The Fundamental Facts You Must Know About Penis Extenders
Penis extenders have over the last couple of years pretty much dominated the male enhancement market. So what’s the reason for their popularity? Well, it’s simple…no matter how sceptical you might be about natural enlargement methods, it’s absolutely impossible to ignore the overwhelming clinical evidence supporting both their safety and effectiveness.
What’s more, this isn’t skewed evidence presented by the manufacturers themselves in an attempt to legitimize their products, these are independently performed medical studies published in leading peer-reviewed medical journals including the British Journal of Urology and the Journal of Sexual Medicine (you’ll find more on this medical research below).
Basic Principles
Extenders simply apply relatively low levels of consistent and sustained tension (also known as traction) to the penile shaft.
This promotes gains in penis length through two independent physiological processes.
Stretching the Ligaments
Firstly, they gradually lengthen the ligaments (called the suspensory and fundiform ligaments) at the bottom of the penile shaft.
This is important because these ligaments hold a significant part of the penile shaft (4 – 6 inches worth) under lock and key behind the pubic bone. The next time you get an erection, have a poke behind your scrotum – you can easily feel how much of the penile shaft is hidden away there.
You may already know that penile lengthening surgery involves cutting these ligaments – a procedure that works better in theory than in practice. One of the many problems faced by men who opt for surgery is that during the healing process scar tissue formation tends to creates a ‘false ligament’ which pulls the penis back inside the body.
Because ligaments are naturally quite ‘elastic’ they possess the capacity to stretch whilst maintaining full functionality. As a result, penis traction seems to produce in practice what surgery only achieves in theory – a gradual exposure of the hidden penis and a resultant increase in visible penis length.
Cell Multiplication (Hyperplasia)
Traction also encourages a physiological process known as Hyperplasia - a process whereby cells multiply in response to physical stress. This multiplication of cells in turn leads to a gradual increase of tissue mass.
Hyperplasia occurs as the body attempts to adapt in order to better cope with the additional stress it’s placed under.
This physiological response is often exploited by orthopaedic medicine – where surgeons use traction to gradually straighten or lengthen the limbs of patients suffering from growth deficiencies or abnormalities.
Fortunately, the penis doesn’t contain bone, which obviously makes it more susceptible to positive growth through Hyperplasia.
Clinical Studies Supporting the Effectiveness of Penile Traction
As I mentions above, penis traction has been the subject of a great deal of research – so below I’ve outlined the results of two well known, peer reviewed medical trials. Because these studies were ‘peer reviewed’ i.e. they were scrutinised by third-party doctors, we can be pretty confident that the results are both unbiased and accurate.
Medical Study #1
One of the most detailed studies was conducted by a Danish plastic surgeon and urologist Dr. Jørn Ege Siana in 1998; and was presented at the International Interdisciplinary Symposium on Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgery (a highly respected gathering of urologists). Subsequently the study was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
This 24 week trial involved 18 men, ranging in age from their early twenties to their late forties. Traction was used daily throughout the 24 week period and penile measurements were recorded by the research team every two weeks. The trial recorded some impressive results:
After 8 weeks, the 18 participants gained an average of 17 percent in erect length.
After 16 weeks (1100 hrs usage) participants achieved an average increase of 2.8 cm (1.1 inches) in erect length.
At the end of the 24 week trial, the average gain in erect length had shot up to 29 percent.
The biggest erect length reported in the trial came in at a monumental 40 percent.
Participants gained on average 1.9mm per week – equating to 4.56 cm (1.8 inches) in erect length over the entire 24 weeks of treatment.
Average gains in erect penis girth were more modest, but still significant, at 0.75 inches.
Going by these results, a man with a typical 6.4 inch penis could expect to achieve on average (by applying the 29 percent increase figure) a new erect length of 8.26 inches…which would mean having a penis bigger than 90 percent of the male population.
The only downside to the trial was that in order to achieve these impressive results, the patients used the traction device for 12 hours a day. Although medical grade extenders are designed to be worn comfortably for extended periods of time each day, it’s understandable if you’d prefer not to spend quite so much time each day with the device on.
Medical Study #2
Fortunately, another study conducted by urologists at San Giovanni Battista Hospital, Italy and published in the British Journal of Urology in 2008 gives us a good idea of the sort of results can be achieved with more moderate daily usage.
In this study 15 men employed the use of a medical grade traction device for just 4 hours a day over six months (just a third of the time in comparison to the previous study).
