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8 min read<\/p>\n8 min read<\/p>\n
MARCUS HAS HUMONGUS balls. His ball sac, he claims, is bigger than an apple, bigger than a mango. The 57-year-old has been obsessed with enlarging his balls for decades, a passion he thinks grew out of the comic books he\u2019d read as a child, which were filled with drawings of shapeshifting bodybuilders. Why he hyperfixated on his genitals, though, he isn\u2019t sure. According to his own measurements, Marcus says he\u2019s got his scrotal sac up to 14.5 inches (about the size of a small cantaloupe melon) by injecting Surgilube, a surgical lubricant made from natural water-soluble gums, into the region. It\u2019s the latest in over thirty years of scrotal experiments, which include pumping (placing a suction device over the scrotum which draws fluids into the area) and saline infusions. \u201cI’m astonished at how flexible the testicles are,\u201d he tells me. \u201cThey just expand.\u201d<\/p>\n
You might call it ballmaxxing\u2014the pursuit of bigger and bigger balls by fluid infusions\u2014and according to scrotal-stretching obsessives, it\u2019s an exhilarating endeavor. On the subreddit r\/salineinflation, which has over 8,700 followers, members share photos of exorbitantly enlarged scrotums, taut and near translucent, regaling the prismatic pleasures of the medically risky procedure. There\u2019s no single reason that leads someone to inflate their genitals with fluid (other body parts like breasts and labia can be inflated too), but genital-expansion fanatics describe it with an array of celestial terms: Electrifying. Addictive. Euphoric. Transcendental.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing really matches experiencing it yourself,\u201d Jack, a 31-year-old blue-collar worker who is into scrotal saline inflation, says. \u201cYou have to talk yourself into doing it, find the time, get everything prepped, and then sit there for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half while it takes effect.\u201d The procedure works by transporting fluid (such as Surgilube, saline, glucose, or dextrose) into your scrotal sac via an IV line, piercing the skin where the base of the penis meets the scrotum with a butterfly needle or a catheter. You may feel a burning sensation as the saline fills your scrotal sac, but for some ball-expansion aficionados, this is part of the appeal. \u201cWatching it happen and feeling it in real time is intense,\u201d Jack says. \u201cThe whole buildup is electric. It\u2019s similar to really good foreplay.\u201d<\/p>\n
It takes upwards of 30 minutes for a bag of sodium chloride to fill the scrotal sac, according to a \u201cguide for beginners\u201d pinned to the top of the r\/salineinflation subreddit. A liter of saline is said to inflate your scrotal sac for 24 to 42 hours, and the more fluid inserted, the longer the effects will last. Once enlarged, an inflated scrotum feels heavier than usual, intensifying the sensory experience of moving around. Sex also feels different. \u201cThere’s this mass that has its own momentum and inertia,\u201d Marcus explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole buildup is electric. It\u2019s similar to really good foreplay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some saline inflators associate saline play with BDSM<\/a>, in its blending of painful and pleasurable sensations. But the exact origin of the fetish is murky. There\u2019s little written about saline play, and it\u2019s difficult to say definitively when folks began blowing up their scrotal sac with fluid. Penis modification<\/a>, on the other hand, is well-documented. As far back as Ancient Greece, men have been meddling with their members\u2014pulling their foreskins and tying it up with a cord to hide the glans. In India, the Kama Sutra<\/a>, written around the 3rd century CE, advised males to rub their penises with bristled insects to elongate it. The Topinam\u00e1 tribe in Brazil are said to have allowed venomous snakes to bite their penises<\/a> in the hope that they would expand.<\/p>\n The first acrylic penile implants<\/a> were created in 1952, followed by liquid silicone fillers two decades later. Penile lengthening surgeries<\/a> continued to develop in the noughties. You could get ligamentolysis (slicing the ligament that connects the penis and the pubic bone). Fat transplantation. Dermal filler injections<\/a>. Between 2013 and 2017, the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery performed 45,604 penis enhancements<\/a> worldwide. By 2024, the global penile implants market size was estimated at $545.80 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n But as penile procedures diversified and men\u2019s magazines (this one included) ran feature after feature guiding readers how they can get bigger-looking dicks<\/a>, no one seemed to be talking about testicles. That is beyond the occasional reference to Scrotox<\/a>, a procedure that involves injecting Botox into the scrotum, with potential cosmetic benefits including smoother skin and the temporary appearance of larger testicles. The changes are subtle, though\u2014nothing like the ballooned balls that fluid inflation can achieve.