The penis is one of the most sensitive organs in the male body. It comprises a complicated connection of delicate tissues, nerves, blood vessels and muscle that can be very easily injured. Of course, injury is the least of anyone’s concerns.
People with active sex lives can be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases and infections that can have disastrous consequences.
For these reasons, it becomes important that everyone knows as much as they possibly can about the risks associated with their genitals and take the appropriate measures to avoid long-term damage.
This blog is a comprehensive guide to penis health to help men take the necessary precautions to enjoy healthy sex lives and live healthier.
What Will You Learn?
- Medical Conditions That Affect Penis Health
- Factors That Increase the Risk of Problems
- When You Should See a Doctor?
- How to Keep Your Penis Healthy
- Penis Health Tips
- Facts About Your Penis
- What Is a Penis Health Creme & Should You Use One?
Medical Conditions That Affect Penis Health
There’s a wide range of medical conditions that can affect your penis. Many of them result from direct injury; there are numerous skin conditions which affect the penis specifically; complications with the foreskin and STIs.
Some of the most common medical conditions afflicting the penis include:
- Balanitis:
A condition caused by a bacterial and fungal infection which cause glans (the tip of the penis) and sometimes the foreskin to get inflamed.
- Erectile Dysfunctions:
The inability to get an erection or to maintain it for long periods of time.
- Priapism:
A condition where erections last for up to 4 hours.
- Phimosis:
Tightness of the foreskin that might require surgery to fix
- Paraphimosis:
A condition where the foreskin gets stuck in one place and doesn’t move back.
- Peyronie’s Disease:
Development of scar tissue in the inner lining of the penis, which causes it to bend to one side when erect.
- Penis Fractures:
The splitting of the skin around the penis because of impact.
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases:
The can include HIV/Aids, Genital herpes, Gonorrhea and Syphilis.
Factors That Increase the Risk of Problems
It’s usually a certain type of lifestyle that increases the risk of developing penis health issues. This is actually a huge list of risk factors; however some of the most common are:
- Poor hygiene habits
- Unprotected sex
- Lack of exercise
- Risky sexual behavior
- Substance abuse
- Medication for other illnesses
- Unhealthy diets
Again, this is by no means an exhaustive list of all the reasons why you might develop a medical condition, and you should consult with a physician immediately if you feel that your penis might be dysfunctional.
Generally, maintaining a good diet, healthy eating habits and not engaging in risky sexual behavior can reduce the risk of developing a penile dysfunction.
When You Should See a Doctor?
The answer to this question depends on the kind of symptoms you’re exhibiting in relation to your penis.
Assuming that you’ve contracted a sexually transmitted disease, you should visit the doctor immediately considering how contagious and potentially life-threatening these are. When it comes to conditions like erectile dysfunction, you need to know if it’s happening frequently enough to compromise the quality of your sex life before you go visit the doctor.
If you develop a penile fracture, then you should visit a doctor immediately because of the potential for long-term damage. Finally, if you think that there’s something wrong with the skin on your penis, then you should definitely go to the doctor immediately because any infection whether an STI or bacterial could be disastrous.
If you’re sexually active, then it would make more sense to go for a routine check-up to make sure that everything is in top shape because of how certain STI/STDs aren’t immediately noticeable.
How to Keep Your Penis Healthy
As we’ve mentioned before, maintaining the health of your penis depends on certain lifestyle choices and reducing the risks of developing a penile condition.
Whether these are infections or physical injuries, it’s never a good idea to be risky with your penis and you should incorporate healthy lifestyle habits to completely mitigating the risk of developing these.
Some habits that you should seriously consider are:
- Get regular exercise
- Eat nutritious meals
- Make sure to maintain healthy hygiene around your genitals
- Always use protection when having sex; it’s not just about avoiding pregnancy
- Avoid substance abuse, including smoking and drinking.
- Try to not engage in risky sexual behavior
Penis Health Tips
Considering the number of risks to the health of your penis and how these can affect your long term physical and emotional well-being, we’ve compiled a list of penis health tips that you ought to consider.
These tips are likely to ensure that you won’t develop conditions like erectile dysfunction, infections or any injuries to the penis.
Frequent Sex Helps Avoid Erectile Dysfunction
A group of medical investigators recently conducted a study on nearly 1000 men, to conclude that frequent sexual activity reduces the risk of erectile dysfunction.
According to the study, regular sex was essential in maintaining the health of the nerves in the penis, ensured unhindered blood flow and the health of the prostate gland.
Each of these factors points out that those who have a lot of sex will be less likely to develop ED.
Be Sexually Responsible
Although sex can be a lot of fun, it always pays to know the risk factors involved. Many adolescents and adults engage in irresponsible sexual habits that include not using condoms during sexual activity with multiple partners, unaware of the anatomy of the male genitalia and many others.
For these reasons, many of them develop STDs or even sustain injuries to the penis for long lasting adverse health effects.
You Should Exercise
Regular exercise like weight training, jogging, swimming and cycling can ensure good cardiovascular health.
