Peyronie’s disease penile curvature treatment options
In a video posted by Dr. Andrew Kramer on popular video-sharing site YouTube, viewers were given a firsthand account of the steps involved in a penile implant surgery. In the video, the doctor mentioned that the patient was advised to undergo a penile implant surgery to correct his penile curvature caused by Peyronie’s disease.
Penile curvature
Not all incidents of penile curvature is a cause for alarm, reminds Dr. Andrew Kramer. Some men may have a naturally bent penis when erect. However, if the penile curvature is causing pain, this is a sure sign that the patient needs to see a doctor immediately.
What causes the penis to bend or curve?
In the case of Dr. Kramer’s patient in the video, penile curvature was a result of Peyronie’s disease. What is Peyronie’s disease?
Briefly, Peyronie’s disease is a medical condition that afflicts men. The most common symptom is, as mentioned above, penile curvature. Now, what causes the penis to curve? Scar tissue or plaque buildup in the penis is what causes the penis to curve during an erection. Patients usually experience pain because this scar tissue buildup prevents blood from flowing through the veins in the penis during an erection; and this consequently makes the penis bend thus causing pain.
As for the exact cause of Peyronie’s disease, medical experts suggest that the disease may be hereditary or may be caused by trauma to the penis (which could happen during sex, apart from accidents or athletic activities).Age seems to play a role as well as most patients usually develop the disease in their 50s and 60s.
Treatment options
According to Dr. Andrew Kramer, Peyronie’s disease is not one of those medical conditions that naturally go away over time. In fact, he adds, the sooner you get it diagnosed and treated, the better for you because the disease could worsen if not treated immediately. As for treatment options, there are several, and recommendations will depend on the actual condition of the patient as well as how long they’ve been experiencing the symptoms.
Basically however, there are two general treatment options: non-surgical and surgical. For non-surgical, these include penile traction therapy to minimize curvature and prevent penile shortening; and medications. For patients with severe curvature or deformity, surgery might be the best option.
Your doctor will discuss with you the type of surgery he will be performing; and again, this depends on the severity of the condition. Surgical options to treat Peyronie’s disease include suturing the unaffected side of the penis to straighten the penis, incision/excision and removal of the scar tissue (grafting may be advised following the removal to “patch-up” the holes left when the scar tissue was removed), and penile implant.
For penile implants, the patient may also be given two options: semi-rigid or inflatable. The first option allows the patient to position his penis upward for intercourse. The second option involves inflating the implant through a pump installed in the scrotum. In either case, surgery helps the patient have an erection for sexual intercourse. And that being said, surgery is often recommended only for patients dealing with erectile dysfunction and penile curvature caused by Peyronie’s disease, shares Dr. Andrew Kramer.
