Gizmodo reported that a man claimed that his dick shrank after a bout with COVID-19. Sexual dysfunction may be another added bonus in the long list of unexpected and unpleasant effects of the coronavirus.
The Slate-run sex advice podcast How to Do It discussed the harrowing tale of an anonymous letter writer who was suffering from what’s come to be known as “COVID dick.” The writer, who identified as a heterosexual man in his 30s, said that he had gotten very sick and was hospitalized from covid-19 last July. After he was discharged, he began experiencing erectile dysfunction (ED). He described himself as above average in penis size before covid-19, but his penis had shrunk about 1.5 inches and that he had “become decidedly less than average” after his bout with COVID.
A study from November 2021, for instance, found that men with COVID-19 were about three times as likely to develop a new case of ED than those who didn’t catch COVID-19. Some research has suggested that the risk may be nearly six times higher, yet other estimates are smaller, suggesting around a 20% increased risk. A small percentage of people with long COVID, including women, have also reported sexual dysfunction as one of their symptoms. And sometimes, ED can indeed lead to shrinkage, especially if it’s caused by physical damage and scarring that causes the penis to stop becoming regularly erect.
The November study, found that slightly less than 5% of men in the sample were diagnosed with ED after COVID-19.