Erectile dysfunction in particular is often caused by blood circulation problems around the penis so physical activity is a great way to mitigate the risks of developing the condition.
Practice Good Hygiene
Keeping your genitals clean is important to avoid contracting an infection. For as long as your penis is clean, there’s little reason why you should develop an infection.
Many people choose to ignore the foreskin and the area around it, which is why that’s the region which is most commonly infected.
Lose Weight
Obesity is a commonly observed cause of erectile dysfunction. Since the condition causes hormonal imbalances, cardiovascular problems and potential nerve damage, it is implicated with the occurrence of ED as well.
Obese people are also more likely to be diabetic and that puts them at risk for developing nerve damage which affects the consistency of erections.
Eat healthy
Healthy eating habits is a great way to make sure that you don’t develop any erectile problems. Consuming foods that are high in flavonoids and antioxidants can reduce the risk of ED.
Similarly consuming foods rich in nutrients like proteins, vitamins and Omega 3- fats can help avoid medical conditions which might lead to ED.
Avoid Alcohol
Alcohol is a well-known vasoconstrictor; it narrows down the blood vessels so that blood circulation is slowed down throughout the body. This also affects the blood vessels near the penis to increase the risk of developing erectile dysfunction.
Cut down alcohol intake and you’ll soon feel that your erections are far better than they were before.
Drink a Lot of Water
There’s no way you can go wrong with this. Water is essential for many biological processes like digestion, the formation of new cells and improved blood circulation. All the chemical reactions in the body are conducted in water molecules found in the blood.
Staying hydrated can also increase your semen volume, help manage blood pressure and various other conditions affecting the health of your penis.
Get Some Coffee
Coffee has the opposite effect on the human body to that of alcohol. Where alcohol constricts blood vessels, coffee makes sure that these stay dilated for longer periods of time.
As the blood vessels around your penis stay dilated for longer, it ensures that your penis stays erect for longer periods of time.
Quit Smoking
In addition to compromising the blood circulation in your body, smoking has also been associated with the development of hypertension and can cause inflammation in the body.
This not only affects how good your erections are, but might also reduce your sperm count.
Know Your Medications
Erectile dysfunction is also the side-effect of many types of medication. These include:
- Blood pressure medication
- Allergy medication
- Antidepressants
- Heart rhythm medication
- Muscle relaxants
- NSAIDs
- Chemotherapy medication
- Anti-seizure drugs
Facts About Your Penis
In many ways, being well-informed is part of penis healthcare. Knowing how your penis works, what the anatomy is, what chemical processes go on these and so on can go a long way in reducing the risk of developing penile dysfunctions.
It also tells you how can take care of your penis and the activities that can affect its health.
The Penis Length When Flaccid Does Not Matter
The average human penis is 3 inches long when flaccid and 6 inches long when it’s erect. This is enough to guarantee a satisfying sexual experience for both yourself and your partner; irrespective of whether you’re trying to conceive or just for pleasure.
In any case, the length of your penis when flaccid doesn’t matter because it can’t really help conceive nor would it flaccid during any sexual activity.
So for all those who think they’re flaccid penis is too small, smaller penises actually grow by up to twice its length when these are erect.
As such, your penis is very likely to be a normal size and you shouldn’t consider ways to make it larger or suffer long term health consequences.
Penis Sensitivity Declines With Age
This is true for the human body in general and is one of the reasons why the rates of erectile dysfunction get higher with age. Over the years, the nerves in your penis become less responsive to stimulation and therefore your penis isn’t as responsive.
This is nothing to be worried about and it just means that you’ll have to work harder to get an erection. It might not even qualify as erectile dysfunction.
Your Penis Is Longer Than You Think
There are a lot of people who think that their penis is too small when that’s really not the case. A lot of this has to do with how they view their bodies with a bias that their penis doesn’t size up to those that they might have seen in pornographic movies.
However, most adult actors undergo complicated surgical procedures to make their penises seem that large.
Your penis is most likely to be of a normal length. You don’t need to go to extreme measures to make it longer.
Should You Get Circumcised?
There is reason to believe that circumcision is a good choice for men because it reduces the risk of developing infections of the glans and foreskin.
It also makes hygiene maintenance easier because the skin doesn’t have to be pulled back.
Of course it doesn’t completely does away with the risk of developing an infection around the foreskin itself.
What Is a Penis Health Cream & Should You Use One?
There are many types of penis health creams. Penis creams to increase the size of your penis don’t work so there’s no use investing in these.
However, topical creams are often used to help with erectile dysfunction, where they work in ways like that of Viagra. Similarly, there are a lot of creams that are used to treat bacterial infection and to moisturize; these are absolutely alright to use.
Conclusion
With regards to your penis health, anything that you do to keep it safe isn’t enough. When it comes to living a healthy and enjoyable life—whether personal, sexual or otherwise—there aren’t enough precautions.
Always remember that you maintain good hygiene habits and make sure to have safe sex to avoid developing any medical conditions of the penis.
Before you try out any medication for your penis, always consult with your doctor and make sure that you get regularly tested for STDs so that these can be contained and treated as soon as possible.
