Is there a real cure for erectile dysfunction when its causes are vascular? Vascular problems account for 70% of cases of organic erectile dysfunction and are due to a reduction in normal blood flow and the inability to trap blood inside the cavernous bodies due to damage to the vascular network of the penis.
Until now, treatment options for erectile dysfunction of vascular etiology (medication and surgical placement of a penile prosthesis) only addressed the symptom (erectile impotence) occasionally, but not the cause, i.e., the reduction of blood flow to the cavernous bodies of the penis.
Shockwaves are a new therapeutic method by which the cure of the condition is now possible. The treatment is performed by the direct external application of shockwaves through a special shockwave-generating device. The advantage of the method is that it does not require anesthesia, is completely painless, and to date, no side effects have been recorded.
Does it work even in patients with severe erectile dysfunction? Shockwaves have been proposed in the last three years as the first treatment that offers the possibility of a cure for men with erectile dysfunction of vascular etiology. After the first positive results, the method was tested in patients with a serious problem, where pharmacotherapy was not effective (study by Vardi, 2011).
Of the 29 men with an average age of 61 who underwent the treatment, 10 men had complete intercourse without the need for drugs, while another 11 returned to an active sex life with the help of erection drugs.
These results give men solid hope for whom drugs have failed and whose only option until now has been the insertion of a penile prosthesis through surgery.
