In this era of self-improvement, somebody somewhere is searching for how to lose weight with GLP- 1 drugs like Ozempic or turning to steroids for enhanced muscle growth.
But as effective as these methods can be, they come with their own downfalls such as their impact on libido and the brain's reward system.
Alongside these trends sits the popular phenomenon of 'looksmaxxing', whereby people (primarily young men) seek 'peak' physical attractiveness through any means necessary.
Now, one doctor is seeing a surge of interest in growing one's manhood.
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In response to a growing number of enquiring seeking penis enlargement, Dr. David Shafer, a Manhattan plastic surgeon, founded S.W.A.G - Shafer Width And Girth. Speaking to The New York Post, Shafer stated that his Fifth Avenue clinic charges $10,000 to $20,000 per treatment and has completed over 8,000 procedures.
“We put local anaesthesia right at the base of the penis,” Shafer explained to The Post. “It’s similar to when you’re at the dentist and you get a shot in your gums, and then your teeth go numb.”
The filler is made from hyaluronic acid, a substance naturally produced in the body, but has been lab-engineered.
“We use the stiffest form of the hyaluronic acid for this filler,” Shafer explained. “It’s the one that’s FDA-approved for jawline augmentation.”
The entire procedure takes about half an hour from the anaesthetic to take effect to injecting the filler.
According to the expert, the most common result is increased girth, but as the filler stretches the skin over time, patients have reported an increase in flaccid length.
“The other change that can occur over time is people who are more of a ‘grower’ tend to be more of a ‘shower’ because the weight of the filler holds the penis more in an ‘out’ position, and so they get less of that ‘shrinkage’ when it’s cold,” Shafer added.
However, the effects last only about two years and require ongoing maintenance to sustain the results, at an additional cost.
“I found that nobody’s ever satisfied with what they have, or most people aren’t, and they always just want a little oomph to it,” Shafer shared.
“Part of my job is to make sure that what we’re doing is safe and realistic and not going beyond the bounds of what would be dangerous for a patient, and then also helping them keep [in] touch with reality.”
There are limits to who Shafer can help, however. The medical expert said he cannot perform the procedures on men with a micropenis as there would be limited space to inject the filler.
“It’s kind of like if you don’t have a very big canvas for your painting, you can’t make a big painting,” the scientist explained.
The recovery process requires some patient involvement as well. Within the first week or so, patients are advised to manually mould the filler in their penis to keep it evenly distributed as it settles and avoid penetrative sex.
“The filler has a cohesive property to it, and so you keep wanting to spread that filler while it’s settling in, so that it’ll stay smooth," Shafer noted. "That first week is the most important.”
Notably, Shafer has followed 20 patients over two years and received very high satisfaction rates with minimal complications.
“I think we’re going to get much more long-lasting and natural results when these come out, which will be a nice improvement,” Shafer concluded.