Impotence, also called erectile dysfunction, affects overall 10-30% of the male population and up to 30 million men in the United States alone. In fact, impotence is the most common erectile dysfunction in our modern society. Most men will experience the problem at some stage in their lives, with the incidence of impotence increasing with age.
Impotence is defined as a consistent inability to achieve or sustain an erection that will allow for sexual intercourse. The erection may be too weak, too brief, or too painful.
Impotence has many causes; we distinguish between psychical and physical related cases. Statistics though vary a great deal when they are drawing conclusions on the dispersion.
Physical related impotence
Physical, related impotence can be related to factors as: diabetes, alcoholism, drug abuse, decreased penile circulation, neurologic processes, such as spinal cord injuries and diseases, atherosclerosis, structural abnormalities, medications such as antihypertensives, sedatives, antihistamines, and antipsychotics, and penile diseases such as peyronie’s disease.
Psychological related impotence
Psychological or emotional causes include depression, stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, fear of sexual incompetence, poor relationship with sexual partners.
Anatomical Description of Impotence
To better understand impotence, it’s helpful to have a picture of the anatomy of the penis and male sexual response. Two chambers filled with spongy tissue, called the corpora cavernosa, run the length of the penis. A membrane called the tunica albuginea surrounds them both. The urethra, which emits urine and semen from the body, runs beneath the corpora cavernosa.
An erection can result from either thinking or dreaming of sex, or direct stimulation of the genitals, although most of the time both sources of stimulation come into play. In a man without impotence, such stimulation prompts brain impulses that tell the muscles of the corpora cavernosa to relax. Blood then begins to fill the spongy tissue, causing the penis to expand. The tunica albuginea then contracts, trapping the blood inside the penis and sustaining erection. In healthy sexual response, the process usually doesn’t reverse until just after ejaculation, when the corpora cavernosa muscles contract, stopping the inflow of blood, and the tunica albuginea create resistance, allowing the blood to flow back into the body.
Attaining and maintaining an erection is a complex series of events, involving nerve impulses in the brain, genitals, and spinal column and requiring response from the muscles, veins, arteries, and fibrous tissues in or near the corpora cavernosa. A disruption of any one of these events can cause impotence.
How Common Is Impotence?
About one in 10 men report having impotence, but more have it and do not report it. Teenage boys and younger adults report impotence, but it is most common in men over age 45. Between 20%-35% of 60-year-old men may have impotence. Even though it becomes more common with age, aging itself does not cause impotence; instead, underlying problems, such as arteriosclerotic vascular disease, which often occur in older men, can cause impotence.
Impotence Treatment
Untreated, impotence may only worsen, since inability to achieve an erection can cause performance anxiety, which, in itself, can cause impotence.
If you seek treatment, you have a very good chance of enhancing your ability to have and sustain an erection that will allow you to have sexual intercourse.
Surgical Treatment
The vast majority of physical causes are treatable. The new approaches presented by some of the worlds best surgeons, which you will find at Men’s Clinic provide success rates of up to 95% of men who have received surgical treatment, whereas you are able to achieve satisfactory sexual function. (Normal success rate is app. 30-40%).
Surgery consists of three separate procedures:
Implants:
The doctor inserts penile prostheses or penile implants in each of the two corpora cavernosa. These implants may be rigid, malleable, hinged, or inflatable. The inflatable types are associated with more mechanical failures and complications than the others.
Arterial reconstruction:
If the arteries that carry blood into the penis are blocked or damaged (usually from injury), your doctor might surgically reconstruct the arteries.
Venous surgery:
Your doctor may surgically block penile veins that impair erection by allowing blood to flow back into the body prematurely.
Medical/Drug Treatment of Impotence:
Treatment for impotence follows a course that rules out many potential causes for the condition. Most treatment moves from the least invasive (reducing doses on drugs causing impotence) to the most invasive (surgery). Depending on the cause of the dysfunction and on your lifestyle, your doctor may suggest more than one type of treatment.
Some men like pills, which you take orally; others you inject into your penis, insert into the end of your penis, or rub on your penis. Depending on the type of therapy and medication prescribed, you should meet with a doctor to assess the treatment and your response to it.
One of the most famous drug right now is Viagra. It is an oral drug that relaxes smooth muscles in the penis during sexual stimulation, allowing increased blood flow to the penis and making an erection possible. Viagra is relatively new, so researchers have not carried out long-term tests on its effects and some clinical evaluations show a less effective and convincing success rate.
Some of the drugs used to cure impotence are:
- “Bromocriptine” for hyperprolactinemia
- “Papaverine” and “phentolamine” injections
- “Nitroglyserin” this muscle relaxant can induce erection when rubbed on the penis
- “Yohimbine” (Yocon)
- “Viagra” oral drug (sildenafil)
- “Alprostadil” an injection into the penis
- “Testosterone cypionate” for abnormally decreased gonad activity (hypogonadism)
Impotence Exercise
Penis exercises are another way to treat impotence at home. Penile enhancement exercises are all-natural and may achieve a permanent cure of erectile dysfunction.
Impotence exercises need to be targeted to give the desired results. Fortunately, there are some very good penis exercise programs such as PenisHealth that provides you with a large number of targeted and effective enhancement exercises through video (and image) instructions that help you get the best out of impotence exercises.
Summary
Impotence is a nightmare for any men. Forunately, there are many methods to cure erectile dysfunctions. Impotence exercises can be as good as any other method. What’s more, these enhancement exercises are very affordable and can be used at home.
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