February 21, 2007 | Health Matters

Profile of a penile enhancement entrepreneur

The Reece method doesn't require pills or pumps. Instead, he encourages men to use their own hands to manually lengthen their own trouser snakes. It's as simples as pulling on your pud, he says.

Reece's theory -- for which there is no scientific proof -- is based on simple muscle math. If you can increase the size of your arms with bicep curls, so his logic goes, you can pump up your penis with exercise, too.

In particular, Reese advocates doing regular "kegels,"  in which you flex the muscles you use to hold your urine,  and "jelquing" exercises -- both pronounced like and resembling "milking." Jelquing theoretically breaks down the cells within a man's erectile tissue, which heal stronger and supposedly bigger than before.

"You're not going to take a pill and expand really big," Reece says.

The Mayo Clinic agrees that pills don't work. But  the nonprofit medical center says that all commercial penis enlargement solutions are scams -- including those like Reece's that advocate manual stretching or squeezing. "These exercises are supposed to be performed for 30 minutes a day for an indefinite period of time," reads the clinic's website. "Although they may be safer than other methods, they can lead to scar formation, pain and disfigurement."

Scars? Pain? Disfigurement? Um, no thanks. We'd rather have a pretty, average-sized penis than endure the torture just to get a scarred up, warped one. 

• Pro Tools [The Pitch]
• Beware of penis enlargement scams [Mayo Clinic]