A straight penis is functionally and aesthetically important. Severe penile curvature can interfere with sexual function.
Pediatric Penile Curvature (chordee)
Most cases of pediatric penile curvature are associated with hypospadias. The curvature is typically ventral (towards the bottom side of the penis) and in the midline. Penile curvature tends to form an arc and be distributed along the penile length.
Pediatric penile curvature can also be dorsal or lateral.
Adult Penile Curvature
Most cases are associated with Peyronies disease. Curvature can go in any direction and tends to be concentrated at one point on the penis (as opposed to having the curvature distributed along the length of the penis like in the pediatric population).
How penile curvature is measured:
There are 3 ways to measure penile curvature:
- “Eyeball” method
- Goniometer
- Digitally using an app or computer program
The eyeball method is the most commonly used. The curvature is inspected and the degree of curvature is guessed.
A goniometer measures the angle in between 2 straight lines. It works better with the adult type of curvature where the angle is concentrated at one point in the penis but poses a challenge for measuring pediatric “arc” like curvature :
How to measure penile curvature with the Photoblend App
The App can be downloaded here:
To practice using the App, you can use these models ( or click here for the zip file):
Step by step guide
- Take the picture of the curvature you want to measure
- Take a screenshot of one of the colored penile curvature models above that you think is the closest to the one you are trying to measure.
- Open the Photoblend App and chose the pictures from step 1 and 2
- On the App, manipulate each image to make them match as best as possible using the Pan and Zoom function:
- Once you matched the two images as best as possible, decide if this would be the best match:
- If not the best match, try with a different model until the best match is achieved:
