While women seek surgical breast enhancement so regularly that the procedure is subject to pop culture treatment in sitcoms and memes, penile enhancement is another story altogether. As ProPublica reports, it's a "secretive world" of men reluctant to acknowledge seeking or having work done on their equipment and doctors who sometimes are allegedly ready to take advantage of their patients' shame to continue doing questionable work. The story focuses on a man who goes only by his middle name, Mick, a gay Seattle-area artist who sought the services of Dr. James Elist, who the article notes was termed the "Thomas Edison of penis surgery" by TMZ. For half Mick's life savings—$15,000—Dr. Elist offered him Penuma (the name means "penis new man") implant surgery.
The surgery involved inserting the silicone sheath, which comes in a selection of LG, XL, and XXL sizes, beneath the patient's penis skin to add girth and length. For Mick, things reportedly went downhill after that, and he eventually found himself Googling Elist's name and strings of words such as "Penuma" and "numb." ProPublica reports that other men also experienced issues including pain that left one man feeling that he was a "prisoner" in his body as the implant caused pain by digging into his pubic bone. Writer Ava Kofman goes on to interview physicians other than Elist who say they've been "threatened" for talking about the problems patients experienced with Penuma, with plastic surgeon Mark Solomon calling some of them "penile cripples." (Read the full story at ProPublica.)
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