Hardly a week goes by that we do not receive an inquiry from someone with “get-there-itis”.  Wants length and girth simultaneously. Please understand while some doctors do offer this, many of their practices have been bought out by businessmen who dictate their mode of operations.  Of course, this is a popular sell, but does it work as well as staged surgery?  I think not.  Most patients complain of inadequate length gains, and also some wound healing problems.  The penis does not appreciate too much simultaneous surgery.  If you have simultaneous surgery, you will not be able to apply traction for a good 6 weeks, lest you tear your incision line apart. Better to have lengthening done, if that’s what you require, use traction immediately afterwards to maintain what was accomplished in the operating room, and build upon that until you are satisfied.    Then, go on to  widening with appropriately longer strips of AlloDerm.

If you are result oriented, believe me, this is the proper way.  I have been a phalloplasty surgeon since 1986 with close to 3000 case experience since then.
 

Harold M. Reed, M.D.

AlloDerm has by far and away become the most popular way to enhance penile girth.  Sure we lived through the liposuctioned fat transfer years with the lumps and bumps and reabsorption and inevitable touch ups. and then dermal-fat strips for phalloplasty with the harvesting scars, our were neater than most have seen, especially those 1/2 inch wide violacious bands of Zoro on the lower mid back which fortunately the patient doesn’t have to see everyday.  “Dr. Reed, please mail me a copy of the photo you just took, I want to show it to my doctor.”

With AlloDerm you don’t have to worry about atrophy and fibrosis, as long as you don’t stack it, it’s already dead.  It is a sterile dermal matrix.  Cells of your own making will grow into it.  If a dermal-fat graft doesn’t get an optimal vascular hookup within the first five days, the final result can be anywhere from necrosis in an extreme example to length contracture with palpable tethers (fibrosis)  to fat atrophy.  I started out with a 6 1/2 penis and now have only 5 inches?

Oh, we’ll put some AlloDerm, over that.   Not such a good idea.   If there is a poor blood supply, the AlloDerm will not work.  AlloDerm always works best when it is supported on both sides by a rich vascular bed.

That is the key to tissue ingrowth.   That is the difference between a reach for the moon operation on the penis and phalloplasty performed by a phalloplasty surgeon.  Our phalloplasty pictures are available on our web-site, befores and afters.  Please be sure to click Next Photos (below each photo) for the whole gallery.

Harold M. Reed, M.D. FICS

305-865-2000

Dear Dr. Reed,

I gather from your website that you do circumcision revisions. Im wondering if you might be able to revise mine. I believe I was circumcised as an infant and the wound wasnt allowed to heal and so it separated causing a ring of uneven scar tissue to form around my penis. About 1.5 of inner skin was left as was half my frenulum. As fate would have it, I grew up to be an extreme grower and so my glans frequently retracts entirely into that remaining foreskin. The alternating coverage/bareness is uncomfortable to say the least and I also have problems with odor. My thought is to get a low and tight revision to get rid of all the inner skin and the frenulum remnant. I dont want skin bunching-up behind my glans at all. My glans is pretty smal1, measuring 19mm around. My penis is already smaller than average and Ive read that circumcision (done right) can cause the glans to flare out and get a little bigger. Is this true? I plan to be in the Miami area for most of February for work and          

Gilbert

Dear Gilbert,

For sure we look forward to seeing you in February. 

As a urologist with 35 years of experience and 5000 circumcisions behind me, I cannot say that your comment regarding the glans getting larger post circumcision holds true unless the scar is unduly tight.  If this did occur, I would view this, as a complication.  However in all fairness, this does come up every so often, but in my opinion never validated.

There are 2 ways to increase glans size, one with AlloDerm and the other with Juvederm UltraPlus.

 
Harold M. Reed, M.D. FICS
Senior Member of the American Urological Association,
Member Society of Genito-Urinary Reconstructive Surgeons
Founding Member and Treasurer of American Academy of Phalloplasty Surgeons
Founding Member Sexual Society of North America

 Hi Dr. Reed,

I am a 35 year old white male in good physical health
albeit a little under weight for my 5 7 frame. I am very
curious to know how many of your patients undergo 
penile enlargement for no other reason than personal
satisfaction? I ask this because I want to be bigger 
just for myself. I guess it’s like buying a Mercedes
when your old car is just fine. You just want to feel
special.  

