Vegetable Glycerine Does Not Increase Penis Girth
No evidence supports the use of vegetable glycerine—oral or topical—for penile girth enhancement, and this approach should not be recommended.
Why Vegetable Glycerine Is Not Effective
The available evidence provides no support for vegetable glycerine as a penile enhancement agent:
No established mechanism of action: Vegetable glycerin is a humectant used in e-cigarettes and tobacco products, where animal studies have shown it may actually suppress immune function and disrupt immune homeostasis when inhaled 1. There is no biological plausibility for it to increase penile tissue mass or girth.
Not mentioned in any clinical guidelines: The most recent European Association of Urology guidelines (2025) and American Urological Association guidelines comprehensively review all available treatments for penile concerns, including Peyronie's disease and erectile dysfunction, and vegetable glycerine is never mentioned as a therapeutic option 1.
No clinical trials exist: Systematic reviews of penile girth enhancement procedures found no studies evaluating vegetable glycerine among the 21 different interventions assessed 2, 3.
Evidence-Based Alternatives for Penile Girth Enhancement
If genuine concern about penile size exists, the following approaches have actual evidence:
First-Line: Counseling
- Structured counseling should always be performed first, as the majority of men seeking enhancement have physiologically normal penises and suffer from penile dysmorphophobic disorder 2, 3.
- When counseling is provided, the majority of men come to understand their penis is normal and become unwilling to undergo further treatment 2.
Non-Surgical Options (Limited Evidence)
- Penile extenders: Show modest increases in flaccid length (1-2 cm) but require 4-9 hours daily use for 3 months 4, 2, 5. However, they show no significant effect on proximal penile girth 5.
- Vacuum erection devices: Do not increase penile size and show declining efficacy over time (90% initially, dropping to 50-64% at 2 years) 1, 2.
Injectable Options (Higher Risk)
- Hyaluronic acid and other fillers: Can increase girth by 0-4.9 cm but carry risks of penile fibrosis, sexual dysfunction, acute hypersensitivity reactions, and other devastating complications 3, 6, 7.
- These procedures show high complication rates and should be considered experimental 2, 3.
Surgical Options (Highest Risk)
- Surgical girth enhancement (tissue grafting, flaps, dermal fat grafts): May increase girth but complications include skin necrosis, wound infections, need for reoperation, and are reported in 53.3% of surgical studies 7.
- These procedures should remain a last option and are considered unethical outside of clinical trials due to scant, low-quality evidence 2.
Critical Clinical Caveat
All penile girth enhancement procedures should be considered experimental given the lack of clinical guidelines, likely underreporting of complications, and poor-quality evidence 2, 3, 7. The American Urological Association and European Association of Urology do not endorse any specific girth enhancement technique for men with normal anatomy 1.