Man worrying about the size of his penis — Shutterstock / Andrey_Popov

Worried your penis is too small?

Do you worry about the size of your penis? Read on: here’s the scientific proof that it’s probably normal.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your penis was too small, you’re definitely not alone – fretting over the length or girth of their member is something a lot of guys go through. There’s even a name for it: ‘small penis anxiety’.

It can get serious when a guy becomes so unhappy and self-conscious about the size or shape of his penis that it impacts his sex life in a major way. When that happens he might be diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

The thing is, though, the vast majority of guys out there have a perfectly normal penis. They just need a little reassuring.

That’s why a team of UK researchers figured it was high time to put together proof for all of the guys who visit their doctors with concerns that their penis is too small. The team compiled studies that included penis length and girth measurements from over 15,500 men of different ages and races. All of the measurements they used were taken by a health professional, so there was no way the guys were bending the truth when it came to the size of their penis.

Related: What determines penis size?

What’s normal?

Once all the data was collected, the researchers calculated averages and created diagrams that showed the wide range of normal penis sizes. Erect penises ranges from around 9.5cm to 16cm in length. Only a couple of percent of men have smaller or larger penises than that.

The average for a flaccid penis comes in at 9.16 cm. If it’s stretched, the average becomes 13.24 cm. That’s pretty close to the average erect length of 13.12 cm.

Girth measurements revealed an average of 9.31 cm for flaccid penises and 11.66 cm for erect penises.

See where you fall on the scale from small to large for length and girth. And here you can find information on how to measure your penis.

The researchers also looked at whether penis size was linked to a guy’s other physical features. Contrary to popular belief, there wasn’t much evidence that guys with larger feet or guys who weigh more have larger penises. But there was a bit of link between height and penis length – taller guys might have longer erect penises, the study found.

Only a little more than two percent of guys have an abnormally small penis measuring less than 6 cm in length when flaccid or less than 9.5 cm when stretched, the researchers reported. This is different from a micropenis, which has a flaccid length of less than 5.2 cm and a stretched length of less than 8.5 cm. A micropenis is very rare – less than one-quarter percent of guys have one.

How important is penis size? Leave a comment below or on Facebook.

Source: Am I normal? A systematic review and construction of nomograms for flaccid and erect penis length and circumference in up to 15 521 men, David Veale, Sarah Miles, Sally Bramley, Gordon Muir and John Hodsoll