After hearing his wife make fun of his masculinity during the breakup of their marriage, and as he re-entered the dating scene to meet someone new, Paul had a crisis of confidence.
The 39-year-old man from Texas flirted with the idea of penis enlargement surgery but was put off by its irreversible nature. Then he stumbled upon the ‘penis filler’ procedure, which, like lip fillers, promises to be completely reversible as it involves injecting a dissolving gel.
Fellow Texan Jordan Tunnell, 33, was equally excited to hear a friend talk about the procedure at a gathering — he’d been insecure about his penis size for years after comparing himself to his peers in high school.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘Seeing all the other guys in the football locker room and seeing what they were packing versus what I was packing and knowing I wasn’t on par with the other guys.’
But while dermal fillers are widely used in the facial area, evidence for their use in penile girth augmentation is limited.
Last month, a German man died of sepsis after silicone oil from a penis enlargement jab ended up in his bloodstream.
Jordan Tunnell was insecure about her penis size for years after comparing herself to her peers in high school. She said the procedure made her confidence go ‘through the roof’.
During a 30-minute Fallowfill treatment, patients are numbed with a local anesthetic and then dermal filler is injected under the top layer of penile skin.
This comes amid a growing trend for men to undergo cosmetic surgery, including BBLs, lipo and ab implants.
Dallas-based cosmetic clinic PhalloFILL is one of the leading companies in penis filler treatments
The procedure uses hyaluronic acid – a naturally occurring substance in our skin that has been used for years to plump up women’s lips – to pad out the penis perimeter.
The filler is FDA-cleared for use on the lips but not the penis, but providers use it off-label.
During the 30-minute treatment, patients are numbed with a local anesthetic and then dermal filler is injected under the top layer of penile skin. There is usually some bruising and swelling right after the procedure.
Company CEO William Moore, 49, suggests men get an extra 0.5-1.5 inches to maintain a ‘natural’ look, which usually takes four sessions to achieve and can last for months before fading.
Mr. Moore’s patients typically spend $6,000 to $12,000. The average number of syringes, 20, cost $9,500.
On the other hand, penis enlargement surgery costs $10,000 to $30,000.
The surgery can be done in a number of ways, but the most common method involves cutting the suspensory ligament that connects the penis to the pubic bone.
While this doesn’t change the actual gender, it does make it longer because more of it hangs down.
An appeal of penis fillers is that they can be reversed with a soluble injection.
But there is limited official research on penile fillers and their associated risks. If the filler is injected into or around an artery, it can cause the tissue to die.
And in the first week after extended injections, there is also a risk of filler migration, where the filler moves away from the original injection site, resulting in an irregular shape or feel.
If the filler is not applied correctly, it can harden and become permanently disfigured or the injection sites can become infected.
Fallophil opened its first clinic in Dallas in 2021 and performed 800 treatments in its first year.
Now with 13 locations across the United States, providers have already surpassed more than 900 treatments this year and anticipate more than 2,500 treatments by the end of 2023.
Paul, who only wanted to give his first name, came to an anti-aging clinic in Texas in May 2022 advertising penile fillers. He had to put down a $2,500 down payment for the initial consultation
She told DailyMail.com: ‘I knew nothing about the procedure apart from what was posted online… but I wanted it so badly.’
‘I shouldn’t have [paid the money]But it’s one of those things, it’s an emotional thing for guys where it’s like, if you have that sliver of hope, if it costs me $2,500 to get something that could potentially be good, I’m willing to risk the money.’
Paul paid the deposit and went to the clinic. He had hoped for a natural enclosure that ‘no one would ever say was there’, but instead, he ended up with a ‘big, squishy, lumpy disaster’.
‘It basically looked like I had a pencil on both sides [of my penis], where they just inserted this big, long, straight tube of filler. It was so obvious and unnatural,’ he said.
Choose your size: Fallofill’s sizing props help patients choose which girth to go for.
‘It made me very depressed. I was like, what have I done? I’ve ruined something I shouldn’t have messed with.’
After more Google searches, he found Fallophile, who was able to correct Paul’s mumbled penis.
He said: ‘Instantly, my mindset, my mood and my whole attitude changed. It was day and night.’
He added: ‘It has made a difference to my sex life… Now I have a girlfriend who is very, very, very happy about it.
‘I’ve been with a few different women and the feedback has all been great. Not the desired response, but the unsolicited… They have no idea [my penis is enhanced].’
Mr. William Moore, CEO of Fallophile, recommends that patients get 1-1.5 inches of extra girth to maintain a ‘natural’ appearance.
Mr Tunnell, a structural engineer from Dallas, said: ‘It’s something that has bothered me since I was 13 in high school football, and saw other boys who were much richer than me. It comes into your head at a young age and goes with you into adulthood…
‘When you start getting close to someone and you start stressing about it and worrying about it, it’s always something in the back of your mind. You hope you will be able to satisfy your partner.’
‘I’ve had a few encounters where it seemed like my partner was unhappy,’ he added.
He tried a penis pump but it didn’t work.
Getting his penis enlarged is ‘something I’ve always wanted to do,’ he says. ‘I honestly never thought this technology would be available in my lifetime.’
At a friend’s house two years ago, he heard Mr. Moore talk about the method.
‘I burst with excitement,’ he said. In the fall of 2021, he underwent the procedure.
Mr Tunnell said: ‘I was hoping for a shower – I’m very cramped. The procedure didn’t make me shrink, which is a huge plus for me. My sensitivity actually increased, so that was a huge plus for me. My confidence went through the roof. I have no problem with romantic partners. They are all very pleased.’
Mr. Tunnell had only told one friend about the procedure before, but since he had it, he told many more and even convinced a few people to get it done themselves.
He is also open about his extended sexuality with his partners. ‘They’re shocked because they can’t tell,’ he said.
Mr Moore, who has performed more than 2,000 procedures on patients, credits the company’s unique injection technique and post-op care as reasons for their success.
Originally from Alabama but now living in Dallas, Texas, Mr. Moore has had gender fillers himself.
‘I always felt like I wanted a bigger penis,’ he says.
Mr Moore has had other surgeries on his penis in the past, including fat grafting and ligament suspensory surgery, which he said were ‘unsuccessful’.
The reasons for seeking penile fillers are varied. Mr Moore said a fair amount of men get it because their wives have multiple children, which ‘makes sex different for men and women’.
Then there are men who always consider themselves to be of the smaller gender.
Mr Moore said: ‘When you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, and the first thing you see is a small penis, it’s a bad start to your day.
He added: ‘We’ve had people tell us they got job promotions. Someone told me he started a new company – he told me it was a big dick attitude. He says men with bigger penises are more confident and get more done. Now that I have a bigger penis, I’m more productive.’
Mr. Moore has celebrity clients and was even once asked by a mother for her husband and son.