Management of erectile dysfunction (ED)

Here is a brief synopsis of treatments available for erectile dysfunction and what tests should be done. As always start with history, issues like how long you have had the problem, whether your partner is interested in correcting the problem. What medications do you take that could be aggravating the problem. Are you a smoker of cigarettes or marijuana, abuser of alcohol all these cause ED. Have you had Diabetes or Hypertension and so on. The history should be extensive. Next is the Physical exam and lab tests for hormones and diabetes. Six hormones are tested for as well as standard blood tests.If you are physically normal and have no problems with desire then your doctor may prescribe the PDE5 inhibitor drugs like Viagra. If your hormones, such as testosterone are found to be low these can be replaced. Medical issues can be addressed and any offending medications removed. If these don't work there are medications like "Muse" which the man can put directly into his penis, this will give him an erection that could last 4 hours. A variety of medications can be put into the urethra or injected directly into the penis, by the patient or the doctor. If these are not satisfactory or unacceptable there are surgical remedies which include inserting rods into the penis some of these are firm in consistency and some have to be inflated. My urology colleagues tell me that for the people that have to get implants the satisfaction rate is 90%. If you have more questions please call for an appointment, I would love to go into more detail.