jacomarks11-13-2006, 05:51 PM
Thrombus formation in a vein ("thrombosis") is simply a process--it isn't something that will "pop up." If there is trauma to a vein--and overstretching the vein can be considered trauma--there will likely be bleeding. This may be a very small amount, and thus not be noticable through the skin.
The mechanism by which the body controls bleeding is known as the clotting process. There are chemicals in your blood, and in the tissues outside the blood vessels, that are there to 'recognize' that trauma has occurred and that blood is no longer where it is supposed to be; in the vessels. For example, there is a chemical known as tissue factor (TF) in the tissues outside of the blood vessels. Inside the vessels you blood contains many proteins known as clotting factors (I, II, III, IV, V, etc...). Your blood also contains platelets, which are small cells crucial to your body's abilitiy to form a clot--they activate the clotting 'cascade' which then leads to clot formation and the control of blood loss. Aspirin impairs platelet function which is a reason doctors put patients on the medication--we don't want the blood to clot as readily. This helps prevent strokes, heart attacks, etc. Anyone who has taken aspirin regularly can tell you how they bleed longer when taking aspirin.
Now say there is some trauma to a blood vessel...let's say a vein in your penis. Imagine repeated jelqing and squeezes causing the pressure of blood inside the veins to increase. Remember that fluid is incompressible--any pressure you apply to the base of the penis will tend to cause blood to stretch the tissue farther out in the penis. This is the whole basis for the Penis Enlargement exercises! The blood stretches the tissues and hopefully stimulates new growth and expansion of the vascular erectile tissue, resulting in growth of the penis. But let's say that you get too aggressive and overstretch a penile vein. If it's a small vein, it wouldn't take as much pressure to stretch it past the point where it may rupture a wall and cause a little blood to leak out. When this happens (and it does so all the time in our bodies, which is why the clotting process is vitally important), the platelets in the blood "see" the TF in the tissue, and bang...the clotting cascade starts. Within seconds to minutes, clotting proteins (which are normally circulating in an inactive form) are being activated, and a clot is formed. The bleeding stops, and the body can start to repair the damage to the vessel. After vessels integrity is restored, the body can lyse (break down) the clot, restoring normal flow through the vessel. In a small vein this may mean no residual decrease in the inner diameter, whereas in a larger vein there will likely be some residual clot remaining, permanently decreasing internal vessel diameter.
The process whereby a clot (thrombus) forms within the vessel is called thrombosis. You might have heard the term "DVT," which means a Deep Vein Thrombois, or a clot in a deep vein of the leg. These can happen after long periods of inactivity such as long car rides, airplane flights, etc., where blood flow does not move through the vein in the normal fashion and stagnates--thus allowing a clot to form. Though they have nothing to do with Penis Enlargement, they can be life threatening and I mention them only to illustrate that thrombosis is a general *process* that can occur in all the tissues of the body, not just the penis. Contrast thrombosis with "phlebitis," which is simply an inflammation of a vein--possible due to trauma. Not all phlebitis is caused by thrombosis but all thrombosis causes phlebitis, to some degree.
So what's the relevance of thrombosis in the Penis Enlargement world? Good question... Basically, aggressive Penis Enlargement can cause damage to the veins through tearing of the lining/wall or overstretching with the possibility of blood leakage and thrombus formation as a natural process to stop the bleeding. Phlebitis can also occur (and is probably much more likely) and either can cause a firm, tender lump in vein. Remember--veins are not nearly as strong as arteries, as they aren't designed to withstand nearly the hydraulic pressures seen in the arterial vessels. While your arterial blood pressure may be 150-200 millimeters Mercury (mm Hg) when your heart contracts, venous pressure typically will not exceed 40-50 mm Hg. So the veins do not have be built nearly as strong as the arteries do. But here we are with Penis Enlargement, manipulating venous blood pressure and flow in an attempt to use the hydraulic pressure of the blood to cause expansion of the soft penile tissues. It's a sticky wicket, to be sure.
So the take home message (for any of you who actual made it this far, lol...) is that you must be very careful not to rupture veins while doing Penis Enlargement. You probably DO in fact, and just never see the results because small vessels tend to be involved, or the damaged vein is deeper in the penis and not easily visible. Also realize that not all lumps in veins are caused by thrombus--and that thrombus formation and breakdown are two processes that occur in us every single day...many, many times. Phlebitis is probably more common than thrombus, although thrombus formation could certainly be on a microscopic scale, and thus not be obvious through the skin.
I hope this will help to clarify these important concepts, as they seem to cause confusion in the lay person. But I felt that a long post was worthwhile, given the mechanism by which Penis Enlargement exercises accomplish the desired task of pnis enlargement. Feel free to post any additional comments or questions.
Generally clots that form in the smaller, more superficial veins are not considered to be a dangerous. Clots that form in the left side of the heart can infact embolize through an artery to a more distant part of the body--and cause death of a toe, the penis, part iof the intestine, a kidney, etc...whatever organ it deprives of oxygen. When we talk about a DVT the most concerning thing is that a clot in one of the large deep veins of the legs has an unobstructed path to the right atrium of the heart--and then the lungs.
In general, if a clot travels it is called an embolus; a pulmonary embolus if it ends up in the lungs. The problem is that a large clot (from a large vein) can actually plug vessels downstream--as the vessels are getting smaller going into the lungs, for instance--and deprive that area of blood flow. And if that's your lung, or at least part of your lung, you've got problems. Generally speaking, clots forming in the large deep veins seem to be the ones most likely to cause serious problems whereas small clots from other veins probably make it to the lungs but don't do much damage due to their small size. Also remember that the body will dissolve these clots spontaneously if given enough time--but it the clot is too large and lodged in a pulmonary artery...you may be dead before that happens!
Finally I suppose that it is theoretically possible for a clot in a larger penile vein to embolize to the lungs, but I have no clue as to how frequent it happens. And as I said, I think the size would be too small to cause alot of damage before the body is able to lyse it.