Near Normal

Some of us lose body parts in a variety of ways to a variety of reasons. As reported in the Washington Post, "more than 1,300 U.S. soldiers suffered genital injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2013. For many, the wounds take a brutal psychological toll."

The loss of a functioning cock can be absolutely devastating. Men take Erectile Dysfunction quite hard, but imagine losing it, plus your balls, to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). It's been reported that many soldiers involved in these explosions will ask the medics, "What a bout my dick? Is my dick still there?" Some, when told no, have asked to be allowed to die. A man's cock is that important to him, to his self-image as a male.

In 2016, I posted about the first successful penile transplant in U.S. for a man who had lost his penis to cancer. Now, first reported on November 7, the first penis, scrotum, and abdominal wall transplant has been successful

The transplant was (again) done by a team of surgeons at Johns Hopkins during a 14-hour surgery. The success of this has been better than expected because, approximately 18 months after the surgery, doctors report the patient has gained full function.

“He has near-normal erections and the ability to achieve orgasm,” doctors wrote this week, adding that the patient can also urinate standing up and without straining, “with the urine discharged in a strong stream.”

This is reason to celebrate. While insurance companies will refuse to pay the $300 - 400,000 cost of transplant, the VA should. War has taken the single most precious thing on a man's body. If that can be "fixed" the country should be willing to do so.

A More Delicate Balance

From the Mail Bag, comes a series of questions. I'll address each one in a separate post.

"Hi from Australia,

I am your BIG fan.. just have a question:

- my scrotum is tight, is there a way to stretch them?

- Can we discuss about the prostate massager? what is the best as there are so many in the market and become more and more sophisticated. I am thinking to buy je joue nuo.

- Can we discuss about masturbator toys? what are the best in the market..etc"

Thanks, I appreciate that. Questions are good - I always welcome them.

Let's address the first, most important one: Your scrotum. Though, I have to ask a couple questions in return.

Is it tight all the time? Does it ever loosen - like in hot water or when you wear briefs?

If not, can you tell if the vas ducts feel as if they are bunched up?

If your sac is always tight and the ducts feel bunched up, then I suggest you make a trip to your doctor. You'll want to explain that your scrotum is tight all the time, even when warm and that you fear fertility issues, such as heat damage to the sperm. Ask him for a steroid cream like that prescribed to treat mild to moderate Phimosis. This cream will help the skin to stretch out. But don't expect overnight results - your doctor can tell you how long he would expect it to garner results.

If your vas ducts hang normally (stretched downward by the weight of the testicles), you can resort to what is commonly referred to as "ball stretchers." These are a series of tight, sometimes rubberized rings which you slide over your balls. Increasing the widths of the rings will - over time - help to stretch out the scrotum and lower the testicles. There are also things called "ball weights" - essentially the same thing with weights added slowly to pull everything down. I would be cautious using either stretchers or weights. Don't overdo it - you can bruise your sac and/or your balls.

A set like this will take you through the process gently.

Ball weights

 I suggest you use these with great caution.

Eventually, you get your balls to hang lower. 

If you don't mind, I'd like to address all of the questions in a series of posts. But, I did want to respond personally and immediately about the scrotum because that can be a medical issue which should be treated properly - especially if you ever plan on fathering children. While men prefer their balls to normally hang low, doing things like attaching too-heavy weights can damage the vas deferens and that may also interfere with fertility.

Our balls require a more delicate balance than we anticipate.

Horny Post-vasectomy

Faithful Reader JiEL asked in a comment for Wednesday's post:

"We often hear men saying that they have to ejaculate because their balls are «FULL» and they need to empty them. 

I'm vasectomised since 1982 and for that, I never could empty my balls and didn't feel the urge to do so. For sure, I have some surge of masturbating and when I ejaculate it's only to empty my seminal gland. 

All the spermatozoids produced by my testicules are evacuated by other means than an ejaculation. So, to me when men say they need to «bust a nut» it is non sense because the overflow of sperm has other ways to go out of the testicules." 

That full, heavy feeling in the balls after a vasectomy? Yep. Normal.

According to doctors at Whitemill Medical Center, where they do no-scalpel vasectomy: "after a vasectomy, some men may develop the sensation that their testicles are “fuller” than normal. This is usually caused by the epididymis becoming filled with stored sperm."

Let's take a look at before snipping....

and after.

Notice that the only difference is that the Vas Deferens have been severed so sperm can't be moved to the seminal vesicles. That means everything else is fully intact and functioning.

When a man feels horny, his balls have the sensation of being full and heavy.

Left long enough without attention, they'll begin to ache.

 They can appear swollen - and they are, actually.

According to an article in MEL magazine:

"When a guy becomes horny, the arteries that carry blood to his genitals get bigger (vasodilation) while the veins that carry blood away get smaller (vasoconstriction). Thanks to all that vasodilation, the testes engorge to about 20–50 percent larger than their usual size. When a guy cums, the constricted muscles relax and the additional fluids flow out from the genital area. Only then do the penis and testicles return to their normal size."

So, nothing really changes due to vasectomy. The Dartos and Cremaster muscles in and of the scrotum, and surrounding the testicles still operate as normal, squeezing during orgasm (ejaculation). Cells are pushed into the epidydmis where they are broken down and absorbed. As explained in Biology Stack Exchange

"When the vasectomy is complete, sperm cannot exit the body through the penis. Sperm are still produced by the testicles, but they are soon broken down and absorbed by the body. Much fluid content is absorbed by membranes in the epididymis, and much solid content is broken down by the responding macrophages and re-absorbed via the blood stream. Sperm is matured in the epididymis for about a month before leaving the testicles. After vasectomy, the membranes must increase in size to absorb and store more fluid; this triggering of the immune system causes more macrophages to be recruited to break down and re-absorb more solid content."

Testosterone is released through the bloodstream, and the libido shouldn't be diminished in any way.

The amount and appearance of the semen shouldn't change either. Your cum should look as normal as ever.

If you do notice significant differences, you should probably go back to the urologist who did the surgery and ask why.

Snipped or not, have an enjoyable weekend!

Low Hangers

"Thanks for a fantastic site BTW - you have potentially educated more folks on men's health than the magazine of the same name. - Gaynboston"

Thanks for that comment. I do tend to be bit more frank, as it were. 'Course, it helps that I use explicit photos to illustrate the information, too. Speaking of informing:

"I have a weird question for you. My nuts always hang but I noticed something recently. At a club over the weekend some girl knelt in front of me and proceeded to suck me off right there. I'm not complaining, it was hot. But I did notice that my sack had scrunched up before it hit open air. It certainly wasn't cold in there with so many people. Why weren't my low hangers hanging?"

The scrotum is an unusual thing, isn't it? It reacts, as we all know, to temperature; cold it scrunches to lift the testicles closer to the body, warm and it loosens up to allow them to escape the heat of the crotch. 

The ballsac will also tighten to give an assist to the Cremaster muscles when we ejaculate. As we approach orgasm, it will lift and support as we cum.

There is a third instance when the sac will also scrunch up. During a "fight or flight" response in our body. I'm guessing - even though your cock was hard as nails and you were thoroughly enjoying the blow job - that your balls were responding to the possibility of being caught.

So, that little bit of "fright" involved in getting your cock sucked in a public place most likely caused the phenomenon you experienced.

The possibility of being caught and arrested - though, come on! you can't tell me people around you didn't notice - adds to the excitement for some folks. But the next time someone grabs your equipment in public, you might want to find a more sheltered setting. Allowing your ballsac to remain relaxed might get you some extra attention.