Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Results
By Mayo Clinic staffPenis pumps are an effective erectile dysfunction treatment for many men. They don't cure erectile dysfunction, but they can create an erection firm enough for you to have sexual intercourse. Some men get the best results using a combination of medications and a penis pump. Penis pumps can also be used by men who have a penile implant in place.
Many advertisements in magazines and on the Internet market penis pumps with the claim that they can be used to increase penis length or girth, but there's no evidence that they work for this purpose. While using a penis pump is a safe way for men with erectile dysfunction to achieve an erection, attempting to use a penis pump to enlarge the penis could cause injury.
Penis pumps do have some drawbacks:
- Unnatural feeling erection. Penis pumps can cause an erection that doesn't feel natural or spontaneous.
- Awkwardness. Use of a penis pump requires patience and understanding from both you and your partner. It may take some time to become comfortable with the device.
- Manual dexterity is required. Penis pumps require use of the hands and fingers to operate, which can be a problem for some men.
- Feeling of trapped semen. You may feel like your semen is trapped when you ejaculate. Some manufacturers make constriction rings with a small cutout that may help with this.
- You may need to shave. You may have to shave your pubic hair at the base of your penis so that the pump can get a good seal.
- Lue TF, et al. Evaluation and nonsurgical management of erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. In: Wein AJ, et al.: Campbell-Walsh Urology. 9th ed. Philadelphia Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/150118548-5/0/1445/25.html?tocnode=54301368&fromURL=25.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-7216-0798-6..50024-8--cesec102_1931. Accessed July 16, 2009.
- Zippe CD. Vacuum erection devices to treat erectile dysfunction and early penile rehabilitation following radical prostatectomy. Current Urology Reports. 2008;9:506.
- AUA guideline on the management of erectile dysfunction: Diagnosis and treatment recommendation. American Urological Association. http://www.auanet.org/content/guidelines-and-quality-care/clinical-guidelines/main-reports/edmgmt/chapter1.pdf. Accessed July 16, 2009.
- Aghamir MK, et al. A vacuum device for penile elongation: Fact or fiction? BJU International. 2004;97:777.
