Erectile Dysfunction
What Is Erectile Dysfunction?
The National Institute of Health (NIH) defined impotence as “the inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance.” It is the result of inadequate arterial blood flow into the erection chambers (corpora cavernosa) or the inability of the chambers to prevent blood from flowing out during erection.
What Causes Erectile Dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction has a multi-factorial etiology. This includes organic, physiologic, endocrine, and psychogenic factors. Pure psychogenic erectile dysfunction is uncommon. However, many patients with organic erectile dysfunction may also have a psychogenic component.
Inadequate blood flow can be the result of general poor health, which may be caused by medical conditions involving poor circulations such as diabetes, hardening, and narrowing of the lumens of blood vessels and many others. Neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease result in lack of arousal and therefore no stimulation to increase blood flow. Lack of blood flow to the penis may also be caused by trauma to the genital areas, which may also cause significant loss of sensation.
Erectile Dysfunction can also be cause through a lifestyle that involves drug use, smoking, high alcoholic intake, and lack of sleep since these are all detrimental blood flow in the genital area.
Dr. Liu in San Francisco & Burlingame and his staff understand the sensitivity of this matter, and the privacy of our patient is always respected. Any communication regarding this must only be with the patient only. There is no exception to this rule.
How Does Dr. Liu Treat Erectile Dysfunction?
Treating erectile dysfunction greatly depends on the cause for your condition. Whether your condition was caused by a medical condition or is related to age, Dr. Liu in San Francisco & Burlingame will do everything within his means to provide you with the right treatment at The Center of Sexual Enhancement in Burlingame & San Francisco.
For all patients, including those who are unresponsive to medications (Viagra, Cialis, or Levitra), Dr. Liu takes several specific steps to ensure proper treatment is provided.
1. Detailed Information
When the patient is first seen, Dr. Liu wants to know about the patient’s general health condition, so he will take a detailed medical history and physical exam to determine if erectile dysfunction is a result of other medical conditions such as diabetes, vascular problems, or nerve problems.
2. Hormone Status
Dr. Liu in San Francisco & Burlingame will need to determine the status of the patient’s hormone levels. Are there thyroid problems? Low levels of testosterone? He will then use the Sottopelle Hormonal Management System to ensure that your blood hormone levels are normal and balanced.
3. Lifestyle Information
Lifestyle is a significant contributor to erectile dysfunction in San Francisco & Burlingame. Smoking and drinking are lifestyle choices that can further enhance erectile dysfunction and significantly delay recovery. Dr. Liu will offer key lifestyle information as part of erectile dysfunction treatment.
4. Ultrasound Duplex Study
In this step, Dr. Liu will determine if the patient has an organic cause of erectile dysfunction and whether it is arterial insufficiency or venous leak. To determine this condition, Dr. Liu will perform an ultrasound duplex study through the use of specialized equipment. This is very useful in deciding what form of treatment is best for the patient.
5. Non-Surgical Treatments
After Dr. Liu determines genuine erectile dysfunction, he will attempt non-surgical treatments that consist of shots into the penis with a high concentration of plasma obtained from the patient’s own blood with or without amniotic fluid obtained from human placenta containing a high concentration of growth factors and regenerative factors. This may be combined with a series of low-intensity shock wave treatments.
More than 70% of patients will have some improvement from this treatment but some results may not be as much as expected. There are other treatments that do not treat the basic problems of erectile dysfunction but may help in getting erections, such as intra-urethral medications or vacuum pump together with constriction bands at the base of the penis. Most patients cannot tolerate long periods of these remedies and usually discontinue using them after a short period of time.
6. Penile Implants
If Dr. Liu determines that your erectile dysfunction is unresponsive to non-surgical treatments, he will offer two options:
- A self-administered penile injection 30 minutes before each sexual activity
- The placement of a penile implant, which is a surgical procedure
Penile implants have a very high patient satisfaction rate with a very low risk of complications. Penile implants can provide erections on demand. An erection with a penile implant can last as long as the patient wants, and still allowing the patient to have normal sensation and orgasms. If the patient is fertile, he can still impregnate a woman with a penile implant.