<\/p>\n For many saline-inflators, the potential shock-factor of their uber-bulbous balls contributes to the erotic appeal. One 29 year-old IT worker who is into scrotum pumping tells me: \u201cI know it’s freaky and abnormal looking\u2014that’s exactly what I like about it.\u201d A 35-year-old electro-technician says that having a bulging scrotum \u201cmakes me especially horny, when I move around in public, knowing that someone can see that.\u201d Other ballmaxxers enjoy feeling like a hefty animal, like a bull or cow; or they get off on the idea that they are doing something \u201cunnatural.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know it’s freaky and abnormal looking\u2014that’s exactly what I like about it.\u201d<\/p>\n But while some saline inflators are turned on by the feeling of transgressing male body ideals, others fixate on more normative models of masculinity. Multiple ballmaxxers have also experimented with enlarging their penises via vacuum pumps and believe that jumbo balls serve a similar purpose. \u201cI felt so manly, manly man,\u201d one user wrote<\/a> on r\/salineinflation.<\/p>\n Several others say that they thought sexual partners might enjoy bigger balls, particularly if they didn\u2019t have a big penis. \u201cI would think that maybe a woman might like a larger package down there,\u201d one 55-year-old manager in Southern California, who is into scrotal expansion, tells me. In reality, though, artificially-engorged genitalia is not everybody\u2019s cup of tea. Multiple ballmaxxers admit that their partners aren\u2019t into scrotal expansion, or they\u2019re nervous to tell people they\u2019re dating about it.<\/p>\n Once, Jack posted on r4r, a subreddit where people were looking for connections, asking if anyone was interested in seeing the results, but the reaction was disappointing. \u201cA few people responded with shock, questioning why anyone would do this and acting like this is where someone should draw the line,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Eventually, Jack met a woman on FetLife<\/a>, a social network for the BDSM, fetish, and kink community, who wanted to watch one of his infusions. They decided to meet for dinner, then went back to hers to watch a movie while Jack inflated his scrotum. \u201cShe would periodically look and feel and ask a few questions,\u201d he recalls. \u201cHer curiosity was absolutely electric\u2026 probably because the curiosity was showing a sort of acceptance.\u201d<\/p>\n I wondered how ballmaxxers balanced the desire for huge balls with their own safety, whether thepursuit of acceptance could jeopardize their physical health. The \u201cguide for beginners\u201d pinned to the top of the r\/salineinflation subreddit outlines a variety of safety protocols for saline play, such as wearing latex gloves, cleaning the area with alcohol swabs, and applying a waterproof bandage afterwards. But the procedure isn\u2019t risk-free. In 2003, a research paper titled \u201cA complication of an unusual sexual practice<\/a>\u201d described a patient who had developed scrotal cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection impacting the deeper skin layers and subcutaneous tissue, after buying a scrotal infusion kit online. Other reports<\/a> of medical emergencies have followed since.<\/p>\n None of the ballmaxxers I spoke with said they\u2019d ever needed medical attention after saline play. And while they took safety seriously, the majority had queasy tales of things going wrong: The 35-year-old electro-technician once hit a vein, turning his scrotum blue with bruising. Another time, he infused his scrotum with so much liquid that he couldn\u2019t walk. \u201cMy groin was on fire,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m astonished at how flexible the testicles are. They just expand.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack says he\u2019s now hyper-meticulous about needle placement after once noticing a swelling in his pubic area near his stomach (he thinks he may have put the needle through the fascia of the spermatic cord, a cordlike structure that suspends the testes in the scrotum). Some scrotal-stretchers regaled horror stories they\u2019d read about on Reddit, like someone microwaving a fluid bag for too long, causing internal burns. Others described itches, blotchy skin, blisters, cysts and bruises.<\/p>\n Even if the procedure is executed perfectly, doctors tend to warn against scrotal inflation. \u201cThe scrotum area is very sensitive and contains delicate structures, including the testes, blood vessels, and nerves, which are not designed to accommodate fluid distension,\u201d says Dr. Shirin Lakhani<\/a>, an aesthetic physician and intimate health expert in Kent, England. If a scrotum is stretched past its limit and can no longer expand, the skin ruptures.