Erectile Dysfunction

What is erectile dysfunction?

If you can’t have an erection or maintain the erection long enough for sex, you have erectile dysfunction (ED). It’s all too common for men to occasionally have erectile dysfunction, usually caused by temporary concerns like stress, fatigue, or relationship problems.

When erectile dysfunction becomes a regular or frequent problem, it may be caused by an underlying health condition.

What causes erectile dysfunction?

Health conditions that can cause erectile dysfunction include:

• Low testosterone
• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Vascular disease (clogged arteries)
• Neurologic disease
• Diabetes
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Obesity

Some lifestyle habits, like excessive drinking and smoking cigarettes, also contribute to erectile dysfunction. Tobacco causes problems by damaging your blood vessels.

Since you need an influx of blood to have an erection, any substance or condition that diminishes circulation affects your ability to have an erection.

What is Peyronie’s disease?

Peyronie’s disease is a disorder in which scar tissue, called plaque, forms under the skin of the penis.

The plaque builds up inside the penis, in the thick elastic membrane called the tunica albuginea. The tunica albuginea helps keep the penis stiff during an erection. As the scar tissue develops, it pulls on the surrounding tissues and causes the penis to curve or bend, usually during an erection. Curves in the penis can make erections painful and may make sexual intercourse painful, difficult, or impossible.

What causes Peyronie’s disease?

Typically the plaque build up from Peyronie’s disease is caused by 

• vigorous sexual or nonsexual activities that cause micro-injuries to the penis
• certain connective tissue or autoimmune disorders
• family history of Peyronie’s disease
• diabetes and/or erectile dysfunction
• history of prostate cancer treatment with surgery

The plaque that develops in Peyronie’s disease is not the same plaque that can develop in a person’s arteries and is benign—not cancerous and not a tumor.

How are erectile dysfunction & Peyronie’s disease treated?

There are several conventional treatments for these problems, including oral medications and penile implants. Like all prescription medications, those used for erectile dysfunction pose the risk of side effects, such as headaches, muscle aches, and vision changes.

All men deserve a satisfying sex life, but if you’re like most, you prefer to avoid medications and invasive surgery.

As a regenerative medicine specialist, Dr. Cherukupally offers safe, effective options. If your erectile dysfunction is related to low testosterone, you can receive bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Otherwise, you can regain strong erections and a reduction in curvature caused by Peyronie’s with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy.

How does PRP improve erectile dysfunction & Peyronie’s disease?

Platelets are naturally in your blood. Whenever you’re injured, these cells travel to the damaged tissues and release growth factors, which activate and accelerate healing.

Growth factors reduce inflammation, produce new blood vessels, and stimulate a vast range of cellular healing activities. They also recruit stem cells capable of regenerating collagen, blood vessels, and other tissues needed to restore your ability to have erections.

At Regenerative Sport, Spine and Spa, Dr. Cherukupally creates PRP by taking a sample of your blood and using a centrifuge to separate and concentrate the platelets in a small amount of plasma (the liquid part of your blood). After applying a topical numbing cream, she carefully injects PRP into your penis.

The boost of growth factors treats erectile dysfunction and Peyronie’s disease, improving the strength and firmness of erections while restoring the overall health of your penis.

If you need help overcoming erectile dysfunction or Peyronie’s disease, call Regenerative Sport, Spine and Spa or request an appointment online today.