From time to time, we are fed with a lot of information about sex from friends, magazines, movies and hearsays. After a while, when we repeatedly hear the same kind of information about sex we tend to treat this as the total truth.

This is especially so in societies where sex is a taboo topic and there is no sex education which render getting the facts about sex difficult. What should be the average size of male genitals and does trying to enlarge them work? How long should men last during intercourse? In the next few paragraphs, we will talk about these topics one by one, therefore read on.

What should be the average size of male genitals?

We tend to associate masculinity with the size of male genitals. Of course there is really no such relationship but a lot of guys still want to increase the size of their "little brother". Even a minority of women indicate they prefer a bigger size. However, for the vast majority of partners, the size of male genitals does not matter.

There is also this myth that a male genital is the main way to pleasure a woman. In his book She Comes First, Ian Kerner, a New York-based sex counselor cites a study that reports women reaching orgasm about 25% of the time during intercourse, compared with 81% of the time during oral sex.

OK, what should be the average size and does trying to enlarging it work?

In a state of erection, the average size should be between 4 to 6 inches. Under normal condition, it should be around three and a half inches.

If you are still keen on increasing the size of your organ, here is a rundown of your options.

The vacuum pump is often used to help men with erectile dysfunction. You put your "little brother" into a cylinder which is attached to a pump that sucks out the air. The resulting vacuum draws extra blood into the genitals, making it bigger. To maintain this erected stage, you put a tight ring around your organ to prevent blood from flowing back to other parts of the body. The pump has no lasting effect on the size because once the ring is removed, it will return to the original size.

The risks in using vacuum pump are temporary impotence, blisters, bruises, ruptured blood vessels and discolored and thickened skin. The tight ring should not be around your organ for more than 20 to 30 minutes at most because this can cause tissue damage.

Another enlargement option includes devices that you clamp on the genitals to stretch it for sometimes as long as 8 hours a day with tension or weights. Whether does this work is questionable but the risks for this method are tearing of the tissue, burst blood vessels and possible fracture of the genitals.

There are 2 basic surgery methods that involve lengthening and widening the genitals:

(a) Making surgical cut to the suspensory ligament tissue that is attached to the male organ to make it looks longer. To prevent the ligament from re-attaching, you will probably need to put weights or stretching devices to your genitals for about 6 months.

(b) Taking fat from elsewhere in the body and inject it into the shaft to widen the genitals. But this may not be effective because the fat can get partially absorbed.

A newer surgery method uses implanted allograft, tissue obtained from dead bodies. Another method uses on overweight guys involves removing the fat at the base of the genitals by way of liposuction.

Such surgeries are quite expensive and range from US$5,000 to over US$20,000. Like plastic surgeries, they may not work and known complications include scarring, infections, loss of a normal erection angle, decrease in sensation and impotence. So far, no major medical organization has approved of these surgeries. Therefore, you should be wary if you come across those male organ enlargement advertisements that promise miracle result next time and think carefully is it worthwhile taking the risks before messing with your "little brother".

How long should men last in bed?

A common cut off time to define premature ejaculation is 2 minutes but some guys cannot last past 30 seconds. Either they let go before or immediately upon penetration. This pretty normal because men are wired to ejaculate quickly and stressful situations can make them let go faster.

So, what should be the average time that men can last in bed? According to study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, it is 5.4 minutes.

A few techniques have been suggested to help men to prolong their time to ejaculation which involve certain drugs (such as anti-depressants, Priligy), de-sensitizing cream, "climax control" condoms and the start-and-stop masturbation technique to manage the sexual response.

However, some are of the opinion that rather than trying to use distraction technique or decreasing stimulation it will be better to give in to the sensation. According to Seth Prosterman, a clinical sexologist and licensed marriage and family therapist, the way to learn to last longer is by getting used to the intense stimulation to increase the frequency of intercourse and feel every sensation of being inside your partner and enjoy it.

Can men have multiple orgasms?

Central to the concept of male multiple orgasms is the confusion between ejaculation and orgasm in men. Because most men tend to orgasm easily and for most young men ejaculation is also a routine response to sexual stimulation, most people cannot differentiate between orgasm and ejaculation which are 2 separate physiological and psychological experiences. It is only when men learn to separate them that it is possible to have more than one orgasm for each ejaculation.

In other words, having multiple orgasms for a man does not mean having multiple ejaculations in a lovemaking session. It is learning to control your ejaculation and hold it back while you experience several non-ejaculatory orgasms.

Some people advocate using Kegel exercises to strengthen the PC muscles to control ejaculation. There is a valve on the prostrate that switches on and off before urination and ejaculation. The PC muscle stops this valve from opening, allowing an orgasm without ejaculation. The idea is to keep doing this 5 to 6 times in a row by squeezing your PC muscle and holding it for a few seconds and breathe in deeply whenever you feel you are almost quite close to the point of letting go during your masturbation session.

Often the key to sexual satisfaction is not about numbers such as size or how long should you last. It is more about understanding yourself and your partner’s desires and finding out how your partner likes to be aroused and this applies to both men and women.