Medical professionals do not recommend young men attempting the penis-enhancing TikTok trend, “jelqing,” as the technique could cause more damage than any good.
Men all over social media, especially Reddit, have debated jelqing, an ancient technique that purportedly dates back to the Sundanese tribes of West Java in Indonesia. It’s a penile stretching technique believed to enhance men’s penis size— length and girth.
One TikToker under the username “theevilcali” posted a video June 20, 2023, explaining to his followers how jelqing worked, adding how the technique made his member grow a bit.
“Back when I was younger, I did ‘jel’ probably five times a week for like a year,” he said. “I’m not going to lie to you. I gained about two inches, and my girth is crazy. I got cocaine girth. And I think I jelqed a little too hard ’cause now I got a curve. My shit point at the ceiling. And my tip got fatter. I got a portobello mushroom tip.”
The TikToker instructed viewers to perform the jelqing technique in the shower with oil.
“You want to squeeze the tip all the way from the base. Squeeze from the base all the way to the tip,” he explained. “And that’s going to hurt a little bit ’cause you’re literally tearing these little fibers within the muscles of your wee wee. But, eventually, you’re going to have a cock; all American, USDA, BBC.”
Most men took to several anonymous Reddit communities to show their jelqing progress and testify to the “wonders” of the technique. On the contrary, some men have taken to the platform to report injuries caused by it.
However, Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, an accredited urologist at Orlando Health, told the Daily Mail that jelqing could lead to something called Peyronie’s Disease.
“Those repeated, traumatic movements can translate into scarring, but that can then translate into Peyronie’s Disease, where you form a plaque that can be associated with erectile dysfunction and pain as well,” Brahmbhatt said, adding that jelqing wasn’t worth the hype.
And for those who haven’t experienced the adverse side effects, Dr. Brahmbhatt said it could take six months to a year to notice any changes.
Dr. Justin Dubin, a Floridian urologist, shared with Psychology Today that most of his patients or inquirers who fell victim to the jelqing “myth” or were curious about it were white men.
“I have men come to me, in my office, and elsewhere, with bruising, pain, and damage to their penises,” he said. “I’ve not seen men break their penis with jelqing.”
But despite their efforts to obtain a bigger member, Dr. Dubin warns that the micro-tears may lead to Peyronie’s Disease that could potentially shrink the penis, exacerbating their “genital insecurity.”
