At Home with Dr Christian Jessen - 225

| MEN'S HEALTH|
swelling. In some cases, the urethra may be damaged
as well, and blood may be visible at the urinary opening
of the penis. The condition needs urgent medical
attention so as not to result in deformities or the inability
to have or maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction).

He can climax
without ejaculating...

Known as 'retrograde ejaculation', sometimes men will
not produce semen at the point of climax. This is because,
instead of it travelling along his urethra (the tube which
normally carries urine), semen goes backwards in to his
bladder. This means when he goes to the loo after sex,
his urine will be rather cloudy because it has sperm in it.
Retrograde ejaculation is not all that common and the
NHS states that it isn't a health risk, but for regular
sufferers it can affect the ability to father a child.

There is such a thing as a
man having two penises...

Diphallia, or having two penises, is pretty rare - the
British Medical Journal, the global healthcare knowledge
provider, estimates that one-in-ﬁve million men are
born with two penises - but it is possible and can make
sufferers more susceptible to conditions such as spina
biﬁda. In the animal world there has been even more
serious incidences of the condition - there was once
a snail found that had triphallia, or three penises.

Burgers are bad
Urologist Andrew McCullough says 'anything that is
bad for a man's heart is bad for his penis'. Research
shows the sort of diet that could cause a heart attack
- fried, fatty food, low fruit and vegetable intake - can
also cause problems with a man's erection by restricting
blood ﬂow to the penis in the same way as it does to the
coronary (heart's) arteries.
Studies show that a Mediterranean diet rich in
olive oil, nuts and vegetables is directly linked to
improved sexual function.

WORDS: LARA JOHNSON | PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES

It can go off in
a funny direction

Being circumcised can
help to prevent infections...
DR
CHRISTIAN
SAYS

'People,
especially
men, who are too
embarrassed to
see a doctor about
a problem "down
below" may well be
putting their lives
at risk, making
treatment options
less effective, or
even not possible
at all. Keep an eye
on any changes
or problems and
address them
immediately.'

Rise up
When erect, men's penises are not
WITHOUT REGULAR
always straight, but have been known to
curve in one direction. A slight bend is
ERECTIONS, PENILE
normal, but anything more could be a
TISSUE CAN BECOME
sign of Peyronie's disease, a condition
in which scar tissue (ﬁbrous plaques)
LESS ELASTIC
develops along the shaft of the penis.
AND SHRINK
No one knows for sure what causes the
condition which affects 5% of men, usually
only showing in their ﬁfties, but it may be
genetic, associated with low testosterone, or
brought on by injury during sexual activity. This leads to
an immune response which causes scarring. If it's severe,
it can stop a man being able to have sex and may need
surgery, although many cases improve on their own.
His penis can break...
'When a man is having an erection, his penis
is engorged with blood,' explains urologist Dr Erik
Castle. 'If the penis is bent suddenly or forcefully when
it's engorged, the trauma may rupture the lining of one
of the two cylinders (corpus cavernosum) in the penis
responsible for erection.' This is most likely to happen
during sexual activity and is often accompanied by a
cracking sound, immediate dark bruising and painful

The foreskin is like an eyelid for the penis, consisting
of a mucous membrane, a moist environment considered
to be associated with sexually transmitted infections
(STDs). The foreskin also contains a large number
of Langerhans cells, a type of immune cell targeted
by HIV infection. NHS Choices states that being
circumcised may reduce the risk of both HIV and
genital herpes (there have also been studies refuting
this however, and a condom should always be used
to prevent HIV and other STDs).
Circumcision means you are less likely to develop
a urinary tract infection, and a study in the American
Society for Microbiology found there were fewer kinds of
bacteria on the penises of circumcised men, compared
to samples taken before their operation.

...Circumcision isn't that
popular in the UK

Despite the associated health beneﬁts, circumcised men
are in the minority in the UK; it's estimated that less
than 16% of British men are circumcised, compared to
over half of American men. Globally, just 30% of men
have chosen to be circumcised.

He can get cancer of the penis
Testicular cancer, is well publicised, but did you know
there is such a thing as penile cancer, too? It affects just
550 men a year, mostly over the age of 60, and
symptoms include a growth that doesn't disappear within
a month, bleeding, a rash or a foul smelling discharge.
If your man has these symptoms, it's unlikely to be
penile cancer, but he should get checked out nonetheless.

Some parts of his organ are
more sensitive than others

While the head of the penis is the most sensitive, the
soft area on its underside is the male counterpart of
the female 'G' spot. Called the frenulum, a ﬁrm touch
in the area is very pleasurable for men, as it contains the
greatest concentration of nerve endings.

It has to be tiny to be called small...
Popular culture assumes that men are invariably preoccupied
with the size of their penis, fearing that they may fall
short of the average. Professor Kevan Wylie, a sexual
medicine consultant from the University of Shefﬁeld,
carried out a review of 50 studies that had measured a
total of 11,531 penises. The average size when erect was
found to be 15cm, while the average girth is 12cm. It is
only considered 'small' if it is less than 7cm when erect.
However, research in the British Journal of Urology
International shows that 85% of women are more than
happy with the size of their man's penis, so it would
seem their concern is unnecessary.
www.athomemagazine.co.uk MARCH 2015 | 225
http://www.athomemagazine.co.uk
At Home with Dr Christian Jessen

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