Best Gains with a Medical Problem

[JasonWho]

Hi All,

I started using the Extender couple weeks ago. So far so good. I dont do any PE excersises nor the Pills. I have Diabetes and my Doctor was against the PE excersises and the pills, let alone the extender. :( He really didnt even want me using the extender but i talked it over with him and got his ok but with stipulation no PE or Pills. He doesnt want me to overwork my penis and since traction does cause tissue tears and then healing ect. His biggest concern is that Diabetics have a slightly longer healing process and as he put it "un-needed damage to my penis by the tears is just asking for potental harm than good". With that.

I am using the Extender with somewhat supervision with my doctor.

I did the adapt period for only 10 days for the adap period. I am now on the non adapt schedule and it feels good and havent had any issues. I am using a spreadsheet posted by Andro and its great to have - very nice work on it by the way. I did use zamooint idea "glueing the andro bandage to the silicone tube" after the 2nd week and wow does that help alot - great idea (btw I used a bonding agent called Amazing Goop found in the hardware section at Walmart and Kmart and that bonds really great too) .

My issue is this. I want to have good gains as far as girth is concerned. Average gains qouted for the extender is roughly 1 in. So against my Doctors advice what PE excersises could I do that would help just in the girth area. I dont want to have a huge routine but maybe one or two excersises just focused on girth. My goal is to be able to acheive a better than 1 in size increase.

Or would the advice here be just to use the extender alone and see what gains I get, then after the extender use try to incorporate some girth excersises then.

Since I cant use the pills and I am not sure on his reasoning, I have been using L-Arginine and Yohimbe to help with blood flow as those I have used for several years and my Doctor didnt have objection to those.

Any Advice on how to best acheive my gains would be greatly appreciated :)

Jason

[emma_permenda]

I'm glad to see that you have done the correct medical research and are seeking advice.

Girth should increase with usage of the device, check out Daz's post in this thread:

http://www.mens-network.com/forum/showthread.php?p=71163&highlight=girth#post71163

I would stick with your doctors advice - stick to the device only and abstain from using any pills or PE.

Emma :)

[jade_permenda]

In addition to Emmas advice, if you don't see the results in girth you want by the time you have reached the length you are aiming for, that would maybe be a better time to speak to your doctor again about the exercises.:)

[JasonWho]

Thanks for the advice Emma and Jade much appreciated.

One quick question. Ive read in other posts that adding the pieces each week does increase the tension some but I haven't been able to find how to set the tension on the device otherwise. I saw in some post by Big Al a picture diagram he made to show that turning the knobs on the side will increase the tension and marks on the side shows how much tension is being forced but he was supposed to of been using a different device. Is that the same with the andropenis extender? That was not mentioned anywhere in my manual that came with the device when I received it.

Thanks again for your previous replies. Your help always appreciated :sm27

[jade_permenda]

Hi, I remember the thread you are talking about, and Big Al was talking about a different type of extender device. :)

As far as I'm aware, the only way of changing the tension of the SizeGenetics is by adding pieces to the length. :sm15

As advised in the manual:

Initial traction force is 600gr. In the second month, the traction will be 800gr. due to the device being at the same length as the erect penis. In the third month the traction will be 1000gr. when the length is 2cm more then erect length. In the 4th to 6th month the force will be between 1200gr to 1500gr. This force will automatically adjust by increasing the size. such traction forces are not harmful as they are small progressive and adaptive.

Hope this helps in some way?:sm16

[Dazzlingdaz3]

Hi Jade,
Just on that note, it is actually possible to adjust the tension on the andropenis device as well, using that same method ie: screwing out or back, the threaded arms. The traction force applied is actually measured on the arms of the device by way of the 3 lines that are etched into them.

By screwing the device out or back during the day, you can decrease, maintain or increase, the stretching force as required without having to remove the device to add or subtract space bars. I know that this is not covered in the manual, so therefore is not recommended as standard practice, but for advanced users wanting to "tweak" the use of the device, these can be valuable options ;)

Cheers
Dazz

[JasonWho]

Thanks Jade and Dazz for answering my question.

I was curious to know cause after adding a peice each week, so far halfway through the week the device becomes... say comfortable rather than feeling a stretch, like the first part of the week. So i just wanted to see if the tension could be increased some what so i could feel the stretch with out having to add a peice like the .3cm peice halfway through the week like mentioned in the manual during the advance stage where you wear it for two weeks before adding a peice. I will have to try turning the knobs a bit and see if that helps first.

As always thanks your help :sm19

Jason

[jade_permenda]

Let me know how you get on with changing the length by unscrewing the rods, as I wasn't aware that you could change the force by the rods. :sm16

I would have thought that this would only make the device looser, and you would need to closely monitor the device to ensure that it doesn't slip off, or come completely unscrewed. :(

Let us know how you get on if you try unscrewing the rods for extra length.:)

[jacomarks]

Jason,

If I might ask...are you a Type 1 or a Type 2 diabetic? And how is your control--what was your last Hemoglobin A1c?

I would agree with what others have said--follow your doctor's advice. However as a physician I have treated many many diabetics over the last 8-9 years, and have never seen any penile trauma, or apparent penile trauma. To be honest, I would be more concerned with you using the extender than manual exercises--providing you are not using the more advanced forms of exercise. For example, I don't think you should be using any steel bars in your exercise routine; nor should you be using the 'tunica twist' where you twist your penis 3-4 times around. I would think that if you were to warm up thoroughly and jelq firmly but gently (without sudden bending or twisting), then it would be perfectly safe. I am not an expert in each & every exercise but I have tried them all at one time or another, and would consider most of the basic exercises to be quite safe; especially if your diabetes is in good control.

Here's my point--I wonder if your doctor even understands the PE exercises, or the extender for that matter. I didn't really understand them until I got personally involved. My concern with you using the extender is that you will simply apply the device, put your penis in your pants, and wear it several hours per day. Medically speaking, the penis is an 'end organ' which means that it has one blood supply--just like the kidneys, eyes, brain & heart. Sure these organs may have multiple arteries carrying blood to them, but usually only one artery supplies blood to any one given part of the organ. So if you compromise flow through an artery carrying blood to some part of an organ, you risk tremendous damage (ie; death) to that part of the organ. The same goes for the penis.

So while I will not pretend to replace your physician, I would STRONGLY recommend that you be certain that your physician understands what is involved with each PE modality (including pills, exercises & the extender). And I would NOT modify the tension of the extender--in my opinion you should follow the manual exactly, with maybe an extra rest day per week. Placing an organ such as the penis (that may have already have some diabetes-induced nerve damage) into a traction device, and then hiding it out of sight for hours at a time...is a daunting prospect. Be very careful! On the contrary; if you were to do exercises in the proper fashion after a thorough warm-up, I feel that the risk of damage to the penile tissues would be minimized.

Jaco (MD)

[JasonWho]

Hi Jade,

I tired it for a few hours on using the screw knobs to increase tension. It does infact add some more strectch to the penis but i would equate it to adding a peice since that in affect is all that its simulating.

The screws are actually faily long, but I wouldnt suggest by any means unscrewing it way out. I used the .3 and .5 peices to guage on how far out i unscrewed it as I thought anymore would not be wise for anyone to do. It does feel like it would if you just added those peices, so I guess for someone who wants to add a little variation to the stretch throught there 9 hour wear period they could change it periodically throught the day.

The one thing i did think of was that when you unscrew them out, the screw could break in that area that is now exposed since it is thinner than the rest of the bar and if to much force got inadvertantly put on the screw the exposed area thus in thought would be weaker in that area and could cause it to break there. So i guess its one of those things that could happen but probably wouldnt.

Hope maybe some others try the knobs to add a little tension and would let us know what they think of it and how it felt for them.

Thanks as always for your help!

[JasonWho]

Jaco,

I’m a type 1 diabetic, having had diabetes for 23 years. My last A1c was on the higher side “9.5” and all my other blood work that was done for a complete exam are all in range and not over the norm. Even with the A1c being slightly high I am a fairly controlled diabetic, I had some hard circumstances that had to do with a higher A1c than usual, lost insurance so I at times would ration when I couldn’t afford to buy insulin, but now I have better control on the BS front and expect a better A1c on my next visit.

My doctors concern of penile trauma or damage was a general concern as with anyone doing things not normally done to the penis. And again as a diabetic we do have a slower than normal healing process and since the penis is a basic yet complex piece of equipment we carry around and since both PE and Extenders do have some injury risks associated with it, he just wanted to make sure I would be aware of that fact and be responsible with doing any work I choose to do with my penis and not that anything would happen but there is that possibility that it could. Also I heard the same concern when I had started to do some bodybuilding sometime back too :p

I did take in info I had gathered for both PE and the Extender. He knew of PE and knew some of the exercises that are done but had no personal experience with them, he also knew of the extender yet had no experience with one either. Now granted I had already ordered my extender so he kinda knew what direction I was going to go with it. He did let me explain why I wanted to use it, as he too, like you, thought the PE might be a better choice. I had also printed some of the injury posts found on this site.

Here is my reasoning on deciding on the extender to use vs PE. I am using a device that is gradual over time so there is less of a chance for human error that can be made since it "the extender" does the stretching and not me and in a gradual fashion. This reduces human error. Human error in PE is a lot of the reason you see posts in the injury section for PE, people doing the exercises wrong, overworking the penis with the amount of exercises or amount of time spent doing them in a day. And with the Extender there is very few on this front, the injuries you do see for the extender is more related to the glans and head due to the noose design or the discomfort associated with it, which is one of his and mine concern about using it, but I have been able to make it less of a issue than normal. Yes you do put it on and slip it in your pants, which i do and i also will wear it at home in my boxers or sometimes when lying in bed reading a book or watching tv i wont have any boxers and let it hang free, but as instructions state you do take it off every two hours to bring blood flow back and then wear it for another two and so forth. Its not a put it in your pants for the whole day with out periodic take off and inspection of the penis. Also if you do feel that it too tight or feel the cold sensations or have some pain or real discomfort, one would hope that the person would check it out and not just continue to wear it. The blood flow was another issue he had but it’s the same for PE but with the Extender more attention is needed to that aspect.