Six months later the study's 15 participants had achieved:
An average flaccid length increase of 0.9 inches
An average erect length increase of 0.65 inches.
The authors of the study concluded that these results showed that the use of penile traction was a ‘minimally invasive and effective treatment option’ for those looking for a natural alternative to lengthening surgery.
What you’ll probably have noticed from this later study is that the participants achieved on average about a third of the length gains that were reported in the first study.
Why? Because they wore the device for a third of the total time.
This is a finding that’s been corroborated in numerous clinical trials: Results achieved through traction tend to be directly proportional to the length of time the device is worn per day. In other words, the more you wear it each day, the quicker you see results.
The amount of time you spend wearing the device each day doesn’t affect overall results – you will still achieve the same overall length increases given time. But if you want to make gains as quickly as possible, you need to spend more time per day devoted to wearing the device.
The other point both these studies undoubtedly confirm of course, is that penile traction is extremely effective.
Better than surgery?
So how does using a penis traction device compare to undergoing penis lengthening surgery?
In 2006 a study published in the European Urology journal reported that the average gain in erect length of 42 patients who’d undergone lengthening surgery was just 0.5 inches. Furthermore, the study noted that approximately 5 percent of the men ultimately ended up around half an inch shorter than they were before surgery. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, penile shortening can be a negative consequence of this procedure because during the healing process the formation of very inelastic scar tissue starts to pull the penis back inside the body.
One of the most interesting observations made by the researchers was that the best results were achieved by ‘some motivated patients’ who’d used a penile traction device during the healing phase – which produced gains of up to 3 cm (1.18 inches).
So the real question is, were those results produced by traction or the surgery? My guess is that it was probably the traction.
Safety Issues
Independent medical studies into penile traction have reported no adverse complications or injuries.
It’s important to remember however, that these studies all used medically developed devices - developed to provide exactly the right amounts of stretching force to produce optimum gains, whilst maintaining safety. Their anatomically correct designs also ensure that they can be worn comfortably for extended periods of time without causing problems.
At present only two medically certified devices are available – the Jes-Extender by DanaMedic and the AndroPenis by AndroMedical – you can read more about these devices below.
Both these devices are designed with safety, comfort and durability in mind – features that will ultimately provide you with significantly better results.
Penis extenders have over the last couple of years pretty much dominated the male enhancement market. So what’s the reason for their popularity? Well, it’s simple…no matter how sceptical you might be about natural enlargement methods, it’s absolutely impossible to ignore the overwhelming clinical evidence supporting both their safety and effectiveness.
What’s more, this isn’t skewed evidence presented by the manufacturers themselves in an attempt to legitimize their products, these are independently performed medical studies published in leading peer-reviewed medical journals including the British Journal of Urology and the Journal of Sexual Medicine (you’ll find more on this medical research below).
Basic Principles
Extenders simply apply relatively low levels of consistent and sustained tension (also known as traction) to the penile shaft.
This promotes gains in penis length through two independent physiological processes.
Stretching the Ligaments
Firstly, they gradually lengthen the ligaments (called the suspensory and fundiform ligaments) at the bottom of the penile shaft.
This is important because these ligaments hold a significant part of the penile shaft (4 – 6 inches worth) under lock and key behind the pubic bone. The next time you get an erection, have a poke behind your scrotum – you can easily feel how much of the penile shaft is hidden away there.
You may already know that penile lengthening surgery involves cutting these ligaments – a procedure that works better in theory than in practice. One of the many problems faced by men who opt for surgery is that during the healing process scar tissue formation tends to creates a ‘false ligament’ which pulls the penis back inside the body.
Because ligaments are naturally quite ‘elastic’ they possess the capacity to stretch whilst maintaining full functionality. As a result, penis traction seems to produce in practice what surgery only achieves in theory – a gradual exposure of the hidden penis and a resultant increase in visible penis length.
Cell Multiplication (Hyperplasia)
Traction also encourages a physiological process known as Hyperplasia - a process whereby cells multiply in response to physical stress. This multiplication of cells in turn leads to a gradual increase of tissue mass.
Hyperplasia occurs as the body attempts to adapt in order to better cope with the additional stress it’s placed under.
This physiological response is often exploited by orthopaedic medicine – where surgeons use traction to gradually straighten or lengthen the limbs of patients suffering from growth deficiencies or abnormalities.
Fortunately, the penis doesn’t contain bone, which obviously makes it more susceptible to positive growth through Hyperplasia.
