Why is my penis so veiny?

Dear Reader,  

If your penis veins are making a surprise appearance, don’t panic—chances are, they’re just doing their job. Everyone’s penis is one-of-a-kind, so you might just have larger veins, or they might sit closer to your skin. If you’re noticing your veins are more visible after you’re aroused, that might indicate that they’re still calming down after helping maintain your erection.  

But if it feels like your veins aren’t staying in their lane, a health care professional can help. They can make sure it isn’t something more serious such as a penile blood clot or abnormal blood vessel formation. They can also provide more information about cosmetic treatments for visible veins, if you find that they’re still circulating some anxieties.  

What are penis veins and are they sometimes more visible?  

The human penis has a complex network of veins and arteries that play an important role in sexual function. When you’re aroused, your arteries pump increasing amounts of blood into the corpus cavernosa—two spongey areas of tissue on the top of the penis—which expand, causing an erection. Blood leaves the penis through dorsal veins. Some of these veins sit directly under the skin, making them naturally more visible in some people.  

The visibility of your penis veins could be influenced by several factors including the thickness of your skin, recent sexual activity, and even recent physical activity. The amount, size, and position of blood vessels in the penis varies from person to person. Someone’s veins might be more visible if they have larger or multi-layered blood vessels, since that could make the top layer sit closer to the skin. If you’re noticing visible veins when you aren’t aroused, that could be because you have thinner skin or because your blood vessel structure means certain veins sit closer to the skin surface. 

In other words, visible veins might just be in your blood (pun intended). 

Can sexual activity make penis veins more visible?  

Yes, many people notice that their penis veins become more visible when they’re aroused. That’s because your arteries expand to allow more blood to flow into the penis, producing an erection. This swelling pushes your veins closer to the skin surface, preventing blood from flowing back into the body.  

As your erection goes down, the swelling decreases and blood begins to flow back into your body. You might notice that your veins remain extra visible for some time after you’re aroused. However, there’s no evidence that frequent sexual activity (like masturbation) impacts the visibility of your veins in the long term.  

When could visible penis veins be cause for concern?  

In most cases, visible penis veins aren't a sign of any health problems. However, consider reaching out to a health care professional if you’re also experiencing:  

• Pain when touching your penis veins  
• Pain during erection or ejaculation 
• Pain during urination  
• Veins that feel hard or tender  

List adapted from Healthline 

These factors could indicate that you have a penile blood clot, also called Penile Mondor’s Disease. These clots can be triggered by vigorous sexual activity or any other trauma to the penis. Mondor’s disease could be crashing your self-pleasure party, especially if you feel like you’ve been a little extra aggressive while masturbating recently.  

If you’re noticing dark-colored lumps forming around your veins, that could be an abnormal growth of blood vessel cells. These growths don’t usually pose any risk to your health or fertility, but a health care professional can rule out anything more serious. There are laser treatments and surgery available to address these blood clots.  

Can visible penis veins be treated? 

Cosmetic treatments for visible penis veins aren’t very common, but they’re possible. A health care professional that specializes in urology can assess whether it’s possible to treat the specific veins that you’re concerned about. Note, however, they may be more hesitant to treat a vein that's particularly important for your erectile function, since these treatments may unintentionally damage the vein.  

That said, for less critical veins, a health care professional might suggest sclerotherapy which involves a solution injection with a needle. Alternatively, laser therapy may be used to shrink the vein and reduce its visibility.  

In general, unless you’re experiencing any pain around the vein, everything should be pumping smoothly. But if you’re finding it difficult to go with the flow, a health care professional that specializes in urology can assess whether cosmetic treatments to reduce visibility would be possible.