QUESTION

Is it ok to masturbate to make your penis bigger (not for lust/porn)? I am saving sex for inside of marriage, but I also want to have a big penis. Should I no longer masturbate?

DOCTOR’S ANSWER

I commend your commitment to resisting lust and pornography, which will only help your mind, body, and spirit (see, for example, pages 67-69 of Drs. McIlhaney and Bush’s 2008 book Hooked; Prov. 11:6, 23:7a; Luke 11:34; and I John 2:16). Saving sex for marriage is right and rewarding.

As for masturbation making a penis larger, it is not going to happen. Conversely, not masturbating will have no negative effects on penis size either. Masturbation doesn’t make a penis bigger, and not masturbating doesn’t make a penis smaller. Young men are often concerned about penis length but should not be. Erections have been called the great equalizer since their average length is about 5 inches in most men.[1][2] Even at smaller erection sizes, a man can generally still sexually satisfy his wife. The point is that the odds are overwhelming that you’ve already got what it takes, so to speak, and masturbating will not add to it.

[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8709382

[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11223678