All causes of micropenis condition as man with ‘world’s smallest penis’ makes heartbreaking admission

There are several possible causes of a micropenis as the man who reckons he has the 'world's smallest penis' opened up on the difficulties of having one.

North Carolina man Michael Phillips last year had his penis measured at 0.38 inches, for context that's some way off the average (at least in the UK) of 3.82 inches while flaccid and 5.17 inches while erect which is roughly in line with global averages.

Michael said it's knocked his confidence as he always stayed single even while the rest of his friends were getting into relationships. He's also nervous about using public toilets as 'even sitting down can be tricky with clean up and everything'.

His advice to the 0.6 percent of men who have a micropenis is 'find a place where you can talk about it freely or where you feel comfortable', and said that even if treatment is available there isn't much they could do to add a great deal of length.

What are the causes of a micropenis?

As for the causes of a micropenis, there are various things which can lead to it as it's the result of an abnormal development in the womb which typically occurs between eight and 12 weeks.

According to VeryWellHealth, a micropenis is defined as one which is shorter than 3.67 inches when measured by stretched penile length, SPL (not to be confused with the Scottish Premier League).

Before you start freaking out and fearing that your flaccid dingle is shorter than three-and-two-third inches, it's only when you're measuring by SPL which involves a person gently stretching their flaccid penis and holding it close to their body, then measuring from the tip to the base.

It's certainly not the case that the barrier for having a micropenis is 0.15 inches away from the average size, as there's quite a lot of stretching involved to get the SPL value.

Anyhow, as to what causes it, there's a hormone known as 'human chorionic gonadotropin', which stimulates the production of testosterone cells. However, if this is disrupted for some reason, it can result in a smaller penis.

Michael was diagnosed with a micropenis (ITV)

There are various syndromes which can be the cause of this disruption including Kallman, Prader-Willi, Klinefelter, Noonan and Androgen insensitivity.

There's also anorchia, bilateral anorchia, 5 alpha-reductase deficiency and congenital growth hormone deficiency.

Generally, these are genetic conditions which interfere with the standard growth processes of the body and result in a baby being born with a smaller penis than usual.

There are also researchers who warn exposure to certain pollutants such as chlorinated pesticides can cause genetic interference in unborn babies and a micropenis can be a consequence of this.

The cause of a person's micropenis will often not be known, but it can be recognised when a child is born, and there are treatment options available, which are typically most effective when someone is younger.