Erectile Dysfunction Treatment in UK

Erectile Dysfunction has many definitions, the one most often used in a clinical setting is the inability for a man to gain and sustain an erection sufficient for satisfactory, penetrative sex. Erectile Dysfunction is normal part of our ageing process, and it affects the majority of men. Yes, you read that correctly, it affects the majority of men. Our male bodies are designed to be at their sexual peak in our 20’s both in desire and reproductive capabilities. A century ago, it would have been unheard of that men in their 70’s 80’s and even 90’s expected to have sex. But society has changed and nowadays, sex for many men has become something they want and expect later into their lives.

However, this is not the case for every male and a staggering 50% of men experience sexual problems with erections after the age of 40. These statistics go up if men suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, are heavy drinkers or smokers, have heart disease, eat a bad diet and so on. So Erectile Dysfunction is in our midst in plain sight. Every day you walk on the pavement, go into a shop, go into work, the chances are that at least half the middle-aged men you see are suffering from Erectile Dysfunction, but none of them mention it. Their lips are sealed.

This raises a question. If Erectile Dysfunction is so prevalent, why don’t men talk about it? Most people are quite open about other medical conditions, but not Erectile Dysfunction. The answer is, since we first started puberty at the age of twelve, boys having erections and having manhood, is an integral part of who we are. The alpha males, with their good looks, sporty bodies and charm are wooing the girls, and the rest of us look on in awe and envy. Men are not good at sharing these problems and a large proportion of men won’t even go and see a doctor. In fact up until the development of Viagra, Erectile Dysfunction was seen as a weakness by many people and it had another name, ‘impotency’. In the English language describing someone as ‘impotent’ means you view them as being weak and ineffectual.

Over the years treatment for Erectile Dysfunction has significantly improved leading to men in their nineties enjoying happy and fulfilling sex lives. These treatments range from very cheap and non-invasive, to expensive and surgical. These include:

PDE5 Inhibitors. Viagra is the best known PDE5 inhibitor, although there are many more such as sildenafil, Cialis, vardenafil, tadalafil, and avanafil, PDE5 inhibitors work on your vascular system ( the system of your blood). Your heart pumps 10 pints of blood around your system, including to your extremities: your penis, your feet and your hands. When insufficient blood enters or doesn’t remain in your penis you will not have sufficient erections to manage sex. PDE5 inhibitors relax your blood vessels, enabling more blood to rush into your penis, they also help to trap the blood there. The effects of PDE5 inhibitors last for up to three hours and are the most well-known treatment for Erectile Dysfunction across the world.

Penile Vacuum Pumps. These can be purchased online in the comfort of your own home. Your penis is inserted into a long tube and then the air is pumped out. This creates a vacuum in the pump and it has the effect, where blood is sucked up into your penis until it is hard. You are then able to attach a ring at the base and have sex, with a hard penis. Many people in a happy relationship use this method. Although, if you are about to commence a relationship and have sex for the first time, this could prove to be embarrassing.

Caverject injections. These are doctor prescribed treatments that are available in single-dose vials containing 20 mcg or 40 mcg of alprostadil. Based on your current Erectile ability the Doctor will prescribe the correct amount and teach you how to inject yourself. Once injected, the Caverject injection will have a local reaction that dilates the blood, increase the blood flow and within five minutes leads to a strong erection. Caverject injections or similar are used for men, where PDE5 inhibitors no longer work or cause side effects. They are less popular than PDE5 inhibitors, more expensive and more difficult and sometimes painful for men to administer.

Shockwave therapy is a revolutionising treatment for Erectile Dysfunction and is fast becoming the most popular long-lasting treatment, but you have to be careful as all shockwave therapy is not the same. There is a world of difference between radial shockwave which travels at a speed of 10 metres a second, treats a broad area and is totally unsuitable for Erectile Dysfunction whilst focused shockwave therapy travels at a speed of 1500 metres a second, is focused on the treatment area and is perfect for vascular related Erectile Dysfunction (to do with blood flow). Whereas PDE5 inhibitors dilute blood vessels and allow more blood into the penis, focused shockwave therapy has a much stronger and permanent effect. The pain free shockwaves entering your penis via a hand held probe at 1500 metres a second, hits the blood vessels, causing them to split, expand, multiply and heal. They also trigger growth of new tissues. The resultant effect is that you get more blood rushing into the penis and harder, more sensitive and longer lasting erections. Normally six sessions of focused shockwave therapy is undertaken, and the improvement happens over a few months.

EMTT – Electro Magnetic Transduction Therapy. The superior Men’s Health Clinics are now combining both focused shockwave therapy, with Electro Magnetic Transduction Therapy or Extracorporeal Magnetotransduction Therapy. The EMTT probe is lowered over your penis. This pain free procedure creates an intense magnetic field and works on powering the cells on the inside of your blood vessels, it speeds up intra cellular communication, and the movement of nutrients, making your blood vessels much more efficient and erections stronger.

Surgery. However, the above methods do not work for everyone. Men were not designed to have sex late into their nineties and our bodies are complex and not all men will respond to medical treatment, whatever the condition facing them. In this instance the final option is invasive surgery. The most popular option with surgery is what is known as a penile implant or a penile prothesis. This surgical procedure is undertaken in a hospital in a couple of hours. However, recovery in hospital is longer and you may not be able to use your penis for six weeks. A three-piece prothesis is put inside your genitals in three main areas. Two hollow tubes are fitted the length of your penis and stop at the penile glands. These are attached to a reservoir of liquid which is fitted behind your abdomen and the third element is a pump, that is designed to look like a third testicle, which is fitted in your scrotum. The pump is manually pressed and this sends the liquid from the reservoir up the tubes in the penis to fill it and make it hard. To release the liquid the pump is pressed and the penis is squeezed, making it soft again. There are disadvantages of penile implants as it means that a man can never again have a natural erection and that pleasure of becoming excited and another change is that a man may lose a lot of his natural sensitivity. This means a man may be able to give far more pleasure to his partner, than he himself receives.

This article was brought to you by Mansmatters, Europe’s leading non-invasive Men’s Health group of Clinics. Their flagship clinic is based in Knightsbridge, Central London 100 metres away from the iconic Harrods department store.