When someone aims to sit on an erect penis and misses, the penis can bend to the point where there is a popping sound. This isn’t technically a 'break,' but it can cause permanent harm nonetheless.
FAQs About Your Partner's Penis: A Visitor's Guide
'Can a penis actually break?' and a few other questions you're likely afraid to ask.
Despite the world of information at our fingertips, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction—and that’s especially true when it comes to penises. Can you break one? Does circumcision dampen sensitivity? Are multiple orgasms only for women? Why do they always get hard in the morning? You're likely to have heard all sorts of urban myths and uninformed opinions about what dicks should look like and how they function, so allow us to set you straight on these lingering questions you might have about your partner’s penis.
1. Is there a chance I could break my partner’s penis?
In a nutshell, yes—but if you think it’s happened and you have to ask, chances are that you haven’t done any serious damage. “There is a condition called ‘penile fracture’ which is actually not that uncommon,” explained Los Angeles urologist Paul Turek, M.D. “It occurs when someone goes to sit down on an erect penis and misses. The penis can bend to the point where there is a popping sound, and then lots of bruising and swelling.”
This isn’t technically a "break," but it can cause permanent harm nonetheless. “What ‘fractures’ is the tight envelope of tissue that girds the penis, as there is no actual bone in the human penis to break,” Turek continued, although some mammals, cats and dogs among them, do have a bone in theirs. “This is a surgical emergency, as the fracture in the penis covering can leak blood and cause permanent erectile dysfunction if not surgically repaired.”
No matter how horny you both are, ease yourselves in slowly to avoid any traumatic trips to the emergency room.
2. What difference does circumcision make when it comes to pleasure?
Research is driving a growing number of "nerve-sparing" circumcision techniques, which Turek explained are “anatomically geared to preserving the nerves of sensation.” According to 2015 research published in the Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research, the results look pretty great—or, to quote the report’s conclusion, “cosmetically pleasing.”
Circumcision techniques might be developing with pleasure in mind, but Turek clarified that even urologists aren’t sure whether people with cut cocks experience more or less sexual satisfaction. “Whether there is any difference in penile sensation or pleasure between cut and uncut penises has been debated for centuries,” he continued. “In my personal experience with adult circumcision, my patients have not reported any differences in either sensation or pleasure after circumcision when compared to being uncut.”
Research is driving a growing number of 'nerve-sparing'—and 'cosmetically pleasing'—circumcision techniques.
3. Can people with penises have multiple orgasms?
Remember that truly magical gland, the prostate? This walnut-shaped wonder is the key to multiple orgasms for people with penises.
The sexual response cycle that drives orgasm isn’t hugely impacted by biological sex, yet one key difference is the length of what scientists call "the refractory period." When a dick is well and truly spent, its owner will enter a state of recovery activated by neurotransmitters, which induce calm after the orgasmic storm. During this period, which lasts anywhere from a few minutes to a few days, the body becomes less responsive to sexual stimulation. In other words, even the horniest of partners is unlikely to muster up another erection.
Non-Ejaculatory Multiple Orgasms (NEMOs) are a handy workaround. Prostate stimulation releases seminal fluid but not actual sperm; the penis will ooze clear liquid rather than spurting out an ejaculatory orgasm. These slow-burners don’t always require an erection, but it is possible for your partner to stay hard during the prostate orgasm, meaning you can stimulate the cock as well as the prostate to achieve NEMOs—basically the holy grail of penile pleasure.
Some experts have linked 'morning wood' to REM sleep, during which testosterone levels are at their peak. Erections that rise with the sun are also more likely to result in ejaculation.
4. What causes morning erections?
If your visit to the penis becomes an overnight stay, you’ll know about “morning glory”—those persistent and sometimes pesky erections that pop up first thing.
This penile wake-up call is the last in a series of nighttime erections, known scientifically as “nocturnal penile tumescence.” People with penises typically have three to five per night, which last anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. Experts have long debated the cause of these sleepy surprises: some attribute them to the heightened nocturnal activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for firing the signals which spark an erection, whereas others link "morning wood" to a peak in testosterone levels.
These erections are more likely to result in ejaculation, as they take place during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) phase of sleep, which is when dreams—some of which, naturally, could be horny—occur. All evidence points to mornings as key windows of arousal, meaning it’s a great time for sex. What better way to end your visit?
Remember that truly magical gland, the prostate? This walnut-shaped wonder is the key to multiple orgasms for people with penises.