How Your Penis Changes As You Age: Shrinking, ED

YOU BODY GOES through so many changes as you get older. Your hair turns gray, you notice a few fine lines appearing on your face, and you might not have as much energy as you used to. Age can also take a toll on your penis—affecting its shape, size, and how it functions.

The penis you know now will not necessarily be the penis you know 10 or 20 years from now. This is not to say that what happens to your penis as you age is a bad thing. It’s also not to say that what happens to your penis as you age is inevitable. But it is important to take note of any changes happening there.

“Changes to the penis over time should be viewed as a barometer of overall health,” says Ryan Cleary, M.D., a urologist at MedStar Health in Baltimore, Maryland. For instance, changes to blood vessels, arteries, and veins that might cause a heart attack or stroke can first show up as changes in erectile functioning.

“Take it as a sign to evaluate your lifestyle habits and start dieting and exercise,” he explains. “There are no medications that are as powerful as a healthy lifestyle. Making healthy choices every day with proper nutrition, exercise, stress management, and a focus on proper sleep are the most powerful tools at your disposal.”

There is hope, though. Some age-related penis changes can be prevented or delayed to a certain extent. Knowing what to look for is the first step. Here are some of the most common aging-penis-related scenarios that urologists tend to see—and how best to treat them.

The Most Common Age-Related Penis Changes

HOW YOU AGE is very individualized. Dr. Cleary said genetics are mostly to blame, but changes in hormones or metabolism and environmental factors can also factor in. Here are some ways aging can change your penis:

Things Droop

Collagen, which keeps your skin elastic, formed, and tight, depletes over time, so your penile skin can lose some shape, Dr. Cleary says. Environmental factors like infections, trauma, poor hygiene, and UV radiation can also age the skin of your penis.

So yeah, your scrotum will droop as you get older. It’s a largely unavoidable aspect of aging. A loss of muscle mass can also contribute to it, along with skin changes.

At its most extreme, you develop what Brian Steixner, MD, a urologist at AtlantiCare Medical Center in Linwood, New Jersey, calls “splashdown syndrome,” which is exactly what it sounds like: When you sit to use the toilet, your scrotum actually hits the water.

You can keep things where you want them with an increasingly popular procedure called scrotoplasty. And it’s worth taking some action now: To prevent saggy balls, ditch the cigarettes, eat a healthy diet, and exercise regularly.

There Will Be Shrinkage

No, not the just-out-of-the-pool constriction we all know. There is a progressive loss of size as you age. (But you won’t develop a micropenis or anything.)

You might also develop more fat around the penile base, which gives you the perception of a shorter length penile, Dr. Cleary said. Losing that fat—by increasing your exercise, dieting, decreasing stress, and sleeping better—should improve the appearance of length.

Want to make it worse? Keep building up that beer gut. As your belly gets bigger, the fat pad pushes out and a larger penile percentage gets buried under the skin. Gain weight, lose length. Simple math.

“For every 30 pounds you shed, you add an effective half-inch in length,” says Dr. Steixner. Discover the best ways for men over 50 to lose weight. It’s probably worth trying the peak-performance diet for your penis now, too.

You May Develop a Curved Penis

You might notice things shifting more to the right or left than they used to. It’s usually thanks to repeated trauma from seemingly harmless things like sports and sexual activity, causing scar tissue to accumulate along the length of your penis. This scar tissue does not build up symmetrically.

If the curvature is significant or painful, see your doctor, Dr. Cleary emphasizes.

“Into your 60s and 70s, it can get worse. I’ve seen patients [whose penises] look for all appearances like a question mark,” says Dr. Steixner.

Mercifully, there’s help for punctuation-mark syndrome (also known as Peyronie’s disease). Today, injectable medicines help release the accumulated plaques anchoring the scar tissue holding your penis in that curve, Dr. Steixner says.

Your Foreskin Might Get Tighter

If you’re uncircumcised, you could develop a condition called phimosis, when the foreskin gets tightly stretched around the head of the penis, and you can’t pull it back, Dr. Cleary says.

Phimosis can cause pain when peeing or getting an erection. Dr. Cleary says it can be treated with steroid cream or gel, but sometimes a circumcision is needed. Good hygiene is one way to prevent the condition.

Some Men Get ED

Millions of men have erectile dysfunction, and the reason behind it for older men boils down to a lack of blood flow.

“Having ED is like having a heart attack of the penis,” explains Dr. Steixner. “And preventing it involves pretty much the same advice you give to someone with a heart condition: Eat well, exercise. Control those, and you should be fine.”

Fortunately, ED is treatable. Doctors will discuss your medical history and conduct a physical exam to look for any related conditions, Dr. Cleary says. They’ll also check your testosterone levels.

If lifestyle modifications aren’t improving your erections, you might be prescribed oral medications, he says. Other treatments include a vacuum device to help with blood flow, medications injected into the urethra or penis, or a penile prosthesis. And, researchers are working on new treatments all the time.

Your Risk of Penile Cancer Rises

Most men are familiar with the very real risks of prostate and testicular cancer. But there’s also a risk of skin cancer on the penis itself, especially if you like to frequent tanning beds au naturel.

Also, men who are uncircumcised but remiss in their personal hygiene can create conditions that contribute to penile cancer. “Stay out of tanning beds, and if you are uncircumcised, keep the hood clean,” urges Dr. Steixner.

Pay attention to any skin lesions on or near your penis, Dr. Cleary says.

“Any lesion in question—whether a large abnormal growth or small ulcer—should be evaluated by a professional,” he notes. “Some growths are benign and associated with sexually transmitted infections as well.”

When to Worry

JUST NOTE THAT many penile changes are normal as your body gets older. Your testosterone levels do decline with age, nerve functioning shifts, and blood flow can decrease, Dr. Steixner says.

Lifestyle changes are the best thing you can do to keep your penis healthy as you age, Dr. Cleary emphasizes. Keep things clean down there, skip the tanning beds, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and eat healthy.

But when anything out of the ordinary that’s distressing to you happens, see your doctor. They can prescribe any necessary treatments and put your mind at ease.