Beyond the Pill: Advanced and Lasting Solutions for Erectile Dysfunction

Your mind is there, your desire is there, but your body simply isn’t cooperating. The erectile dysfunction (ED) experience for most men is frustrating and stressful, which makes finding a solution a priority. You’re certainly not alone in your quest for ED solutions, either: The issue affects between 30 and 50 million men in the United States.

As a leading urologist in the Houston area, Dr. Robert J. Cornell has helped scores of men to regain their sex lives in the face of ED. If you’re looking to get your sex life back on track without using pills, here’s what we want you to know about ED, along with some excellent treatment options to consider.

A quick word about ED

ED has different root causes, so identifying which one is affecting you is an important first step toward resolving it.

Far and away, the most common cause of ED is blood delivery. Enough blood needs to flow to the penis to achieve and maintain an erection, and for a majority of men, it simply isn’t getting through.

Other causes of ED include stress, medications, aging, trauma, and disease. 

We bring this up because, in some cases, remedying a person’s ED might be as simple as changing medications. Or it might be something else. That’s why figuring out what's behind your ED is the first thing we want to do.

Sustainable solutions for chronic ED

If we find that, like millions of men, your ED is a chronic issue that involves a lack of sufficient blood flow, we can approach it in several ways without pills. These include:

Lifestyle changes

If you want to change the course of your sexual health — and your overall health — it’s important to address the blood flow issue. Unhealthy habits are the biggest contributors to vascular ED (erectile dysfunction caused by poor circulation or damaged blood vessels). 

Habits and risk factors that restrict blood flow include:

• Having obesity, which applies to more than 40% of adults in the United States
• A sedentary lifestyle
• Poor dietary choices
• Smoking
• Drinking

By making key lifestyle changes, many men are able to reverse their ED and push their overall health in a better direction.

Diabetes management

Men with diabetes are 3.5 times more likely to develop ED, thanks to vascular and nerve issues. As a result, managing your glucose levels becomes important for yet another reason: your sexual health.

Vacuum devices

If you don’t like the idea of taking pills, vacuum devices are another option. Before intercourse, this device creates suction to draw blood into your penis. Once erect, you place a ring around the base of your penis to hold the blood in until you're done.

Penile implants

If your ED is advanced and other options fall short, you might want to consider a penile implant. Dr. Cornell inserts the implant during an outpatient procedure and, once in place, you can control your erections and get back to a satisfying sex life.

The role of testosterone

Many of our patients ask whether testosterone therapy can work toward improving ED, and the answer is complicated. Low testosterone can impact your libido, but it’s not directly responsible for the mechanics of an erection. So, the ability of testosterone replacement to address ED is limited.

Still, plenty of other options can help restore your sex life, and we’re happy to help find the right one for your needs and goals.

To learn more about your treatment options for ED, we invite you to contact our Houston office today to schedule a consultation with Dr. Cornell.