NewMember wrote: Day 5
On a perhaps more important and worrisome note, my erections are a little soft. Like the PMMA isn't getting as hard anymore as the natural parts of me like before.
I wouldn't dwell on it too much until the 6 week marker, especially being only 5 days out.
Also, I find it remarkable that the collagen can somewhat mimic an
Erection despite not being erectile tissue like the corpora cavernosum, I've never understood (or asked) why because I assumed neocollagenesis (creation of collagen) likely triggered some angiogenesis (creation of blood vessels), but at present time I haven't had this confirmed by any online sources, nor have I ran it by any Physician (yet). I assumed that given an
Erection's means of acquiring blood engorgement meant that any additional/surrounding tissue could become more rigid as a consequence (the dermis is known to contain vessels and
PMMA are dermal injections) -- which was and is completely speculative on my part, and frankly I could be way off the mark, so please don't rely on these musings until I get a more professional opinion. While I know the topic of male
Phalloplasty better than most non-physicians, there are still some things that I will occasionally forget, or simply overlook (like
PMMA rigidity).
I have a phone conference with
Avanti Derma this week where I will ask them how
PMMA can behave both
Flaccid and
Erect despite not possessing corporal or phallic-like tissue (or perhaps the nature of the collagen created via
PMMA may very well have corporal or spongey properties, and I'll be happy to have this clarified in the near future).
I will note however, as someone who likely is in the top 1% of overall gains achieved via
PMMA, you can notice the rigidity diminish ever-so slightly the more you add
Girth, distancing your external shaft from the actual corporal cavernosum (although we're talking 2 to 3 inches of increased circumference, which means there is tons of collagen). Think about your penis pre-op, you were basically holding your
Erect corporal tissue that was covered by a thin layer of skin. The stiffest part of your penis is where the erectile chambers draw blood, and
PMMA isn't a perfect mimic of erections, just similar -- so too much (of any filler) will suffer from its distance to the erectile chambers responsible for the bulk of your erectile strength (another speculation/musing on my part). This is why low-to-modest gains are best, because you've only thickened your skin only so much, and can very much continue to feel the stiffness of your erectile chambers during
Erection. Besides, gains as much as 0.5"-0.75" are game-changing for the vast majority of men, so why go overboard?
I should also iterate that despite acknowledging the loss of some (minor) rigidity the larger you go, it's still somewhat negligible as it hasn't adversely impacted my experience with intercourse. If anything, the width & weight alone makes up for what I consider a minor diminishment of rigidity (I have nearly 3+ inches in gains, so I'm an outlier and
I suspect more normal guys seeking reasonable/practical goals ought to be alright.)
Despite my own gains, I still advocate
Avanti Derma's stance on emphasizing "
enhancement instead of enlargement," which is a philosophical approach encouraging modest gains with natural aesthetics, which also means little likelihood of any rigidity-loss. The enlargement mentality suffers (i.e. go as big as possible) from the fact that these procedures increase your size artificially, even if the gains are your own collagen -- this lends itself to loss of natural aesthetics, and like your question, possible impact on erectile rigidity.
As I stated in my opening sentence, it's too early to draw any conclusions on your
Erection quality until you hit at least the 6 week marker. Good luck & happy healing.