He understood what I was saying and looking over the material I had and his own knowledge he had said that he didn’t see a problem in trying the extender. He originally didn’t see the need for me to even be concerned on doing any work to my penis as a “if it isn’t broken no need to fix it” approach. So I explained why I wanted too and that I understand his input. We decided then to try the extender with the stipulation on no PE and no pills when using it. This was decided to not overworking the penis and to let my penis have a little more time for healing. I’m to check it more periodically than Stated in the manual. First sign of the cold feeling or any pain-discomfort, I’m to take it off immediately. I have to not use it for one day a week, more if needed to give it a complete day of healing. Also if I have pain or discomfort frequent I have to add a few more days before adding the .5 piece. so as his original thought on PE vs Extender was for PE after explaining my thoughts on it he was then 50/50 so he is interested to see how things work out.

For the pills he didn’t really say why and I didn’t really ask him. My thinking is that because I already use L-Arginine , Yohimbee, L-Lysine, an Asprin and when I am working out Creatine, I would assume he didn’t want me to over do it in the aspect for blood flow. Also I didn’t have the page that listed the ingredients as he does like to know what a particular pill, medication, ect has in it before me taking it even if its herbal.

I do have to follow up with him when I do go in and so some of the questions I have asked are to have some others people thoughts so when I go in and ask him on trying something I have more than just my input on something. helps in making a informed decision.

So you were on track with my doctors thinking and granted I somewhat changed his mind by explaining my reasoning he understand there is always risks in doing any exercise program. And I do have to report to him on my progress. And when I reach my goals with the extender or if it becomes an problem wearing then I will use PE to reach my goals.

The tension question is because when I am in my last couple days before adding a piece I don’t feel the stretch, It feels comfortable. This is signs the penis is or has adapted to the tension of the device. As in body building when you have hit a comfortable lifting weight, that is when you would increase your weights slightly to add more stress to the muscle. To increase muscle the muscle has to be in a state of stress so when a comfortable stage happens you add more to keep the muscle stressed or you do more reps or sets ect, so my thought was the same with the penis, and I know its not a muscle but to me it sounded like the principle would apply. And since you are not working with weights, reps or sets, the only option is to increase the tension either by adding pieces or by turning the knobs to increase the tension somewhat. I’m sure with the diabetes, waiting that additional day or two would not hurt in making gains and may aid in the healing of the penis more for me with diabetes. I was thinking though that by adding a little tension when in that comfortable stage it would “prepare” the penis to the next piece so it would be little less for the penis to get comfortable too.

I definitely appreciate your feedback and will have it along with the others who have replied when I go in to see my doctor on my next visit. I definitely am glad you with your medical background responded as it gives me some good advice and thought from the medical field besides my own doctor.

As Always thanks for te help!!!

P.s. A little humorous happening to me when I was working out a year ago. My doctor was worried of injury when I started to do some body building. Was worried I would show off and try to over do myself in weights or use bad form and so forth and with diabetes not a good combo. He suggested if I wanted to get in shape to just do cardio: running, or treadmill, jump rope ect, with some light resistance training. Well I opted still for more of a body building routine with his supervision of course, but did incorporate some cardio into it as well. Well I would run 15 min to half hour on the treadmill for my cardio sessions. One day I had pulled a muscle in my foot while running on the treadmill. Not sure how but I did. I have yet to have an injury when weightlifting yet doing a simple things as running I ended up pulling a muscle and he thought for sure I'd have a lifting injury if any injury, not a injury from running on the treadmill. Gave us a good laugh that day :P

[jacomarks]

Well, all I can say after reading that well-thoughout post, is that you obviously have done your homework on all of these options. I agree with your doc that you should stay away from the pills--they are essentially vasodilators, designed to increase the blood flow to the penis. However the effect on the coronary arteries (supplying blood to the heart muscle) is unknown, and thus you cannot be sure of their safety. This is even more of a concern in a diabetic.

The only concern I had about you using the extender (and I chose it over pills, but do a few exercises as well) is that as a diabetic, you may not have complete sensation to the glans. If that were to be the case you could be at risk if you cannot feel the extender irritating the tissue. And since diabetes is a disease that very much affects the microvasculature, you may be risking damage to the glans.

But I can see that you are well on top of things, and would say nothing more than that I wish you luck. I hope things work out well for you--you are a month ahead of me in this 'project' and our starting sizes are nearly identical. I think your idea about imposing strict limitations on yourself (in terms of times of usage) is excellent, and you may have a good point about increasing spring tension a bit a few days ahead of the next increment increase. I may just try this myself!

Good luck to you.

Jaco