How to Manage Painful Erections
Painful erections are usually more than a mild inconvenience. Learn what to do once it happens, including how the right treatment can help.
If you ask men to rate the things they don’t want to talk about — even with their doctor — problems with their penis would be one of the top issues.
Even when they have Peyronie’s disease and suffer with pain, difficulty having sex, and the embarrassment of a curved or bent penis, they still tend to wait it out without ever telling anyone.
The thing about Peyronie’s is that you shouldn’t wait it out and hope it gets better. The curvature in your penis gets progressively worse for a period of time and then stabilizes, but the bend doesn’t improve without treatment.
As a man who specializes in men’s sexual health, Mike Hsieh, MD, understands how hard it is to talk about Peyronie’s disease. But he can help with a wide range of treatment options that relieve your pain and restore your sexual health.
If you have any questions, call our office in La Jolla, California. In the meantime, here’s a rundown on the top five symptoms you experience if you have Peyronie’s disease.
When you have Peyronie’s disease, scarring (called plaque) develops under the skin of your penis. Your penis bends around the scar tissue, causing the abnormal curvature that’s the hallmark symptom of Peyronie’s disease
The extent and direction of the curvature depends on the amount and location of the plaque. The curvature is always obvious when you have an erection. Some men can also see the bend when their penis is flaccid.
In the acute phase, which is the first 6-18 months after the curvature appears, the bend in your penis gets progressively worse. By the time you reach the second and final stage, called the chronic phase, the bend stabilizes and stops changing but doesn’t get better.
The overall severity of the curvature varies for each man. You may have a mild bend, a 90-degree bend that makes it impossible to have sex, or anything inbetween.
Though the abnormal curve in your penis is the most noticeable symptom, it’s not always the first problem you experience.
You may start to experience painful erections before a noticeable curvature develops. During the acute phase, the pain typically gets worse. You can also have penile pain in both the erect and flaccid state.
As you leave the acute phase, your pain starts to improve, disappearing within 18 months for most men.
We can usually feel a hard lump under the skin where the plaque is located. During the chronic phase, the plaque stabilizes, often becoming calcified or hardened.
Plaque typically develops due to trauma. When the penis is abnormally squeezed or bent, the tissues are overstretched, and scarring develops.
But you can suffer a minor trauma during exercise or sex that affects tiny vessels in the penis and triggers a healing response that leads to collagen production and a scar.
You may experience erectile dysfunction (ED) due to the loss of rigidity or because your penis buckles at the bend.
If you had ED before Peyronie’s disease appeared, it’s possible that your Peyronie’s was caused by the ED. For example, it’s easy to sustain mild penile injury as you try to have sex with an erection that isn’t strong enough to resist bending.
You already know that you have the obvious curvature. But beyond the expected bend, you can also end up with an hourglass-shaped penis rather than a bend if the scar tissue goes all the way around your penis.
Some men find that they have a smaller erection. Their erect penis shortens because the tissues lose some of their natural elasticity and ability to stretch.
We offer customized treatments for Peyronie’s disease that can restore your sexual function and your self-confidence. To learn more about your options, call us at the office of Mike Hsieh, MD, in La Jolla, California, or request an appointment using our online tool.
