In the meantime: in the last 5 weeks or so I changed a few things.
First of all, I’ve been less than consistent, due to external family issues (plus a small blister I got from pumping). I’d say I’ve been PEing for about half of that time.
I added pumping to my routine, reducing (a lot) the time in the extender. Now a PE session usually consists of 30min in the pump and an average of 2 hours at most in the extender. At first I was enthusiast about it, since it required less time and it was more comfortable, then I started to notice some effects I don’t necessarily enjoy:
- The cylinder gets hot. The 660nm seems to heat it up (it doesn’t happen using 850nm only), so I guess there’s less radiation reaching the tissues. I’ve been considering irradiating before using the pump or just drop the 660nm wavelenght.
- After a couple weeks or so, I could swear my foreskin was growing a lot more than the rest. I’m uncut but I always had very short foreskin: my glans was uncovered 95% of the time. Now it’s not anymore. I’m rather sure it’s due to my not using a silicone seal at the base of the cylinder, so skin gets sucked into the pump and gets stretched. It could likely be a temporary effect, but after a month or so, something definitely changed. It’s not something I want nor like, I’d prefer for it to stay just as it’s always been.
- Also following what we discussed here, I’ve been testing the pad with 850nm only. In the beginning it was mostly to check the temperature, now I must say I’m liking it more and more; on a few occasions I used the pad for an hour straight. I can testify that the skin doesn’t get hot. Even after an hour, you can clearly feel (by touching, I mean) that the inner tissues are way warmer than the outside layer. The skin never exceeded 38°C, in most cases it stays around 36.5.
In the end, did I gain in these 5 weeks?
Yes, but not like I used to.
In 5 weeks I measured a minor +1mm increase in BPEL, but a +8mm in BPFSL and a +3mm increase in EG.
It seems pumping contributed much more to girth and flaccid length, rather than EL: even when it’s not stretched, my flaccid length is now visibly higher. I guess that’s probably normal. I also think some of those gains might be temporary, even if I don’t see a relevant fluid buildup.
All in all, I can’t say I’m overly happy with this change of course. Honestly I’m looking to gain in EL more than EG (at least at this stage). Of course I can’t say I’m disappointed, but I’m considering going back to just extending for a while.
From a scientific point of view, I did what a researcher should never do: I changed too many variables in my experiment to be able to track down the consequences of every change. Of course I’m sure switching to pumping caused the most difference.
Using almost exclusively 850nm (instead of 660+850) for a longer period of time could bring consequences but it’s too soon, since I started doing it only recently.
I know I should try to focus and consider this like a proper experiment, doing (and measuring consequences) more precisely to build a consistent model.
I have to say in a way I’m in a struggle. On one hand, I get high considering what I gained since I started and I’m so happy with my grown unit now. On the other, I feel like I’m losing motivation - I keep reminding myself I shouldn’t gain for the sake of gaining and I just don’t want a huge tool that will probably make it harder to receive oral, not to mention what my wife would feel.
I hope others will begin to report results, in a way or another, so we get more data points which would really help to build a reliable model and a shareable routine.