Will Masturbating Increase My Penis Size?

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, 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

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Andre Van Mol, MD

Dr Andre Van Mol, MD is a board-certified family physician. His education included the University of Southern California, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Charleston Naval Hospital, and the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Practice, and member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. Dr. Van Mol serves on the boards of Bethel Church (where he is also an elder), Moral Revolution, PrayNorthstate, and iBranches (safe home for children victims of domestic minor sex trafficking). He speaks and writes on bioethics and Christian apologetics, is experienced in short-term medical missions, and is a former US Navy officer (family physician and carrier air wing flight surgeon). He and his wife, Evelyn (also a former Navy officer) – both of whom were Canadian born and raised in America – live in Redding, CA, with their two sons, one daughter, and a reasonably steady stream of foster children.

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