As the temperature rises, some men swear the heat has a flattering effect on their peens, adding inches in length and girth down below. Last July, Mel Magazine reporter Tracy Moore gave a name to this peculiar seasonal phenomenon: summer penis.
“Summer penis is a temporary dick fluctuation that, thanks to the heat and warmth, gives you a months-long leg-up on shaft size,” she wrote, citing anecdotes from various men. “It’d be like if a woman’s boobs suddenly got huge from May to August.”
In a world of growers and showers, consider it nature’s way of bringing some equality to packages everywhere.
“In the summer, my dick tends to be consistently larger when I look in the mirror, and my biggest measurements have been taken in the summer,” Richard, a 30-year-old who lives in the northeast U.S., told HuffPost. (He, like others quoted in this story, asked to be identified only by his first name to protect his privacy.)
“My fingers and hands swell up a bit in warmer temps, as evidenced by my struggle with taking off my wedding ring in the warmer months,” he said. “It’s logical to assume the same thing would happen to my junk.”
Brian Ayers, a sex coach and author of “How to Be A Better Lover In 3 Days or Less,” said he’s also experienced summer penis. He chalks it up to seasonal lifestyle changes.
“You’re outside more in the summer. Hiking, swimming or going for longer jogs in the summer gets the blood pumping,” he said. “Sitting inside for eight hours in front of a computer in the winter with no sunlight and fewer fruit or vegetable options available will leave any guy hanging smaller.”
Sounds great in theory. But is this all just a pipe dream ― pun very much intended ― or are these dudes on to something? Aaron Spitz, a urologist and author of “The Penis Book: A Doctor’s Complete Guide to the Penis,” initially scoffed at the idea.
“My first reaction was, ‘Oh, boy, here we go again with obsession over size,’” he told us. However, Spitz did admit there could be some truth to the phenomenon.
“It makes sense to me because of the underlying mechanism of how a man’s penis can expand and contract in size,” he said. “The size of the penis can increase and decrease as a result of the relaxation or contraction of the many tiny blood vessels that comprise the inside of the shaft of the penis.”
Warmth, he said, “increases relaxation of these blood vessels, which increases the blood flow through them, filling out the penis more and giving it a longer, fuller appearance.” (In short, more heat = better blood flow.)
“If this is true, think of what the penises of 2050 will be like after the climate crisis/global warming. It’d be a peen-pocalypse.”
– Ashley, a 27-year-old from Washington, D.C.
If you’re a summer penis skeptic, you’re not alone. Women we spoke to were also more wary of the phenomenon (though we’ll cede the floor to people of any gender who have penises).
“I highly doubt a part of the body would change that significantly due to the season,” said Ashley, a 27-year-old from Washington, D.C. “If this is true, think of what the penises of 2050 will be like after the climate crisis/global warming. It’d be a peen-pocalypse.”
As fascinating as this subject may be, there’s no definitive scientific evidence one way or another on summer penis, said Paul Turek, a urologist who runs the Turek Clinic in San Francisco. While there could be some truth to the idea that penises appear bigger in the heat, there isn’t enough research on the subject for doctors to say whether it’s absolutely, completely real.
Your testicles absolutely do hang a little lower when it’s hot, though.
“We know that the scrotal sac is exquisitely temperature-sensitive and drops way down when hot and creeps way up when cold,” Turek said.
Shrinkage is definitely real, too, he noted.
“With colder temperatures, there is less skin showing, less desire, less sweating and more hibernative fat,” Turek explained. “This could lead to contracted skin rather than puffy skin, more penile shrouding from a tight scrotum, and more fat and the appearance of shrinkage.”
Whatever the season, if you you want to look larger, consider shaving or waxing: Removing excess hair around your penis will accentuate your package, said Fiona Hilario, the founder of Lay Bare Waxing Salon in Los Angeles.
“One of the benefits of being hair-free down there is that getting rid of all that hair really does make you look bigger,” she said. “Plus, you’ll smell fresher and that’s a big bonus for you and your partner.”
Sex Ed for Grown-Ups is a series tackling everything you didn’t learn about sex in school — beyond the birds and the bees. Keep checking back for more expert-based articles and personal stories.