Welcome to Testosterone HQ—Men’s Health‘s guide to the exciting, complicated, and revolutionary world of testosterone. For everything you need to know about T, click here.
TESTOSTERONE can do a guy lots of good. Having a sufficient natural supply of testosterone in your body can boost numerous aspects of your health, including your sex drive and sperm count. It does make sense in a way, too, that testosterone would increase penis size, because at one point in your life–puberty– it did. But the facts are different as an adult.
Testosterone, which is produced by your testicles, “plays a key role in the development of characteristics like libido, and growth of the penis and testicles,” says Jamin Brahmbhatt, MD, a board-certified urologist at Orlando Health in Orlando, Florida. “Fertility is achieved as the testicles and penis increase to adult size,” says Paul Turek, MD, a sexual health expert and board-certified reproductive urologist in Los Angeles.
Testosterone surges in your body in your tween and teen years to achieve all of this. This “blast” of testosterone is usually over by your mid to late teens. Here’s what to know after that.
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Does Your Penis Keep Growing as You Get Older?
No. After testosterone stops surging, your sexual development is set for life. Genetics are the main reason your penis grows to its permanent size. “You’re born with the size already determined,” says Dr. Brambhatt.
After your penis stops growing, any increase in testosterone levels in your body won’t have any further effect on its size. That is true no matter what length your penis happens to be: a recent study done by researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine found that stretched penile length did not have any association with testosterone levels in adult men. The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University points out that since the penis consists of spongy tissue, not muscle, you can’t build it up in any way on your own. “There are no safe and effective methods for permanently increasing penis size,” says Dr. Brambhatt.
While testosterone had an effect on your penis early on, more won’t help now. It might even hurt to take T pills that promise to increase your girth or length. You have no idea if they’re safe to take and don’t contain harmful ingredients, plus they won’t work. And, according to data from Harvard Medical School, artificially high T levels in many can also cause a wide range of health problems, including low sperm count, impotence, heart damage and an enlarged prostate, mood swings, high blood pressure, liver disease, weight gain, acne, and insomnia.
Does Testosterone Affect Length?
Again, nope. A recent Stanford University study found that the average erect penile length has grown 24 percent worldwide over the past 29 years. The researchers report this is not due to an increase in T levels–in fact, T levels dipped over this period of time in much of the evidence they reviewed. Instead, the researchers theorize penis size could be increasing because of negative environmental factors, like pollution–and that further study into that possibility is needed.
What Can I Do Then, If I Worry About My Size?
It’s natural to be curious about size and how your penis stacks up. Here’s some info on that. But the bottom line is that size doesn’t matter. Function, however, does. If you notice any changes in how your penis looks or functions—patchy spots, bumps, curves—definitely don’t ignore them. “Consult your doctor for accurate information about any concerns,” stresses Dr. Brambhatt. Obviously, this helps you get the right treatment for anything that’s amiss, but it also helps you stop stressing about what something could be, but isn’t.
