Reprinted from medsci George Costanza’s penis has unfortunately shrunk since he got out of the freezing cold pool, but for most men, the issue of genital length and girth is not something to joke about. Now, a new study may ease that fear by agreeing on the most accurate penis size measurements. Many early studies relied on self-reporting, which has always produced unreliable results. “People tend to overestimate themselves.” says David Veale, a psychiatrist who works for South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. So when he and his team set out to address scaling scores on the penis, they decided to compile data from outpatient physicians who followed a standardized measurement process. The new study, which has now been published in the British Journal of Urology International, combined data from 17 previous academic papers, including measurements from a total of 15,521 people from around the world. The data allowed the researchers to calculate averages and an estimated distribution of simulated penis sizes across humans. “This still just strikes me: there is so much insecurity and concern among men about the size of their penises. We do need very good data on this issue.” Debra Herbenick, a behavioral scientist who works at Indiana University-Burmington, said she did not participate in the study. According to the study’s data, the average length of a flaccid, droopy penis was 9.16 cm, and the average length of an erect penis was 13.12 cm. The circumference of an eligible flaccid, droopy penis was 9.31 cm, and an erect penis was 11.66 cm. A table of size distributions showed that outliers were rare. 16 cm of erect penis was outside the 95th percentile, meaning that out of 100 men, only Conversely, the erect penis measured at 10cm was outside the 5% range, meaning that only 5 out of 100 men had penises smaller than 10cm. Gentlemen, if you are eager to know how to measure, you need to use the same measurements used in this study. All length measurements were taken from the pubic bone toward the top side of the penis, the tip of the glans. Any fat covering the ulna is compressed before measurement, and any additional length provided by the foreskin is not counted. Circumference was measured around the root of the penis or the central penile shaft, as these two sites were considered equivalent. The researchers concluded that there was no strong evidence that penis size could be correlated to other physical characteristics such as height, body mass index, or even shoe size. Yes, it seems the only clear conclusion is that for a guy who wears big socks, he probably has big feet. Similarly, the study found no significant correlation between genital size and race and ethnicity. Veale notes, however, that their study was not designed to detect this factor, as most of the data used for the study came from white men. It’s easy to laugh at poor George Costanza. Costanza as his manhood shrinks, but reports show that only 55 percent of men are satisfied with their penis size. In the porn industry, according to Veale, who mentions that some seek potentially dangerous surgical solutions for this, “men tend to underestimate their size, they seem to have a distorted picture of someone else’s size, and they can think they should be that big too.” This may be part of the reason why male actors in the porn industry are often cast for having very large genitals. Likewise, Herbenick points out that the average length of an erect penis is mentioned in countless spam emails as 17.78 cm. In fact, 98% of email owners who receive such emails believe this to be true. In any case, it’s best to ignore the ads, he says: “There is no effective topical pill or pills.” Original source Veale D1, Miles S2, Read J2, Troglia A2, Carmona L3, Fiorito C3, Wells H3, Wylie K4, Muir G3.Phenomenology of men with body dysmorphic disorder concerning penis size compared to men anxious about their penis size and to men without concerns: a cohort study. body Image. 2015 Feb 9;13C:53-61. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.09.008. [Epub ahead of print]