Your Frequent Questions

On this page we answer some of the questions our readers send us. If you have a question simply email us and we may have an answer for you.

Health

What is Safer Sex?

Sex should be fun and is very healthy if you follow simple rules, like not exchanging body fluids. Avoid penetrative sex without a condom and be careful with oral sex if you have gum disease or mouth ulcers.

Are condoms any good?

Condoms work about 97% of the time. So if you have daily intercourse, you only risk getting infected about once a month. That is risk is too high, you say? Yes, we agree.

What is the best sex position?

Feel free to enjoy yourself in whatever position you like best. If you're having problems enjoying the ride, try different techniques. This website is full of new ideas. Enjoy!

Hygiene

I'm not circumcised. What's the white stuff that builds up on the inside of my foreskin? How can I stop it from building up?

The substance is called smegma, a secretion of the glans (head) of the penis. There's no way to reduce the amount of secretion, but the buildup can be easily prevented. In circumcised males, the smegma washes off easily and does not accumulate, but if you're uncircumcised you need to include a simple procedure in your bathing habits. Whenever you bathe, simply retract your foreskin as much as is comfortable, and wash the glans as well as the area of skin behind it. It takes only a few seconds and should reduce or eliminate the buildup you described.

I often feel the need to urinate after ejaculation. Is this a normal thing?

Yes. That is very normal. The urine cleans the urethra of residual semen that didn't get ejaculated. If the semen dries in there, it plugs the urethra and urinating later can be very uncomfortable.

Anatomy of your Favourite Toy

At what age does penis growth start?

Penis growth usually starts between the ages of 10 to 14 years of age. The testicles enlarge first and pubic hair starts growing. The penis grows in length first and girth slightly later. Teenagers have to wait for one or two years after they stop growing in height before they know their final penis size.

Can the size of erection be estimated when the penis is flaccid?

There is no relationship between flaccid and erect penis size. Often penises that are longer when they are flaccid gain less length when they are erect.

Can penis exercises increase length?

The penis contains no muscles so there are no exercises that will permanently increase its size.

My friend's penis curves upward when it is erect, and mine doesn't. Why is that? Our penises are the same size. (age 16, Italy)

Every penis is built a little differently. Some curve down, and some curve to the left or right when erect. As long as it provides pleasure, it shouldn't matter what shape it is.

What are Blue Balls?

Prolonged sexual arousal in men without an ejaculation can cause pain due to blood congestion in the genital area. "Blue balls," which is properly called vasocongestion, is a discomfort in the male pelvic area caused by sexual arousal going unrelieved by ejaculation.

The cure is to ejaculate if you have been sexually aroused for a while. Your body doesn't care whether you ejaculate through vaginal intercourse, manual intercourse (i.e., your partner's hands), or masturbation.

If not relieved by ejaculation, the congestion will go away within a few hours. It is quite unethical to use "blue balls" to pressure your partner into intercourse.

I am 17 years old and have masturbated many times. Now my penis shrinks after I have an orgasm and ejaculate. I don't mean it only goes limp, it gets much thinner than it was before I masturbated. Later it goes back to normal, but it takes a few days to fully regain its size. Is this normal?

At your age, as I'm sure you know, hormones are raging through your body. When you haven't masturbated in a while, this can result in your penis being in some condition of low-grade erection 24 hours a day. When this happens, your penis isn't necessarily firm or erect but does have some added thickness, since it contains more blood than at other times.

After you masturbate, your penis may become completely un-erect for a while. The shape you're seeing is just what your penis is like in a state of non-erection. Then, as time passes, you begin to develop that base-level erection again. Don't worry about it. You're just loaded and ready for more fun.