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" Q: What in the world is jelqing? Jelqing (pronounced jel-king) is a natural penis enlargement attempt in which a guy squeezes and strokes his member in an effort to force blood flow to the tip, hypothetically stretching length and girth. Believed to have its roots in the ancient Middle East, jelqing is sometimes called &amp;quot;milking,&amp;quot; which conjures up unwelcome images of milking a cow.   &amp;quot;Jelqing has gained widespread interest thanks to the Internet\u2014and, in particular, thanks to spammers!&amp;quot; sex bloggers Em and Lo, authors of 150 Shades of Play, tell Cosmopolitan.com.   Q: Okay, so how does a guy jelq?   According to these videos, (which are not at all safe for work, by the way), jelqing looks a lot like masturbation. The most common Web tip tells guys to form an &amp;quot;okay&amp;quot; sign with their thumb and forefinger, apply pressure to the penis, stroke upward, and hope the penis engorges with blood   Q: Is it safe for our manfriend to jelq (if necessary)?   The short answer from experts? Um, no. His very effort to make his penis bigger (and then, be better in bed?) can backfire, as it can desensitize and even disfigure his No. 1 muscle.   Jelqing &amp;quot;can lead to pain, irritation, scar formation, and blood vessel tears,&amp;quot; says Cosmo Radio women&amp;#039;s health expert Jennifer Wider, M.D., author of The New Mom&amp;#039;s Survival Guide.   If your guy is jelqing, he should know to do so on a semi-erect penis (risk of injury is apparently higher on a hard member), and wrap his manhood in a warm towel pre- and post jelq.   Q: The $1 million question: Does jelqing actually work?   Sorry guys, but experts tell us that jelqing is to the penis what chanting, &amp;quot;We must, we must, we must increase our bust&amp;quot; is to making our boobs grow.   &amp;quot;I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there&amp;#039;s not a whole lot of scientific evidence that proves that any of these penile enlargement techniques\u2014from stretching to pills to creams\u2014actually work,&amp;quot; Dr. Wider truth-bombs. &amp;quot;And if they work a little bit, the side effect risk far outweighs any potential benefit.&amp;quot;   Q: Okay, but what about making a man&amp;#039;s manhood bigger with one of those penis pumps like Joe Manganiello used pre-tease in Magic Mike?   &amp;quot;A penis pump works like a vacuum; it can temporarily make the penis appear larger by drawing blood flow to the area,&amp;quot; says Claire Cavanah, Babeland&amp;#039;s co-founder and the co-author of Moregasm: Babeland&amp;#039;s Guide to Mind-Blowing Sex. Still, &amp;quot;some men who pump regularly report an increase in size but it comes with a loss in erection hardness, as well.&amp;quot; (She notes that &amp;quot;anyone with a heart condition should check with a doctor before using a pump.&amp;quot;)   Q: Any other tricks a man might want to try to up his size?   Evidently, tons of things! Em and Lo suggest kegels for men (same concept as ours) to make his shaft more daft. Dr. Wider notes that shedding belly fat, which can hide the base of his John Thomas, might help. Quitting smoking wouldn&amp;#039;t hurt, Cavanah says, arguing that puffing constricts blood vessels and that makes for less blood flow to the penis. For appearances sake, he could always buzz the hair around the penis, she adds. But he definitely should NOT risk enlargement surgery, as all of our experts say it&amp;#039;s an incredibly dicey procedure.   Above all, feel free to pump him up with confidence.   &amp;quot;Studies show that the majority of men that want to enlarge their penis are actually average-size, but think falsely that their penises are below average,&amp;quot; Dr. Wider said.   Would you ever tell your guy to try jelqing?   For more from Michelle, follow her on Twitter. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/advice/a4189/jelqing/>