Clinical Studies Supporting the Effectiveness of Penile Traction
As I mentions above, penis traction has been the subject of a great deal of research – so below I’ve outlined the results of two well known, peer reviewed medical trials. Because these studies were ‘peer reviewed’ i.e. they were scrutinised by third-party doctors, we can be pretty confident that the results are both unbiased and accurate.
Medical Study #1
One of the most detailed studies was conducted by a Danish plastic surgeon and urologist Dr. Jørn Ege Siana in 1998; and was presented at the International Interdisciplinary Symposium on Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgery (a highly respected gathering of urologists). Subsequently the study was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
This 24 week trial involved 18 men, ranging in age from their early twenties to their late forties. Traction was used daily throughout the 24 week period and penile measurements were recorded by the research team every two weeks. The trial recorded some impressive results:
After 8 weeks, the 18 participants gained an average of 17 percent in erect length.
After 16 weeks (1100 hrs usage) participants achieved an average increase of 2.8 cm (1.1 inches) in erect length.
At the end of the 24 week trial, the average gain in erect length had shot up to 29 percent.
The biggest erect length reported in the trial came in at a monumental 40 percent.
Participants gained on average 1.9mm per week – equating to 4.56 cm (1.8 inches) in erect length over the entire 24 weeks of treatment.
Average gains in erect penis girth were more modest, but still significant, at 0.75 inches.
Going by these results, a man with a typical 6.4 inch penis could expect to achieve on average (by applying the 29 percent increase figure) a new erect length of 8.26 inches…which would mean having a penis bigger than 90 percent of the male population.
The only downside to the trial was that in order to achieve these impressive results, the patients used the traction device for 12 hours a day. Although medical grade extenders are designed to be worn comfortably for extended periods of time each day, it’s understandable if you’d prefer not to spend quite so much time each day with the device on.
Medical Study #2
Fortunately, another study conducted by urologists at San Giovanni Battista Hospital, Italy and published in the British Journal of Urology in 2008 gives us a good idea of the sort of results can be achieved with more moderate daily usage.
In this study 15 men employed the use of a medical grade traction device for just 4 hours a day over six months (just a third of the time in comparison to the previous study).
Six months later the study's 15 participants had achieved:
An average flaccid length increase of 0.9 inches
An average erect length increase of 0.65 inches.
The authors of the study concluded that these results showed that the use of penile traction was a ‘minimally invasive and effective treatment option’ for those looking for a natural alternative to lengthening surgery.
What you’ll probably have noticed from this later study is that the participants achieved on average about a third of the length gains that were reported in the first study.
Why? Because they wore the device for a third of the total time.
This is a finding that’s been corroborated in numerous clinical trials: Results achieved through traction tend to be directly proportional to the length of time the device is worn per day. In other words, the more you wear it each day, the quicker you see results.
The amount of time you spend wearing the device each day doesn’t affect overall results – you will still achieve the same overall length increases given time. But if you want to make gains as quickly as possible, you need to spend more time per day devoted to wearing the device.
The other point both these studies undoubtedly confirm of course, is that penile traction is extremely effective.
Better than surgery?
So how does using a penis traction device compare to undergoing penis lengthening surgery?
In 2006 a study published in the European Urology journal reported that the average gain in erect length of 42 patients who’d undergone lengthening surgery was just 0.5 inches. Furthermore, the study noted that approximately 5 percent of the men ultimately ended up around half an inch shorter than they were before surgery. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, penile shortening can be a negative consequence of this procedure because during the healing process the formation of very inelastic scar tissue starts to pull the penis back inside the body.
One of the most interesting observations made by the researchers was that the best results were achieved by ‘some motivated patients’ who’d used a penile traction device during the healing phase – which produced gains of up to 3 cm (1.18 inches).
So the real question is, were those results produced by traction or the surgery? My guess is that it was probably the traction.
Safety Issues
Independent medical studies into penile traction have reported no adverse complications or injuries.
It’s important to remember however, that these studies all used medically developed devices - developed to provide exactly the right amounts of stretching force to produce optimum gains, whilst maintaining safety. Their anatomically correct designs also ensure that they can be worn comfortably for extended periods of time without causing problems.
At present only two medically certified devices are available – the Jes-Extender by DanaMedic and the AndroPenis by AndroMedical – you can read more about these devices below.
Both these devices are designed with safety, comfort and durability in mind – features that will ultimately provide you with significantly better results.
