Peyronie's Disease Your guide to Penile Dysfunction and how they are treated Home Peyronie's Disease Causes Of Penile Dysfunction |
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Peyronie's DiseasePeyronie’s disease affects the penis and causes it to bend abnormally up or down. It was first described by a French surgeon called Peyronie in the 18th century. In serious cases it is a painful condition and can cause difficulty with intercourse. What Causes Peyronie’s Disease?Peyronie’s disease is caused by scar tissue that develops usually on the top or bottom of your penis. This scar tissue hardens and causes your penis to bend when erect. If the scar tissue is on top, it bends upwards and if it is on the underside of your penis it bends downwards. It is thought that damage to the penis may be responsible for developing the scar tissue. If the penis is banged or bent it may bleed internally and as it slowly heals the scar tissue forms. However many men develop Peyronie’s with no trauma, so there may be an autoimmune element as well. The scar tissue is of course not caner or dangerous and it’s not a disease that can be passed on through intercourse. The disease may develop slowly over several months or appear quite quickly. The incidence is not well known but is thought to be around 3 – 4% of men over 30. Diagnosis Of Peyronie’s DiseaseYour doctor will take a history from you and them examine your penis. He or she may be able to feel the scar tissue in your limp penis. However the severity of bend can only be assessed when erect, so you may need to get an erection. If you are a bit shy take some pictures at home of your erect penis to show the doctor. Take them from above, below and the side so he or she gets a good idea of the extent of the bend. Treatment Of Peyronie’s DiseaseThe main reason most men seek treatment is because of pain or difficulty with intercourse. As the causes of Peyronie’s are not well understood treatment is aimed at reducing pain and enabling intercourse. Surgery is the only treatment that definitely works but experts suggest trying non-surgical treatments or waiting for spontaneous improvement for up to a year before going down the surgical route. The non-surgical treatments available include oral medication such as vitamin E, colchicine, pentoxifylline and tamoxifen. Injections of drugs into the scar tissue have also been used. However, none of these options have been clearly demonstrated to work in the majority of men. SurgerySurgery is usually reserved for the most severe cases where men cannot have sexual intercourse as, although the bending can be corrected, shortening of the penis cannot. There are 3 main operations available for Peyronie’s. The first cuts out the scar tissue and replaces it with some skin. This helps reduce the bend and add length, but can cause loss of sensation and erection problems. The second simply removes a piece of tissue from opposite the scat tissue to reduce the bend. This has no effect on increasing the length of the penis. The third option is to have a penile implant to straighten the penis, maybe in combination with one of the other procedures.
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