Does this kind of thinking bother you and do you try
to discourage people like me from surgery?      

Kal  

Dear Kal,  

For most, the operation (phalloplasty, augmentation phalloplasty)  is a cosmetic one and not
medically necessary.  I believe during arousal for both
your partner and yourself, being well represented is a turn-on. 

My responsibility is to tell you, you are normal if that is
the case.  Normal is a range that includes 88% of the all measured. 

We do note however, that a good majority of our patients
are below the median and can sympathize with their wanting to catch up.    

Please see our phalloplasty before and after photos and phalloplasty images.  The phalloplasty costs are posted on our web-site.

Harold M. Reed, M.D.

Dr. Reed,

Dr. Reed, please accept my apology for taking too long to thank you for the amazing job that you did on september 3,2008 on my circumcision procedures.

   i had to leave the country uninspectedly for almost three weeks for some reason. I came back lastnight, I also thank your hospitable staff for taking good care of me.  Hopefully , i will see you in the following months for the girth enhancement.

sincerely,

gregory v

Dr.Reed,

My name is Stan. I am a 55 years old and very fit.  Approx 10 years I underwent lengthening and widening with dermal grafts. I was 5 7/8 erect and 4 1/2 girth. I am now 7 X 5 3/4 midshaft. As my wife likes girth and I am tired of using the pump. I am considering girth enhancement with alloderm.  The dermal seems to have decreased from just under the head to approx midshaft.  Can alloderm be used in conjunction with already placed dermal? As I want no more than 3/4 - 1″, to take out the dermal and replace with alloderm would make my girth less than it is now.  Also, how many sheets of allo do you typically use and what is the size of a sheet. 
 
Any information would be greatly appreciated. 

 

 

 

Hi Stan, 

 

We had had experience with AlloDerm for almost 10 years now and before that we did dermal-fat grafts, and before that transfer of liposuctioned of fat (autologous fat transfer or AFT) .  As a phalloplasty surgeon I evolved into the AlloDerm because it seems to be the most predictable performer.  Liposuctioned fat transfer can result in uniform or zonal reabsorption and the formation of fibro-fatty nodules or lumps under the skin. 

Dermal-fat grafts are living and in order for them to survive as soft as one might feel under the skin before surgery, they do need to pick up a sufficient blood supply.  Otherwise they will undergo some degree of atrophy which translates into fibrosis, the lowest common denominator of wound healing before necrosis.  Fibrous grafts tend to lose of course the original girth as the fat cells die off first, but worse yet they contract and result in shortened penile length. 

AlloDerm is a cadaveric product, and has no immediate biological requirements such as early re-vascularization.  If your dermal-fat graft in the distal shaft is not bothering you, you could consider Allo-Derm placed over it.  If it is truly fibrous, I would remove it, as AlloDerm should rest between a sandwich of healthy well vascularized tissue for a good take. 

We use extra-thick AlloDerm but avoid stacking sheets as this can predispose to a wound infection.  There is no blood supply whatsoever between the layers, and all it takes is a small amount of skin bacteria  which healthy tissue can repress.  The thicker a man’s penis is when he sees me, the less impact visually one extra thick layer of AlloDerm has.  Think of “a drop in the ocean.”  For men who have not had previous girth enhancement, we say about a 3/4″ increase in circumference.

Your circumference of 5 3/4 is OK and you may wish to rest on your laurels.  Most likely with AlloDerm you will get up to 6 or more inches.  In cosmetic surgery there is an expression, “less is more,” meaning that overdoing things can lead to complications.

Please do see phalloplasty before and after photos and images on our web-site.  The phalloplasty cost is also mentioned.

 

Hope this addresses your questions.  

Best wishes,

Harold M. Reed, M.D.

305-865-2000