There is a new pump on this season of Vanderpump Rules, and it’s for your dick. Season 12 of the reality show features more than a freshman cast, but also a humorous hybrid between a sex toy and medical device: The humble penis pump.
In episode five, SUR server Jason Cohen gets outed by his cousin and roommate, Chris Hahn’s situationship, Audrey Lingle, who clocked a penis pump when she was showering in Cohen’s bathroom. Lingle then relayed this information to Cohen’s love interest, Angelica Jensen, and blew up the romance faster than an inflated erection. Cohen wasn’t thrilled about his sex life being weaponized on the show, but he is far from ashamed of such penile pumping. “At the end of the day, I can’t imagine living my life without a penis pump at this point. It’s just been part of my life for so long,” Cohen says. “Any guy that wants to try a penis pump, I’m just like, ‘hey brother, go for it.”
The 31-year-old reality star speaks from experience, as Cohen has used a penis pump to enhance his erections for over a decade. Like many millennials, he first learned about penis pumps from the 1997 movie Austin Powers, but was introduced in the flesh while working as a stripper in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the age of 18, earning money to put himself through college. Cohen assures he does not have erectile dysfunction, but he uses the pump for the occasional hookup and to enhance his OnlyFans content. Under the name Justin Fox, he shares steamy nudes from the shower, which is why the device was in his bathroom. “It’s like going to the gym and taking a picture in the mirror, looking all pumped up,” he explains.
Comparable to the increased use of Viagra among young men in their twenties and thirties, penis pumps have flown under the radar as a more mechanical form of dickmaxxing. Cohen claims it has helped increase his girth up to an inch-and-a-half, at least temporarily. It’s not just Cohen looking to pump up. Reddit users report gains in length and girth, including those in the fetish community who seemingly get off on seeing themselves inflated. In addition to the Bravo show, the penis pump has been featured as a punchline in the reality shows Bling Empire in 2021, as well as And Just Like That in 2023. However, urologist Dr. Judson Brandeis, MD, confirms that “the use of penile pumps is fairly common but not discussed openly.”
Known in clinical circles as vacuum erection devices, the way they work is by creating negative pressure on the penis, which draws blood from veins in the pelvis back into the penis, resulting in a pump-assisted erection. Once fully engorged, the pumper needs to place a constricting ring or band around the base of the penis to trap the blood and stay hard. Or as Brandeis puts it, “there is no increase in arterial flow when using a vacuum erection device, which is why the erection goes away quickly.”
There is not a ton of research on vacuum erection devices, but there is evidence that they can be an effective way to treat erectile dysfunction related to prostate cancer. Other studies indicate that penis pumps can be an effective ED remedy when combined with other interventions, like medication. One experiment that started in 1985 found that a majority of couples who used vacuum devices experienced increased sexual satisfaction and frequency. “Our results support the efficacy of the vacuum constriction device for the treatment of impotence,” the authors wrote. “Overall regular use rates as well as patient and partner satisfaction appear to be high. Furthermore, excellent initial results appear durable in most patients.”
While this scientific conclusion was almost as glowing as Cohen’s personal pump endorsement, “There has never been a proper study on the use of a vacuum erection device alone on increasing penile size,” Brandeis notes. That said, he has found through his own research that penis pumps might increase length and girth when combined with monthly injections of platelet-rich plasma and a nitric oxide boosting supplement.
For men who still want to try a penis pump without injectables, Brandeis recommends the device for men 60 and older for 10 to 15 minutes a day “to stretch the penile tissue and bring oxygenated blood and nutrients into the penis.” Likewise, he would not consider a penis pump as an alternative to medication, but a “complementary measure.” Regardless of age, Brandeis warns that overuse and applying too much pressure can cause “small blood vessels and capillaries to rupture, making the penis look purple.”
Despite his long-term allegiance to the pump, Cohen has been spared from an injured dick that resembles an eggplant emoji. “You gotta be careful with it,” the former pre-med student says. “You know, your penis is an organ.” As long as guys exercise caution, Brandeis and Cohen agree that penis pumps are not all hot air.