Have you heard of Peyronie’s disease? If yes, you’ll shudder at the thought of what it does to the penis. If not, here it is. Peyronie’s is scarring of the penis, which in severe cases, can curve the penis and make intercourse painful. Shudder.
While we’re not clear on what causes Peyronie’s disease, some researchers believe that trauma to the penis, like hitting or bending, can cause scar tissue called plaque to form within the corpora cavernosa. Peyronie’s disease might also be genetic, or a combination of both.
Some estimates suggest that between 1% to 10% of men have Peyronie’s disease, though it’s most common in men over 40 and with blood type A+.
Conversely, male enlargement is a generic term for products and techniques that men use to make a bigger penis. Among the more effective methods, penis extenders, which broaden the penis in length and width with light, yet constant pressure on the penile tissue over three to six months.
Yet surprisingly, male enlargement might serve another function: evidence suggests that penis extenders are one of the least intrusive and most effective methods to treat Peyronie’s disease.
Symptoms of Peyronie’s disease can appear quickly or over time. You won’t see them when the penis is soft, but the plaque build-up within the penis can reduce flexibility when you’re hard, causing pain, and in extreme cases, severe curvature.
While the pain can decrease with time, the curvature can remain a problem and make intercourse painful. In less severe cases, the pain and bending can resolve on their own. Peyronie’s disease fades naturally in between 5%-19% of cases.
Your doctor can diagnose Peyronie’s disease with a physical examination of the hard tissue within your penis, in flaccid or erect state, or with a biopsy, in which your doctor will remove tissue from the affected area for examination in a lab.
Know that some doctors recommend waiting one to two years before treatment for Peyronie’s disease, in case it resolves itself. In mild cases, treatment may not be required at all.
But if you have Peyronie’s disease, and it’s severe enough to cause pain during intercourse, there are two surgical procedures that are a common, if not risky treatment.
In the first method, a surgical team removes plaque from the penis and applies a tissue patch to the affected area. The second method, called the Nesbit procedure, the team removes or alters tissue from the opposite side of the scarring to counter the bending.
Both procedures are effective and can reduce symptoms of Peyronie’s disease, but the former can reduce ability to get an erection. The latter shortens the penis.
Complications are common in both surgeries, and are often permanent. Surgery is therefore a last resort to treat Peyronie’s disease, and should be reserved for the small number of men with symptoms that are severe enough to prohibit intercourse.
Yet as evidence suggests, surgery to correct Peyronie’s disease is often unnecessary.
A penis extender is a mechanism that fits on the penis and employs light traction throughout the penile tissue. This traction stimulates cell mitosis over time, causing cells to divide within the penis, and thus growing new tissue. Yet it’s the same mechanism, of traction and elongation of the penis, that straightens a bent penis, and can treat Peyronie’s disease.
Male enlargement to treat Peyronie’s disease? Don’t laugh. One of the more established products, ProExtender System, is used and recommended by physicians in 29 countries, to add tissue to the penis and treat Peyronie’s disease.
Of course, always talk to your doctor. Peyronie’s disease is a serious condition that can lower quality of life and affect your self esteem. Women like a large penis, and preferably curve-free.
But it’s interesting to see that male enlargement might be a safer and less intrusive method to treat Peyronie’s disease than surgery, with the added bonus that you might increase penis size in the process.