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could also experience tissue or nerve damage as stretching the scrotal skin and underlying structures can cause microtears, bruising, or longer-term damage to connective tissue,\u201d Dr. Lakhani says. Fluid accumulation can impair blood flow, potentially impacting testicular function, and there\u2019s also a risk of delayed complications, such as erectile dysfunction<\/a> and permanent infertility<\/a>. Some associated effects can be life-threatening, such as gangrene (the death of tissue due to a lack of blood flow) and embolism (a blocked blood vessel).<\/p>\n And yet for some scrotal-inflaters, the bliss of temporary transformation outweighs the risk of permanent damage. Kevin, a 33-year-old tech worker who struggled with body dysmorphia, says saline inflation was gender-affirming. He started experimenting with it last year, when a bad patch at work coincided with the breakup of his eight-year relationship. Usually when his job was stressful, he\u2019d escape at home; but now, because he was still living with his ex-partner, he felt like he had nowhere to turn.<\/p>\n Kevin had already been dabbling with softer forms of body modification, piercing his nipples and urethra, enjoying the feeling of self-sovereignty it provided. He\u2019d always been drawn to the \u201cweird and wacky,\u201d feeling safe among people who were \u201coutcasts\u201d and \u201cunderdogs.\u201d He\u2019d also used a vacuum pump to expand his scrotal sac, which made him feel more masculine. Then he came across a post on X about saline inflation. It felt like the natural next step.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was euphoric,\u201d Kevin reflects on his first infusion. The process had been a cathartic exercise in bodily autonomy. \u201cTaking ownership of my own body was a lot of the drive for it,\u201d he says. \u201cTypically masculine people have a lot of control in their life.\u201d Looking in the mirror afterwards, Kevin felt satisfied with what he saw. \u201cI achieved what I expected to experience,\u201d he recalls. \u201cIt’s like Christmas where you’re getting the present you expected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTaking ownership of my own body was a lot of the drive for scrotal inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin was doing infusions up to once a week at the height of his professional and personal difficulties. It was a way for him to feel in control of something tangible when other parts of his life felt unmanageable. But when we speak a few weeks later, things were slowly falling into place. \u201cI feel like there\u2019s a lot more control in life now,\u201d he tells me. He\u2019d started seeing someone new, work was improving\u2014and with those changes, his desire for bigger balls had dwindled. \u201cI still have my appreciation for it,\u201d he says, \u201cbut it hasn’t ever really eventuated into: \u2018I’m actually going to do it.\u2019 I don’t feel that compulsion [anymore].\u201d<\/p>\n But other ballmaxxers have no intention of slowing down\u2014even after injuries. Marcus says he once got his scrotum stuck in the toilet after inflating it with two liters of saline. It tore the skin, which became a seeping blister. \u201cIt was a bit painful,\u201d he says. \u201cI’m actually still recovering from that.\u201d But within a few weeks, the wound had healed, and Marcus was ploughing on. \u201cI’m thinking a little bigger will be nice,\u201d he says. The plan is to add 30 cubic centimeters of fluid to his left ball sac and 20 to the right. \u201cThat should be \u2018perfect.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Names have been changed.<\/p>\n Arielle Domb is a journalist and a photographer based in London who investigates health, sex and subculture. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, VICE, Vogue, Cosmopolitan and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"8 min read MARCUS HAS HUMONGUS balls. His ball sac, he claims, is bigger than an apple, bigger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[192488,192487,9262,192486,381,59,102,190731,192489,380,190989,192485,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-560992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-collection-sexual-fetish","tag-collection-sexual-health","tag-content-type-feature","tag-contentid-29e3c34b-1a07-413c-aed6-1ce7a7a4c074","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-listen_time-774","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-9","tag-shorttitle-inside-the-battle-for-bigger-and-bigger-balls","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c43b892c-544c-46ea-8894-ab0b25d6a438_1698064760.file.png\" "\\"Headshot")
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