If your manhood measures below THIS specific figure, you may be one of thousands of men suffering in silence with a ‘micropenis’. But you CAN grow it. I missed my chance – and now my life is ruined

Growing up, Michael Phillips went out of his way to avoid being seen undressed. At school, he avoided changing rooms. As an adult, he was always single and struggled to have relationships as sex was out of the question. Even using a public loo made him stressed.

His anxiety is not surprising. Michael, now 38, believes he has the world’s smallest penis, measuring 0.38in (just under 1cm) long, about the width of a shirt button.

As well as his intimate life, ‘it also affects your ability to use the restroom’, the art dealer revealed earlier this month. He would head straight for a cubicle because using a urinal isn’t feasible as it’s hard to direct urine properly.

As a younger man, Michael didn’t seek help because he thought his penis would grow after puberty.

‘I was always under the belief that maybe I was a late bloomer,’ he said.

By the time he did see a doctor about it as an adult, he’d missed the window of opportunity to receive the hormone treatment that could have made his penis grow.

The willingness of Michael, from North Carolina in the US, to reveal such intimate details to ITV’s This Morning this month was in the hope it would encourage other men similarly affected to seek help sooner than he did, before it’s too late.

A micropenis measures less than 2.9in (7.5 cm) when erect, compared with the average 5.25in (13.3cm). It is not as rare as you might assume, affecting an estimated 0.5 per cent or about 170,000 men in the UK.

It’s been a recognised medical condition since at least the 1940s, and medics are supposed to check for it when a baby is born (when it’s diagnosed if the penis is less than 1.9cm stretched).

But because it often goes unnoticed at birth and beyond, and the subject is wrapped in embarrassment, many men affected suffer in silence for years.

Dr Shafi Wardak, a consultant urologist and andrologist at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, says a micropenis can cause ‘significant emotional and psychological distress’, especially around ‘self-image, confidence, and sexual relationships’.

Anxiety and depression are common among those affected, adds Rob O’Flaherty, a clinical psychologist who works with men distressed about penis size.

‘Often men will avoid scenarios where their penis may be seen by others, hiding themselves away as much as possible,’ he says.

Some men avoid dating altogether. He adds: ‘Men will tend to have negative thoughts about themselves such as “I’m not man enough”, “I’m inadequate”, “I’m worthless”, “I’ll be single for ever”. Often highly self-critical, this can sometimes lead to thoughts about suicide or other self-harm behaviours.’

It is a very different problem from penile dysmorphic disorder when a man becomes intensely distressed about the size or appearance of his penis ‘beyond what medical findings alone would explain’, says Dr Wardak.

This affects about 1 to 2 per cent of men, he says, and means a man thinks his penis is unusually small when it isn’t.

A micropenis, however, is genuinely small and it’s a problem caused by low testosterone during development in the womb and after birth.

The developing penis is packed with receptors that are switched on by the hormone testosterone – they send chemical messages to cells in the penis, prompting growth. But if there isn’t enough testosterone then the penis doesn’t develop to full size. (Lack of testosterone may also affect sex drive and fertility.)

Some males may also have other, related problems, such as undescended testicles or hypospadias, where the opening of the urethra (where urine exits) is not at the tip of the penis, but on the underside.

There are a number of potential causes for the low testosterone, including problems with the pituitary gland, which is located in the brain and instructs the body to make testosterone; and Kallmann syndrome, when puberty hormones fail to switch on. It can also arise due to genetic faults that mean the body can’t make or respond to testosterone properly.

There are concerns that environmental factors may play a role – according to a 2022 review in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, links have been reported between prenatal exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals, such as bisphenols (used to make plastics), and micropenises in some studies.

Experts say the ‘environmental hormones’ theory is plausible – but it is not proven.

The cause in an individual’s case may never be identified but there is little doubt about the profound impact it can have on a man’s life.

Yet if spotted early enough a micropenis can often be treated effectively with testosterone-based treatment, says Dr Wardak.

However, in too many cases nothing is done until it is too late, with many parents and even some doctors believing the problem will sort itself out at puberty.

Even when the relevant checks are done, mistakes can occur, says Professor Faisal Ahmed, a consultant in paediatric endocrinology at the University of Glasgow, because ‘measuring the stretched penile length requires some expertise and in many cases the length is not measured correctly’.

A 2022 study in the Journal of the Endocrine Society warned that stretched penile length is often measured wrongly at birth.

