Erectile Dysfunction or Male Sexual Impotence: Treatments

Male sexual impotence or erectile dysfunction is the difficulty or inability to get or maintain an erection that allows satisfactory sexual intercourse.

It should not be confused with a lack of desire, or a decrease in libido, or other orgasm disorders such as premature ejaculation.  It is not the same thing.

Erectile dysfunction symptoms

There are two fairly clear symptoms when diagnosing erectile dysfunction:

• Persistent erection problems (to have it and to maintain it)
• Reduction of sexual desire

Causes of erectile dysfunction or impotence

Several reasons can cause erectile dysfunction or impotence.  Here are some causes of erectile dysfunction or impotence.

Psychological causes

Often, despite there being no physical alteration. The anxiety about sex, stress, depression and marital problems are often the cause of erectile dysfunction.

Hormonal causes

Although it is rare.  A decrease in testosterone levels or an alteration in the levels of other hormones can also be the cause of a decrease or absence of erection.

Pharmacological causes

Some drugs to treat…

• hypertension
• heart disease
• mental illnesses
• depression
• anxiety

These can cause male sexual impotence or decreased erection capacity as a side effect.

Vascular causes

It is one of the most common causes of erectile dysfunction or male sexual impotence.  It is the inability of the body to accumulate the blood necessary for an erection to occur.

The vast majority of drugs intended to treat impotence, including the famous Viagra, act by enhancing blood flow in the penis to facilitate erection.

Risk factors for avascular disorder:

• Arterial hypertension
• Tobacco
• Alcohol
• Drug abuse
• High cholesterol
• Some heart diseases

Neurological causes

Injuries to the spinal cord or the nervous system, either due to…

• trauma
• surgery
• neurodegenerative diseases
• multiple sclerosis

These can cause a disorder of communication between the brain and the nerve endings involved in the functions of the penis.  This can lead to erectile dysfunction.

Erectile dysfunction after prostatectomy

One of the most common surgical interventions among men older than a certain age is the intervention to remove part or all of the prostate.  This is a simple or radical prostatectomy.

One of the most frequent side effects of this intervention and that most affect the life of the patient is erectile dysfunction or impotence.

But, as we told you in this post about overcoming the aftermath of a prostatectomy, psychological support and work with a pelvic floor specialist physiotherapist give very positive results and largely guarantee very high levels of recovery.

Pelvic floor physiotherapy: one of the best options for recovery after prostatectomy

It has been proven that pelvic floor reeducation, the ability to locate pelvic floor muscles in isolation, contract and strengthen them correctly, activating the core even before the prostatectomy occurs, accelerates the recovery of continence and sphincter control.

The sooner a pelvic floor reeducation therapy is started, the greater the chances of total recovery of the quality of life, since the strengthening of these muscles ensures greater control of the sphincters and accelerates the recovery of erectile function and intensity of orgasms.

Treatment of erectile dysfunction or male sexual impotence

Psychological treatment

Although erectile dysfunction is more common in men over forty, younger men can also suffer from it. In these cases, the physiological causes are less frequent, and psychological treatment is the one that usually obtains the best results.

Hormonal treatment

It is rare, but if the cause is a disorder or lack of certain hormones, their replacement and delivery through pills or injections is a likely treatment.

Pharmacotherapy

As we mentioned when listing the causes of erectile dysfunction, when the reason is a deficient or insufficient blood supply that makes an erection possible, there are orally administered drugs, in pills, such as Viagra, the commercial name of sildenafil, vardenafil or tadalafil, and topical cream drugs such as alprostadil, with fewer interactions than pills, which enhance and increase blood flow to the penis.

Transurethral treatment and intracavernous injections

It involves the application of drugs through the urethra or directly through an injection into the penis.

Penile implants

It is necessary to resort to surgery for its implantation, which usually damages some tissues and is an irreversible operation. For this reason, its use is increasingly being ruled out in favor of other less invasive methods.

Surgery

There is also the option of resorting to arterial or venous surgery to increase blood flow and pressure in the penis. This invasive method is only practiced when other methods have failed and have been ruled out.

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