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Erectile dysfunction treatments can go beyond pills, doctor says
It's something that impacts about half of all men - erectile dysfunction. When and if the pills don't work, the doctor says there's another option.
FOX 2 - It's something that impacts about half of all men - erectile dysfunction. When and if the pills don't work, the doctor says there's another option.
By the age of 40, around half of all men may experience some issues with erectile dysfunction. medication works about half the time.
But there's another option that doesn't get much attention.
There's no shortage of pills to treat erectile dysfunction and that's usually the go-to treatment for doctors.
University of Michigan Urologist Dr. Bahaa Sami Malaeb weighs in on the options.
"We offer them multiple treatment options, usually, the first step in treatment is an oral medication," he said. "The common names that are familiar are Viagra, Cialis, Stendra or Levitra, or the genetic variations of those medications, and that is usually the first step in the treatment. it's non-invasive, and they work for a lot of patients as an initial treatment."
But the doctor explained, that in some cases, those medications don't work.
"When a patient stops responding to medications, to oral medications, we move on, typically, to injectable agents, and I present the options in a step-wise fashion," he said. "Pills are the first line of treatment, injectables are the second line of treatment, and surgery is the third line of treatment."
Surgery is a penile implant. It's a self-contained system that involves an inner tube and a pump.
This may sound like an extreme option, but the doctor says don't dismiss it. It helps your body perform and the procedure is quite simple. but Doctor Malieb explains many men don't know that.
"The option is presented to the patient as a very highly invasive option, which sort of deters the patient from wanting to pursue that treatment, as opposed to truly bringing it down to its real proportions, that this is a procedure that's outpatient, that takes 30 minutes that would restore your sexual function," he said.
The doctor says complications after surgery are low - keep in mind with the increase in conditions like obestiy, hypertension, and diabetes, ED is on the rise.
American men are living longer than they used to, so they're getting to the point where pills don't work, surgery might be a good option.
University of Michigan Urologist Dr. Bahaa Sami Malaeb