
The TRUTH about Ozemd**k – the bizarre weight loss jab side-effect that's ‘adding inches' to manhood size
As men who take Ozempic are noticing a change in the size of their penis, we reveal if the jabs REALLY add inches and if they help improve erections... as well as the potential penile risks
WEIGH HEY The TRUTH about Ozemd**k – the bizarre weight loss jab side-effect that's 'adding inches' to manhood size
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
OZEMPIC-PENIS sounds like a sexually transmitted disease you really wouldn't want to catch.
But it's actually a term that has cropped up online, largely amongst men on Reddit, who are saying they've noticed a change to their penis size as a side-effect of weight loss injections.
4
Men who have been taking Ozempic say they've noticed a change to their penis size, here we reveal all you need to know
Credit: Getty
One anonymous user wrote: 'I recently measured myself down there and noticed I gained about one inch.'
Another asked: 'Increased size, anyone else notice?'
Weight loss drugs were first developed to treat type 2 diabetes, and Ozempic is still prescribed for just that.
Wegovy and Mounjaro, which are available on the NHS, and Saxenda, meanwhile are licensed for weight management, but only obese Brits (a BMI over 30), or those that are overweight (a BMI of 27) with a related comorbidity like high blood pressure or high cholesterol, are eligible for them.
They work by mimicking naturally occurring hormones, like GLP-1, that make you feel full, slow digestion and regulate appetite, leading to sometimes drastic fat loss.
The health benefits can be huge considering obesity can cause cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and more.
But is it too good to be true that the drugs can add inches to your penis as well?
We asked GP and men's health and erectile dysfunction expert Dr Jeff Foster, Medical Director of Manual, to explain all…
Can taking weight loss drugs really make your penis bigger?
4
Weight loss jabs can make your penis LOOK bigger
Credit: Getty
THE short answer is no, but the drugs can certainly make your penis LOOK bigger.
'It's true,' says Dr Foster. 'You naturally have a small fat pad just above the base of the top of your penis.
What is Erectile Dysfunction?
'As you develop abdominal fat - and men in particular will develop abdominal fat compared to women, who put it on their bum and thighs more - you can find this small, little fat pad starts to become fuller.
'It appears, therefore, that everything has shrunk.
'It's as if your penis has gone inside, but all that's really happening is the surrounding tissue to your penis has become more protruded - the true penis size hasn't changed.
'And in fact, about 70 per cent of your penis is external, there's another 30 per cent inside that you just never see.'
Pre-Ozempic, some men found this illusion so upsetting that they'd be referred for liposuction to have the fat pad reduced.
'The removal of this fat pad just above the penis does make it look bigger, but the problem is, it's not actually any bigger, it's just the appearance of the outward area,' says Dr Foster.
Losing some of that fat pad as a side-effect of weight loss drugs can have the same effect though - and doesn't involve a surgical procedure.
'It's a win, isn't it?' says Dr Foster. 'You're going to be healthier, and you might end up looking like you've got a bigger penis.
'I mean, no men are ever going to go, 'Ah, I'm really worried my penis is too big'.'
Do fat jabs help improve erections too?
4
Fat jabs can help improve erections and your sex drive will go up
Credit: Getty
'DEFINITELY,' says Dr Foster
'Fat increases oestrogen levels in men, and it also reduces testosterone and increases insulin resistance.
'All of those three together will have a really negative impact on your testosterone production.
'And if you haven't got testosterone, or not as much of it, you don't get a libido, you don't get erections.
'So it's really simple: by reducing your body fat, your erections get better, your sex drive goes up and you feel more manly.'
Does that mean weight loss meds could eventually be prescribed for ED?
'IT could be one of your tools as part of an overall arsenal of treating erectile dysfunction (ED), but you wouldn't use it as a primary treatment,' says Dr Foster, who says that crucially you need to find the root cause of the problem.
'The biggest cause of erectile dysfunction in men is still heart disease.
'If you've got narrowing of the arteries you can't get a decent erection.
'Your penile artery is almost identical in calibre and design to your coronary artery.
'That's how they discovered Viagra - it was designed for blood pressure in your heart originally, and they found it worked really well down below.'
He adds: 'This is why we say to men, if you have got erectile dysfunction, find out why.
