What is 'summer penis'? Experts assess if seasonal heat can actually make your bulge bigger

What is a summer penis?

Winter can be rough for people who worry about shrinkage, but if you love being not just a grower but a shower too, then summer is where it’s at.

Summer penis is a phenomenon where your flaccid penis size increases in response to the warmer weather in the summertime. This term is not to be confused with summer penile syndrome, where tiny mites called chiggers and plants like poison ivy cause an allergic reaction that leads to rapid swelling and an itchy rash around the genitals.

“A summer penis is a phenomenon where the penis looks bigger and thicker when it’s hot outside, and while it’s real, the penis just looks bigger when being soft — you won’t get a bigger erection,” Sofie Roos, a bisexual licensed sexologist, relationship therapist and author at relationship magazine Passionerad, tells Out. “So one can say that the summer is a good time of the year for everyone who’d like a big ‘shower.’"

But LGBTQ+ dating and sex expert Noah Heymann, who is the self-proclaimed “go-to coach for gay bears, chubs, and chasers” at DateCoach.com, calls summer penis a “phallus-y” (pun intended!) because any increase in size you notice when it starts to get hot won’t last the whole summer.

“Summer penis is the common misconception that flaccid penises are larger in the summer,” he says. “The reality is that the change in flaccid penis size — larger when warm and smaller when cold — are temporary within a matter of minutes, not seasonal.”

Why does penis size fluctuate due to heat?

Summer penis may be a trending term on the internet, but whether the results last the whole time you’re out in the heat, or just a few minutes like Heymann says, the science is the same, and it’s all about the blood vessels.

When temperatures drop, the muscles in the penis contract, limiting blood flow and causing “shrinkage” in order to preserve core temperature. But when the weather warms up, the exact opposite happens and "the body dilates blood vessels near the surface to dump heat,” Heymann explains.

This means that while your package may look more prominent when you're lying on the beach, you may see the opposite reaction from your body if you jump into a cold ocean. Plus, Roos says this growth below the belt isn’t something that’s lasting and won’t help you out in the bedroom because “a summer penis really doesn't make any difference for sexual function and satisfaction — it’s more about a temporary impact that in some niche situations, such as if being on a nude beach, can be something that really changes how you’re feeling in a positive way.”

Can you keep this size increase in size once summer is over?

Once the weather starts to cool down, so does any size increase you might have noticed while outside in the heat. “Summer penis is a fallacy, and there is no way to maintain larger flaccid penis size,” Heymann explains.

But is there any way to hang onto the literal big dick energy the summer heat gives you? According to Roos, no. “The short answer is that you can’t as this is an effect of the body trying to cool down, so unless you’d like to go around with electrically heated boxers, you just have to appreciate the shrunken winter penis by remembering that it fulfills an important function,” she says.

Do gay men care about summer penis?

According to Heymann, the great thing about being a queer man is that while being well-endowed may be coveted by some, there are also plenty of sexual scenarios where size just doesn’t matter.

“Most men wish their flaccid (and erect) penis were bigger. However, this feeling is slightly less universal among gay men than straight men,” he says. “Gays might appreciate the logistical advantages of an average or small penis for oral or anal sex, or aesthetically prefer a smaller penis like the Romans and Greeks did, or take on sexual roles that don’t have an expectation of a large penis, or have examined and deconstructed their sexuality and self-image to a greater extent.”

Roos, who works mainly with queer men in her practice, says that for some people, a summer penis can be a boost to their self-esteem, which can make them feel “hotter” and “make them better at flirting and have a greater time in bed, even though the penis isn’t affected during erection.”

But Roos also recommends not banking on a summer heat wave helping you to fill out your Speedo, since for some men, it’s "a highly noticeable phenomenon, while others barely see any difference — and both are fully normal.”

Sources cited:

Sofie Roos is a bisexual licensed sexologist, relationship therapist, and author at relationship magazine Passionerad.

Noah Heymann is an LGBTQ+ dating and sex expert at DateCoach.com.