Postby merrix » Sun Dec 02, 2018 4:17 am
More on the pumping/cycling issue...
I got this pm. Might as well post my thoughts here instead. Maybe someone else finds it an interesting read as well.
Merrix
I have read your posts your journal. Your now fully settled in with you implant and as I understand quite comfortable. I am 20 years older and 4 cm shorter but we both have one thing in common we like sex. Do you think that the amount of cycling that you went through was worth it in the end? We both know Dr. Eid and his staff great people. Their recommendations are cycling for 4 weeks twice a day to max then use it. I have got back to more than where I was before the surgery. You have as well. Is it in our best interest to keep cycling for 6 months or a year will it make sex more enjoyable for us or are we feeding our egos. I look forward to hear your point of view.
Eid gave me a similar recommendation back in Decemboer of 2015 when I had the surgery.
As I remember it, he basically just recommended me to pump up twice per day till the day I start using it regularly. And if that regular use is at least twice per week, he told me there would be no reason for additional pumping/cycling.
Of course, he could have changed his recommendation today, based on new knowledge, I have no idea about that. I just know what he told me three years ago.
So what did I do? I did not follow his advice. Well, from the start I did. I pumped twice per day every day for the first weeks. But soon, once back in my normal busy life, I did not. Just not having the time for that. Especially in the mornings. I think I pumped up roughly 10 times per week, so let's say 1.5 times per day on average. And probably only half of those were the real tissue stretching inflations. The ones where I got all systematical and had a target to add 2-3 pumps every week, kept a diary over the progress, etc. The other half of the inflation occasions were just a quick one e.g. while taking a shower, and I didn't push it that hard.
Why didn't I follow Eid's advice, especially when I think he is this planet's number one implant guru?
Becuse of the study I read, and that I have linked to in some early posts in this thread. The one that claims a couple of cm growth over a 24 months period of rigorous cycling.
I stopped completely the cycling about a year ago, I think. Don't really remember exactly when. But I'd say I definitely did it for the first year, definitely not during the third and during some part of the second. Now I haven't pumped my dick up without using the erection for over a year. Not even once.
What happened to my size:
I was around 16-16.5 all my life on a natural erection. Including the weeks before surgery. My girth was 14 cm.
Right after surgery I was shorter in length and bigger in girth. Simply because I was not able to inflate enough pumps to reach full length, and I was so swollen so my girth was larger.
After a few months, my dimensions was back to pre-op. And from there it continued to grow.
Last time I measured, about a year ago, I was 17.5-18.0 long and 14.3-14.5 thick.
So I definitely gained size. Even as compared to my biggest ever natural (or Viagra) erection.
The big question then is if this was because of the cycling. Of course I cannot know that. But if I have to guess, I'd say the cyclilng didn't do it. I think it'd happen anyway. But I am just guessing. My implant is what Eid called perfectly sized. Meaning I have some creases when it is deflated but none when inflated. Well in the beginning I actually had some when inflated as well. But that was when I still could't inflate nearly as many pumps as I can today. Today there are no creases when inflated. I also inflate till very close to max for sex today. Around 80 quick 3/4 pumps. That's about twice as many as two years ago.
Anyway, since the implant is wrinkled when deflated, and since a Titan is of stiff material, I think it constantly 24 hrs per day puts some pressure and to some extent grows my dick.
Again, I don't know, and nobody can know what my size would have been without cycling. I am speculating.
What is my recommendation?
The simple advice would be to just do what I did, since whatever I did worked extremely well. Who wouldn't want to be 1.5 cm longer than what the largest ever natural erection was?
But... and this is a big but.
I don't know if that size gain would have happened anyway.
What I am sure of is that the more you pump, the larger the risk for an early failure and revision.
With the Titan, the weak point seems to be the tubing, and especially where it connects to the pump. I have, if my memory doesn't let me down, heard or read Eid say that he advices to make sure the pump is kept still during inflation, not pulled, turned, twisted etc. Because that would put stress on the weakest point of the implant, the tube insertion.
And no matter how steady you try to be when doing your 40-50 pumps in the morning and 40-50 pumps in the evening every bloody day for two years, you ARE going to at some degree bend, twist, pull your pump. And you ARE going to exert some forces on the weakest most failure prone part of the implant.
And if I don't even know if the cycling helps, then why take a big risk of reducing the time till next revision?
I can almost say that even if I knew the size gain came from the cycling, I would maybe (note: maybe) advice against it anyway. Because 16.2 or 17.7 cm is not such a big deal, not so important. But doing what I can to avoid an implant failure after 2-3 years is.
What I do remember though is that I thought in the first year or so that if I didn't pump my dick up for a couple of days, it didn't feel as good next time I did it. Just felt more unnatural. So maybe the cycling has an important role to fill in "wearing the implant in". Or maybe it doesn't. Or maybe it just speeds up the process.
And finally, I am not saying this applies to AMS. For two reasons. The material is softer, and hence doesn't put as much pressure on your dick in the deflated state. Which is good for your flaccid feel, but probably not for your flaccid implant's ability to make you (re-)gain length. Especially the LGX of course, which even retracts when deflated and hence does definitely not put any pressure when deflated.This might mean the need to cycle is bigger for AMS..?
Secondly, as far as I know, the AMS' weak spot is not the tube insertion, and hence maybe the frequent cycling is not even a risk factor in reducing the implant length of life. If so, then it sure won't hurt and maybe help.
Just my two cents, as always, we all must make us as informed as we can and do what we believe is right.
Good luck with your cycling. Or with your decision not to. Whatever path you choose.
43 yo, ED forever from VL
Fit and active
Implanted December 2015
Titan XL 24 cm, no RTEs
Dr. Eid
Activated day 13
Sex after 3 weeks
Gained length and girth
So far It works perfectly
Only one advice: Find a world class surgeon