Your Penis Explained

Weird Things Your Penis Does and What You Don't Understand

You probably regard your penis the same way the old lady next door does her cat: you think it's unique, extraordinary, blessed with strange and quirky attributes not seen elsewhere on the planet. Wrong. In both cases, there are billions of clones that do the same tricks and cough up the same hairballs, most men simply don't look at enough genitals to know what's normal.

Here's a list of things you probably did not know :

• Two-thirds of a man’s sexual system is inside his body, not on the outside.
• Each testis has about 250 separate chambers.
• Each sperm takes between 60 and 72 days to develop.
• Sperm production occurs only at about four degrees below normal body temperature. A higher temperature not only prevents sperm production, but kills sperm in storage.
• The smallest functioning penis in medical history was just over one centimeter long.
• Most erect penises are 14 – 16 cm long.
• Penis size has no direct relationship to either the ability to reproduce or give sexual satisfaction.
• Between 150 and 400 million sperm are ejaculated on orgasm.
• Most men require a rest period between orgasms – this can last anything from a few minutes to a few weeks.
• During orgasm, a man’s heartbeat and breathing rate can increase to as much as 2,5 times their normal levels.

Here are 13 more things you may, may not know.

1.  Your aim is of.

Why does your urine stream sometimes take a left turn into the bathtub?  The problem is your meatus, or the tiny opening at the tip of your penis. "Urine spirals out of your urethra like a bullet out of a gun. If there's dried mucous, ejaculate, or any other irregularity in the meatus, it can make the stream split or go off-centre." This happens most often in the morning or after sex.  To avoid wetting the bathroom floor, gently part your meatus with your fingers before urinating. Or step up and aim for the tub. If this happens often, see a urologist. There may be a problem in your urethra.

2.  It keeps leaking after you've urinated.

Notice how petrol hoses always spill a few drops after the pump has been switched off?  Your hose has a similar design.  The sphincter muscle that pinches the urethra closed is about 20 centimetres from the tip of your penis, so some urine is always trapped in front of it.  A press behind your scrotum can help you avoid dotting your trousers, or you can use a technique called Urethral milking. Simply run your fingers along the underside of your penis to force out remaining liquid.  One study, reported in the British Journal of Urology, found that this little trick reduced postpee dribble by nearly 30 percent. It's scary that somebody actually had to measure this.

3.  You penis has a twist in it.

Like a cheap plastic toy, your body is made of two halves welded together. (for proof, check the seam inside your mouth and under your scrotum) The two sides develop at slightly different rates before you're born, and that leaves one telltale sign: a slight twist in your penis. It's called penile torsion, and almost all men have it to a slight degree.  It's harmless unless your penis twists more than 90 degrees.  See a urologist in that case; it could cause erection problems down the road. A handy icebreaker: penises always twist counter-clockwise, and no one knows why.

4.  You cant urinate in public

Up to one in 10 men has a disorder called paruresis, which is a fancy name for stage fright.  When you're nervous (maybe your boss is grumbling at the next urinal), the muscles that control urination involuntarily tighten, capping your flow. Some men with severe cases of paruresis can't urinate in a public restroom unless there's no one else there.  The best solution: find a stall and lock the door. That'll give you enough privacy to relax and start things flowing (reading a paper helps). If There's no stall handy, take a deep breath and contract your pelvic muscles, then relax and exhale. Repeat until you hear a trickle.

5.  It will turn into stone.

Those are your odds of suffering priapism, or a persistent, painful erection that lasts longer than two hours and doesn't go down when you're no longer aroused.  Usually caused by a blockage in the penis, or needlessly taking a drug like Viagra , priapism isn't a thing to mess around with. Rush to and emergency room if it happens, as the condition can cause tissue damage and impotence. And be careful with rubber bands.

6.  Your penis may turn pink, purple or blue

The skin on the head of your penis is thinner than the shaft skin, so it changes colour easily in response to blood flow.  If you're Caucasian, it's normal to sport a red knob when you're aroused and a purple one when you're not. However, bright red - especially if it's accompanied by itching or pain - is a symptom of infection or an allergic reaction (possibly to latex).  Black means your bloodflow has been cut off; go to a hospital.

7.  Your penis wont get stuck during sex

You've heard about couples getting clamped at the crotch; in 1980,the British Medical Journal even published a London doctor's 1947 recollection of penis captivus in which a couple was brought into casualty on one stretcher.  But this intriguing phenomenon has never really been proved to occur.  If your partner's vaginal muscles begin to spasm violently during intercourse (a condition called vaginismus), it'll cause her pain and you to feel mild tightness, but there's little chance it'll lead to a love lock. Considering the vaginal anatomy, it just isn't possible to get your penis stuck in there.

8. When erect your penis curves like a banana

That's normal.  Actually, a straight penis is quite rare.  If you have the typical curve of 30 degrees or less (like a banana) ,it shouldn't cause you trouble.  But if your curve is more severe or if intercourse hurts, you're among the two percent of men who have peyronie's disease.  It's caused by tiny patches of scar tissue brought about by erection-bending mishaps, such as missed thrusts, unlucky rollovers in bed, and stuffing erections into jeans.  One traumatic injury - even to a flaccid penis (remember the soccer penalty kick?) - can cause it.  This scar tissue doesn't expand, and that causes your erection to curve. A urologist can prescribe drugs or surgery to straighten you out.

Off course, a curved penis could also be the symptom of the late stages of Peyronie's Disease.  Seek medical help.

9.  It ejaculates when you bench-press

When you contract your pelvic muscles, they exert pressure on the prostate and seminal vesicles and can squeeze out some seminal fluid.  The easiest way to stop straining your gym shorts is to ejaculate more often.

10.  It shrinks when wet

The skinny-dipping horror occurs because penile muscles contact when they're cold.  A gentle tug can help loosen these muscles and restore some of your normal length, but do this discreetly ,or she'll think you prefer swimming alone.

11.  It gets hard for no reason

You're in a waiting room, sitting across from a chatty redhead.  Suddenly your using a magazine to hide an erection.  Unwanted erections often occur when you become sexually aroused subconsciously.  For instance. the women might be wearing the same perfume as your varsity girlfriend, and your brain picked up this long-dormant cue.  Vibration can also spur erections, which is why school bus stiffies were so common.  Your only game plan? Seek cover and wait.  Never force an erection down; that can cause penile fractures.  Sadly, the inadvertent woody fades with time: surprise erections become rare after the age of 30.

12.  It leaks during foreplay

When you're aroused, your Cowper's glands (located at the base of your penis) produce a liquid that lubricates and de-acidifies your urethra so semen can blast through unfettered - sort of like a soldier swathing a cannon before firing.  The longer you stay erect, the more of this 'pre-ejaculate' you make.  And it can contain sperm, which is one reason pulling out fails as a birth control measure.

13. Spontaneous night time erections.

Nocturnal erections are away your body supplies fresh blood to the penis during your sleep.  In fat, each nightly erection gives you one and a half hours of blood for your penis that day.  So "slumber lumber" is really just battery recharging time.  And because your brain is completely uninhibited during sleep, you can't control the erections.  During the day, though, you brain knows better and blocks the urge when erections aren't appropriate, like when you watch the the National Geographic channel naked.