Getting to the root of a kink in the pants

Dear Dr. G,

I am a 22 year-old man who is very new in my sexual encounters.

I have been in a handful of relationships, which has not been so easy due to being self-conscious about an anomaly in the pants.

In my earlier days of “self-indulgence”, I always noticed my penis to be slightly different that others, as it has a very pronounced curvature.

My penis is generally normal when flaccid. However, my penis seems to be curving upwards when I get erection.

I always considered this normal for all guys, until I started having sex.

In my last two sexual relationships, my partners raised concern that they had pain during intercourse. Both of them seem to suggest the kink in my penis is the source of the pain during penetration.

In fact, one of them even suggested I suffer from Peyronie’s Disease, which is causing a pathological bend in my pants, and I need to seek urgent medical attention.

I am too embarrassed to rush to the doctors, but hoping to put Dr G on the spot instead for clarification how straight a man should be?

Is the curvature of the penis normal? Isn’t the organ supposed to be straight?

What degree of curvature is perceived to be pathological?

On that note, what exactly is Peyronie’s Disease?

I read somewhere it is associated with trauma to the penis. Regrettably I did engage in regular self-indulgence in my youth. Do you think I am having “repetitive strain injury” which is causing the bent now?

Finally, what is the treatment for Peyronie’s Disaese?

Yours truly,
Bent Benjamin

Let me get straight to the point. When addressing how straight a man can be, I am literally referring to the geometrical straightness of a man’s sexual organ. If one is contemplating that I am addressing issues of sexuality, one should really examine how one’s imagination takes one completely off tangent.

The corpus cavernosa, or the erectile tissues in the penis, are made up of two cylindrical-shaped structures that trap the blood entering the organ during arousal. As some of the erectile tissues may have disparity in length, the curvature of the penis to either side is also quite common. Anatomically, the penis will slightly curve upwards following full engorgement of blood.

The natural curvature is believed to be an upward deviation of less than 30°. Many experts speculate such a position can facilitate the ease of the phallus to slide in and out of the vagina during penetration. Some even postulate the advantage of curvature enhancing pleasure by rubbing on the erogenous spot in the vagina.

Congenital defects resulting in bends of the penis are also well described. The slight upward and downward curve of the organ may occur in epispadias and hypospadias, respectively.

These are defects during intra-uterine fusion of the penis. The vast majority of such “imperfections” are mild and most men do not even notice the difference, unless actively comparing with their peers during the state of erection. (Obviously, none of us do!)

The acquired pathological curvature of the penis is termed Peyronie’s Disease. A French physician describes this condition as early as 1754, documenting connective disorder resulting in fibrous scarring in the erectile structures.

The disease is characterised by three phases of disease progression. The initial phase of pain caused by inflammation leading to the formation of plaque. This will progress to scarring causing pathological bends of the penis during erection.

The disorder is surprisingly common, affecting up to 5% of the adult male population. The vast majority of sufferers are oblivious to Peyronie’s Disease, as they have mild curvature and minimal discomfort.

However, severe cases can also result in painful plaque and excessive bend. This often results in the inability to engage in penetrative sex and erectile dysfunction. Trauma or injury to the penis is well documented to be associated with Peyronie’s Disease.

Some men are concerned that the frequency and vigorousness of “self-pleasure” may be the main etiology of Peyronie’s Disease but, in reality, there has been no association of masturbation with this condition.

Other associated factors with acquired bend in the penis are diabetes, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. As most men only have mild deformity of the penis that is hardly noticeable, and have absolutely no impact on their sexual performance, hence no treatment is warranted.

Many oral and surgical interventions have been described for the treatments of abnormal curvature of the penis. So far, the efficacy of the therapy has been inconsistent and some may even be controversial.

Albert Camus, the French Nobel Prize winning author and philosopher once said: “Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken”. A slight bend in the penis is a natural phenomenon, which is generally a variation of the norm. In fact, some may even argue such deviation from the norm can have evolutionary advantage in enhancing sexual pleasure in partners.

When men suffering from abnormal curvatures of the penis put Dr G on the spot for an opinion on the bend in their pants, his advice is simply: “Blessed is the HARD that is bent, they are hardly broken, but might just give a direction to explore and improve.”