'The worst thing you can do is just buy some over the counter tablet without finding out why [it's happening].
'We say that on average, if you have an arterial cause for erectile dysfunction, you have about a three-year window before something bad happens to your heart, like a heart attack - so really understand the cause.'
This is when weight loss drugs could make a difference, by supporting overall heart health, and therefore, erection health.
'If we think there's a cardiovascular cause, then using something like Ozempic or Mounjaro could be amazing, because not only do you fix your erection, but you actually fix the underlying process that's causing the whole thing,' says Dr Foster.
'It improves your heart and your penis.'
Are there any potential penile risks?
4
The weight loss jabs may however reduce muscle mass, a problem that needs to be managed, whether you're worried about how your penis looks or not
Credit: Getty
'I'VE heard the rumour that allegedly GLP-1 drugs may reduce penis size or have adverse effects on male health in general,' says Dr Foster.
'The theory behind it is whether testosterone or male wellbeing is affected by GLP-1s.'
He explains: 'GLP-1s work by improving satiety, so you eat less.
'By doing that, you reduce body fat, but the other part of that, which we're now seeing evidence of, is that if you're not careful, you also start to reduce muscle mass.
'That's the big worry, because on one hand, yes, you want to get rid of excess fat, but you don't want to reduce your muscle because that's not healthy for anyone.'
Loss of muscle can lead to falls, lack of mobility, increased fractures, and in older age, even premature death.
'[People] think that sarcopenia-effect (muscle loss) is because of lowered testosterone, but it's probably not a direct effect of [GLP-1s],' he explains.
Muscle loss is a problem that should be managed though, whether you're worried about how your penis looks or not.
'If you are going to be taking a weight-loss drug and want to maintain your masculinity, then you have to make sure you eat enough protein and do weight bearing exercise,' says Dr Foster firmly.
'You must do both, and that will help your erections, because we are starting to see the effects of weight loss drugs causing loss of muscle and that's having massively negative impacts on male health.
'To maintain your testosterone, to maintain your erection, make sure you do some decent exercise, and make sure you eat enough protein, even if you don't feel like it, because otherwise you're going to lose more important things [than fat alone], like sexual function and muscle.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
This 10-year plan may be the last chance to save the NHS
The 10-year plan for the National Health Service that Sir Keir Starmer is expected to publish in the next few days is likely to be a somewhat incoherent document. From the advance publicity, it would seem to have a lot of disconnected ideas in it, some good, some not so good and some irrelevant. The government hopes that weight-loss drugs will offer the hope of a big advance against obesity-related illnesses – but this comes after new figures raised concerns about their safety. If large language models can speed up the development of new pharmaceuticals, so much the better. But we remain sceptical about whether supermarkets ought to be recruited into policing their customers' calorie intakes. What will decide the success or failure of the NHS over the next decade, however, will be the design of the structural reforms to the service. Wes Streeting, the health and social care secretary, has made a good start in two respects. He has welcomed private-sector providers to help deliver NHS services free at the point of need, and he has taken an axe to the central bureaucracy of NHS England. The test for the 10-year plan will be the extent to which it brings in further changes to incentives throughout the NHS so that it becomes responsive to patients. Sir Jim Mackey, the new chief executive of the NHS, says many of the right things. 'It feels like we've built mechanisms to keep the public away because it's an inconvenience,' he says in his first interview since taking up the post three months ago. He says of the current NHS: 'It takes forever. It costs a fortune. We need to 'de-layer it' because it's expensive, it slows decision-making down, it de-powers people who need to make decisions.' The sentiment is right, but again, some of his ideas seem better than others. We are not convinced that using patient satisfaction surveys to decide how much money NHS trusts receive is going to work. The evidence of reform under the last Labour government was that the mere existence of competition from private-sector providers had a dramatic effect on the performance of NHS units. Already, there are the very early signs that the extra resources put into the NHS are bearing fruit, less than 12 months after the change of government. Luke Tryl, the opinion pollster for More in Common, reported on BBC's Newsnight on Friday that people in focus groups are starting to report positive experiences of the NHS for the first time since the pandemic. 'If there is a bright spot for the government, it's the NHS,' he said. One of the biggest challenges for Sir Jim and Mr Streeting, however, is more political than structural. They have to send the starkest message to doctors: please do not go on strike; take responsibility; show leadership; it is up to you to make the NHS work, because if it cannot be turned round this time, then it probably is the end of this model of healthcare. Sir Jim appears to understand this. He says that his 'big worry' is that if the NHS cannot deliver a service that is better at listening to patients – the particular example he gave was maternity care – 'we'll lose the population; if we lose the population, we've lost the NHS; for me, it's straightforward: the two things are completely dependent on each other.' He is absolutely right. Universal healthcare free at the point of need is a noble idea, but it desperately needs Labour's reforms to work if it is to survive.


Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
I had a stroke two years ago and STILL can't swallow – help!
Got a health-related problem? Send it to Zoe, email below ASK DR ZOE I had a stroke two years ago and STILL can't swallow – help! OUR resident specialist and NHS GP, Dr Zoe Williams, shares her expert advice. Today, Dr Zoe helps a reader who is suffering from total dysphagia and wants to know which treatments are available. Advertisement 2 Dr Zoe Williams helps Sun readers with their health concerns Credit: Olivia West 2 This week a reader still does not have the ability to swallow following a stroke two years ago Q) FOLLOWING a stroke two years ago at the age of 69, I have total dysphagia and have been peg tube fed since. Everything else is back to normal except the ability to swallow but despite doing all the exercises, given by the Speech and Language Therapy team, nothing has worked. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation therapy is private and expensive. Is there any other treatment available? A) Dysphagia is the inability to swallow, which is why you have been fed via a tube into the stomach. Advertisement I'm sorry to hear that you haven't seen improvement despite support from SALT. NMES aims to retrain the nerves and muscles, and SALT exercises increase effectiveness. But it lacks sufficient robust evidence at the moment to be rolled out. However, it can be used as part of clinical trials or audits. A newer NHS-supported treatment, pharyngeal electrical stimulation, targets the throat's pharynx region. It aims to 'rewire' nerve pathways. Clinical trials (eg, the PHADER study) show it improves swallowing safety and reduces aspiration risk in stroke patients. The NHS is also currently investigating transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) aimed to reactivate swallowing centres in the brain. Advertisement Other therapies include Botox if muscle stiffness is an issue and surgery to dilate the oesophagus. Do request a multidisciplinary reassessment (neurologist and SALT) to explore your options. And do ask about NHS trials. Send your questions for Dr Zoe to: health@


South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Carrie Johnson warns mothers about dehydration from hospital bed
Mrs Johnson, 37, whose fourth child with the former leader of the Conservative Party was born on May 21, said a two-night hospital stay was 'not on my postpartum bingo card'. Her warning came in a Instagram story alongside a photo of Mrs Johnson in hospital cradling baby Poppy Eliza Josephine. Britain is expected to experience another heatwave this weekend when temperatures could top 30C, with an amber heat health alert issued. Mrs Johnson wrote: 'Being hospitalised for two nights for severe dehydration was not on my postpartum bingo card.' She urged 'breastfeeding mums' to make sure they eat and drink enough, 'especially if your babe is clusterfeeding'. Advice on the NHS website tells new mothers to drink plenty of fluids and to have a drink beside them as the settle down to breastfeed. Water, lower fat milks, lower sugar or sugar-free drinks are all good choices. Mrs Johnson thanked everyone who has helped them get through a 'brutal' week. With an Amber Heat Health alert declared for the East Midlands, South East, South West, East of England and London, it's worth watching out for those who might find it difficult to cope with high temperatures. ☀️ 🌡️ Check our blog post for handy tips: — UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) June 27, 2025 She wrote: 'This week has honestly been brutal. 'Mastitis (me), reflux (her), dehydration (me). What a pair we are! 'But thank you for all the kind messages, especially all the brilliant advice on reflux. Really appreciate it and made me feel way less alone going thru it all. 'And as ever, thanks to our amazing NHS.' Her message comes as a second amber heat health alert in two weeks came into force on Friday. The alert, which covers London, the East Midlands, South East, South West and East of England, will last until 6pm on Tuesday. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also issued a yellow alert for Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands for the same time period, with the agency warning of significant impacts across health and social care services.