Know Your Knob: all our penis health links
Free PDF of Size Isn't Everything - all penis FAQs answered
In the UK, one man in five dies before he reaches 65. Together we can change that. Donate, sign up for news or order some of our man manuals from the online shop.
We want a new CEO
2.5 days/week
The Men’s Health Forum seeks a dynamic and dedicated individual to serve as its new Chief Executive.
Related content
Make the promise. Stand up to male violence.
Penis Basics FAQs
How your tackle works and links to everything you need from erections to vasectomies.
The penis, as you have probably discovered, is used for peeing, making babies and generally having fun with. You're very lucky to have one so take care of it.
The need to know vocabulary
Pictured above is your tackle in technicolour complete with a few technical terms.
Sperm are manufactured in the testicles and pass along the epididymis where matured sperm hang out. The epididymis is a microscopically narrow tube 6m long folded into a space of 5cm - an engineering masterpiece. Just before you cum, the sperm travel along two narrow tubes of muscle called vas deferens. These meet with the seminal vesicles which are behind the bladder just above the prostate gland.
The seminal vesicles and the prostate gland add their own secretions to the semen. These fluids are alkaline which protect the sperm from the acid in the vagina. At orgasm, the semen is propelled from two ejaculatory ducts along the urethra which runs the length of the penis and out of the urethral opening.
What is the penis made of?
The penis is basically three cylinders of spongy erectile tissue full of blood vessels. The urethra, the body's outlet tube for both sperm and urine (although only one at a time), passes through the middle of the smallest of these - the corpus spongiosum - which is found on the underside of the penis. The corpus spongiosum expands at the tip to form the head of the penis called the glans. The glans is protected by the foreskin.
Why is my erect penis bent?
Every penis is bit bent and a slight bend upwards is not just normal but desirable.
You may have a problem if your penis is bent to the left or right so much as to make it difficult or even painful to enter your partner during sex. It could be condition called Peyronie's. This is not an Italian beer. Bent willies are very common and generally do not cause any problem with intercourse. It's a matter of finding what fits, so to speak. If the 'bend' is particularly bad, surgery can improve matters.
Can the penis break?
It can fracture if it bashes into an immovable object when erect. The most common cause is probably the woman's pubic bone. It can be healed through surgery and splints.
Do I need to clean my penis?
In short, yes. You should wash it every day with warm water when you're having a shower or a bath. If you have a foreskin you should pull it back and wash under it. We need to clean our penises every day because if we don't a cheesy looking substance called smegma builds up. Smegma is the result of a natural lubricant we produce which when we don't wash collects. This builds up and can be a breeding ground for bacteria. It's natural to have some bacteria on your skin but too much on your penis can cause balanitis, which can be very sore and uncomfortable!
Where can I find out more?
The NHS also has a section of its website devoted to penises.
We don't currently post comments online but are always keen to hear your feedback.
Date published
09/04/14
Date of last review
20/01/21
Date of next review
19/01/24
References
|
The Men’s Health Forum need your support It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking. In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to. It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for. We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing. Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.
|
