Women are much more interested in a man's personality and looks than the size of his penis, but men can experience real anxiety even if they are average sized, according to a research review published in the June issue of the urology journal BJU International.
Dr Kevan Wylie from the Porterbrook Clinic and Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK, reports that while men often have a better body image, genital image and sexual confidence if they have a large penis, women don't necessarily feel that bigger is better.
He teamed up with Mr Ian Eardley from St James, Hospital in Leeds to bring together the findings of more than 50 international research projects into penile size and small penis syndrome carried out since 1942.
By drawing together the results of 12 studies that measured the penises of 11,531 men, they discovered that average erect penises ranged from 14-16cms (5.5 to 6.2 inches) in length and 12-13cm (4.7 to 5.1 inches) in girth.
Wylie and Eardley also looked at the bizarre practices used by men worldwide to enhance the size of their penis, including the Topinama of Brazil, who encourage poisonous snakes to bite their penises to enlarge them for six months!
They report that Indian Sadhus men are known to use weights to increase the length of their penis and Dayak men in Borneo pierce the glans of their penis and insert items into the holes to stimulate their partner.
Other key findings of the review include: