Is the Penis A Muscle

If you think back to those diagrams you viewed in High School health class, you’ll likely remember that there is much more to your penis than meets the eye. 

From the various veins, arteries, and tubes stretching into your abdomen to the ligaments and tendons at work in the area, there’s no denying that a lot goes into making your penis function. 

However, what does all of this make your penis? 

Due to its ability to enlarge and move up and down when the Kegel’s are flexed, many people tend to think of the penis as a muscle. 

After all, it reacts to being filled with blood, being enriched with oxygen, can be stretched, and has various other muscle-like qualities. 

In the following article, however, we’ll take a closer look at just what the penis is, and why this “muscle mentality” continues to persist. 

Is Your Penis A Muscle?

Though there are plenty of muscles involved in making your penis work, it is actually considered an organ (hence the term “sex organ”) and not a muscle. 

The fact that we can move our penis by flexing various muscles in our abdomen merely serves to indicate how extensive this organ’s support structure is. 

As far as the penis itself (which is only a small part of the overall organ), you mainly have three long columns of spongy tissues, all of which are filled with small sacs called sinusoids. 

When you get an erection, blood flows into these sinusoids. 

With all of them working together, your penis is able to harden, expand, and often times triple in size.  

That said, your penis cannot remain erect due solely to the sinusoids themselves – it requires support from something called a suspensory ligament. 

This is very similar to a mast holding a sail in place and even looks nearly identical if you view it via x-rays and diagrams. 

On top of this, the suspensory ligament also plays a major part in the enlargement process. 

How? Let’s take a look…

Suspensory Ligaments Arent’ Muscles Either

Remember a few paragraphs ago when we mentioned that your penis is not a muscle? 

Well, neither is your suspensory ligament. 

However, ligaments can actually be stretched just like muscles can – a fact that can have some pretty important ramifications for those trying to enlarge their penis.

As we mentioned, the suspensory ligament attaches to the lower abdomen and stretches down to the base of the penis. 

It “suspends” the penis in place regardless of whether it’s erect or flaccid. 

Remember, however, that we said that there is much more to your penis that just what appears on the outside? 

This, it turns out, also has a lot to do with the suspensory ligament. 

You see, as it attaches directly to the base of your penis, it actually restricts the overall length of your penis, keeping the so-called “inner penis” in place and preventing it from falling forward. 

 A secondary aspect restraining the overall length of the penis is the tunic albuginea, a fibrous “envelope” that extends the penis’ length and helps us maintain strong erections. 

Though not technically a ligament, it is made of predominantly elastin and collagen, two compounds well regarded for their ability to stretch. 

Ultimately, what you have in the tunica and the suspensory ligament are two major contributors to defining the overall size of your penis. 

However, as both of them have the ability to be expanded via proper exercise, that overall size is NOT final. 

Through proper exercise and stretching, you can train these two restrictive body parts to allow more of your “inner penis” to be exposed. 

As you might expect, this will allow you to increase your length safely, easily, and – most importantly – slowly, to prevent injury. 

Conclusion:

In short: no, your penis is not a muscle. However, you can treat it like one! 

You see, the one thing that unites the majority of this organ’s components is the ability to grow, stretch, and expand. 

Be it the sinusoids, the suspensory ligament, or the tunica – there is almost always room to grow, providing you adopt the proper exercise routine. 

If you’re ultimately concerned about your “love muscle’s” size and length,” this is great news. 

Finally…

For a more detailed article on penis anatomy, written by our resident MD, Doctor Zac Hyde, click here.