A new study has found that the average length of penises has increased by around 24 percent in recent decades, which will surely make at least some people out there feel a bit better about themselves.
This particularly vital piece of research discovered that over the last three decades there has been a massive uptick in the length of people’s lengths, with the average size rocketing from 4.8 inches to six inches.
Are scientists really using inches still?
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In truth, no they aren’t.
The actual scientific paper – published in the World Journal of Men’s Health – uses centimetres, but given how these sorts of things are usually calculated, we’ll use inches just to be clear.
The bold scientist behind this study was Dr. Michael L. Eisenberg, director of male reproductive medicine and surgery and urology professor at Stanford University School of Medicine in California.
That’s a big title, and Dr. Eisenberg and his team of boffins have been doing some big work.
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They took data from 75 schlong studies over the years between 1942 and 2021, taking in measurements from more than 55,000 blokes between the ages of 18 to 86.
Referring to studies that have found sperm counts and testosterone levels to be on the slide, Dr. Eisenberg said: “We expected that we would see a similar declining trend when we looked at penile length, but we found quite the opposite.”
The results were published yesterday – Valentine’s Day – and confirmed that there’s been a 24 percent increase in the length of an average erect penis.
That’s between 1992 – when they first started recording erect lengths – and now, so 29 years.
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So, what is the reason behind this?
The simple answer is that we aren’t totally sure.
Eisenberg said: “Our reproductive system is one of the most important pieces of human biology. If we’re seeing this fast of a change, it means that something powerful is happening to our bodies.
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“We should try to confirm these findings and if confirmed, we must determine the cause of these changes.”
Worryingly, there could be factors such as exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals in our environment, which some research suggests be linked to earlier puberty and genital development.
However, others have their theories too.
One such theory comes from Dr. Larry Lipshultz from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, who didn’t work on the study, but did say he found the results fascinating.
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Does internet pornography have a role to play?
He thinks it is possible.
Dr. Lipshultz said: “You might possibly blame online porn, but that’s just a theory,
“The more someone has erections, there might be greater potential for better erections.
“The tissue would stretch more, hence would get longer.”
Ultimately, one important lesson to learn is that size isn’t everything.
Dr Raevti Bole, from the Cleveland Clinic, offered this piece of wisdom: “Overall I think the results are good in that they don’t show a deterioration [of the penis] — but at the end of the day penile length is very subjective, and I think there can be a negative to focusing on this.
“There’s a real emphasis on size in popular culture and social media, so I think it’s important for doctors to reinforce that bigger is not necessarily better.
“My point is size doesn’t necessarily correlate to sexual satisfaction.
“Patients can feel bad about penis size, and that’s a problem.”
In the end, the answer – as with so much of science – is the same.
We simply need to do more research and learn more about what is going on.
Featured Image Credit: Zoran Mladenovic / oranialux / AlamyTopics: Science, World News, Weird, Sex and Relationships