Your Treatment Options for Peyronie's Disease

Your erection wasn’t ever perfect, but it was much straighter and more comfortable than it is now thanks to Peyronie’s disease. If you’re feeling alone in this issue, don’t — Peyronie’s disease affects up to 20% of men, with those ages 50 to 59 most commonly affected. And some experts put this number even higher than 20% due to underreporting.

Wherever the final count stands, suffice it to say that you’re in good company with this common men’s health issue. At our urology practice, Dr. Robert J. Cornell and our team are no strangers to Peyronie’s diseas,e and we’ve helped many of our patients to resolve this common problem. Here’s how.

Peyronie’s disease — a brief background

Let’s kick off this discussion with some background on Peyronie’s disease. With this condition, plaque builds up in an area of your penis called the tunica albuginea, which is an elastic membrane that’s responsible for keeping your penis stiff during an erection.

As the plaque builds up, they form a type of scar tissue that can tug on surrounding tissues, which can lead to a curve in your penis when it’s erect.

Most men who develop Peyronie’s disease do so in two stages:

Acute — the plaques form over the course of 6-18 months
Chronic — the plaques stop growing and the condition stabilizes

As you might imagine, there are varying degrees of symptoms depending on the extent of the plaque and scar tissue. Some men have only minor curvatures and no pain, while others have severe curves of 30 degrees that make sex challenging, if not impossible. As well, some men develop a lot of scar tissue that continues to present problems in terms of pain and discomfort.

When it comes to what causes Peyronie’s disease, there’s no single cause. Trauma or injury to your penis can play a role, but many men report that the issue just struck out of the blue. We do know that the condition is linked to autoimmune diseases, as well as diabetes.

Treating Peyronie’s disease

If you’re reading this blog post, we assume you want to find solutions for your Peyronie’s disease because it’s having an impact on your quality of life.

We’re pleased to report that we do offer solutions, such as:

Collagenase injections

Under the brand name Xiaflex®, this is an FDA-approved injection for Peyronie’s disease that breaks down the plaques.

Calcium channel blockers

Some men are finding success with a blood pressure medication called Verapamil®, which we inject into the plaques to reduce pain and curvature.

Interferons

These are proteins made in a lab that can help fight the effects of Peyronie’s disease. Like the other medications above, these are injected into your penis.

Surgery

If the curvature of your penis is severe and doesn’t respond to more conservative treatments, we can turn to surgery to remove problematic plaques and/or straighten your penis.

Penile implants

Penile implants can play an invaluable role in treating erectile dysfunction related to Peyronie’s disease and also help resolve some of the curvature.

To figure out which treatment would work best for treating your Peyonie’s disease, let’s start with a consultation and evaluation. To get that set up, please contact our office in Houston, Texas.