If detected early enough boys can be given hormone therapy that tells the testicles to switch on testosterone production and kick-start penis growth.

‘This can lead to a noticeable increase in penile length in many cases,’ says Dr Wardak.

The same 2022 review found that testosterone injected into muscle once a month for three months, increased penis length by more than 100 per cent in some boys – mainly in infancy and early childhood (typically under three years old).

While testosterone is considered the most reliable approach, if the problem stems from a lack of signals from the pituitary gland, gonadotropin injections may be used instead. Given twice a week for around seven months, these can increase penis length by 50 per cent in most baby boys, the review found. Side-effects of both types of hormone therapy include short-term ‘mini-puberty’ effects in young boys, such as body odour, spots and early pubic hair.

Doctors also monitor growth and bone development, because over-doing hormones in childhood can speed up development and growth.

While highly effective, the catch with hormone treatment is that it has to start before puberty, because the penis has only two real growth windows: in the womb and the first few months after birth, and then through childhood into puberty – after that the hormone receptors on the penis shut down.

For adult men, the only medical treatment available is surgery.

But ‘many men aren’t aware it’s an option or where to go to access care’ because there is a lack of awareness and information, says Professor Don Lee, a consultant urological surgeon at University College London, who runs the UK’s only NHS surgical unit for men with micropenises.

By the time they reach his clinic, he says, many have spent years trying to manage the condition alone. Some are highly successful professionals, who appear outwardly confident, but who hide the low mood their situation brings. Many have never been in a relationship and come to him in their early 20s as they desperately desire one.

A smaller number arrive, often in their 30s, after meeting a supportive partner, finally feeling able to ask whether anything can be done. What strikes him most is how often men tell him they had no idea treatment was even possible.

Some were never assessed properly as children. Others were told nothing could be done, or were too embarrassed to ask.

There are two surgical approaches. ‘In most men, up to a third of the penis is actually hidden beneath the skin and anchored to the pubic bone,’ Professor Lee explains.

‘If there is enough tissue, we can sometimes free some of that length [by freeing the tissues anchoring it] to give the man just enough size to have sex.’

For men born with a severe micropenis, this may not make it long enough for penetrative sex – surgeons can create an entirely new ‘normal-sized’ penis, which Professor Lee does for around ten to 12 men a year, but it’s not for the faint-hearted.

First a section of skin, fat, blood vessels and nerves is removed from the forearm or thigh to build a new penis from scratch.

The head of the original penis is kept on the underside of the new penis for sensation, and the rest is buried inside the reconstructed phallus.

‘One part of the tissue removed is rolled into a tube to create the urethra, so the man can pass urine,’ explains Professor Lee. ‘The rest is wrapped around it to form the body of the penis.’

This is then connected to blood vessels and nerves in the pelvis, ‘allowing the man to have sensation and an orgasm’, he says. This first operation, of three, takes around ten hours.

Several months later, a two-hour operation is carried out to sculpt the head of the penis to look more natural.

In the final stage a hydraulic implant – the same as is used for severe erectile dysfunction – is inserted, with a small pump (usually in the scrotum) that the man squeezes as required: this moves fluid into cylinders inside the penis to create an erection. This is released when he no longer wants an erection.

‘With the implant, the man can have penetrative sex,’ says Professor Lee.

But potential risks include damage to the blood or nerve supply, meaning the new penis is lost – this occurs in ‘three out of 100’ cases, says Professor Lee, adding there is a 10 per cent risk of ‘partial loss’ where ‘aspects’ of the new penis ‘may not survive and we may need to reconstruct’.

In about 30 per cent of cases there can be ‘leakage’ or the new urethra closes up from scarring.

‘A significant minority decide not to proceed,’ says Professor Lee. ‘But at the end of it, for those who go through with it, we have many happy men.’

Dr Wardak warns that men with penile dysmorphic disorder should not undergo surgery because changing the body is ‘unlikely to relieve their emotional distress’.

They need ‘care from mental health professionals’ such as psychologists or psychiatrists (see panel, right). The same for men with a micropenis.

The message, he says, is that treatment is not just about size.

‘For many, reassurance, support and honest information can be as important as any medical intervention.’

Michael Phillips has looked into surgery, but in the US this costs between $80,000 to $120,000 (around £50,000 to £80,000) and he was told sexual intercourse would still be difficult.

But he hopes to help others avoid this last resort.

He said: ‘If people notice it younger and are able to go to a doctor younger, they would be able to get more help than I was able to get.’