never, due to embarrassment about the condition.

It’s difficult to know when is the best time to reveal the news of a small penis.

If a guy tells his prospective partner too early, it may come across as rude as it shows he assumes they’re going to have sex.

If he waits until the last minute, well, it could be quite the surprise and might ruin the moment.

It used to be somewhat different, though, with doctors misconstruing a micropenis as a gender issue.

From the 1960s until the late 1970s, it was common for gender reassignment and surgery to be recommended to people with a micropenis.

This was especially likely if evidence suggested that response to additional testosterone and pubertal testosterone would be poor.

With parental acceptance, the boy would be reassigned and renamed as a girl, and surgery performed to remove the testes and construct an artificial vagina.