Erectile Dysfunction Treatments Over-the-Counter
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The initial step to evaluate the erectile dysfunction is to go to the physician and get yourself examined for your condition. This is the most important step to begin your treatment with. This should be done to make sure that you are not suffering from disorders such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, kidney disease, alcoholism, or multiple sclerosis, which can be the cause of erectile dysfunction. It is estimated that physical diseases or conditions are the cause of erectile dysfunction approximately 70% of the time.
Medical treatment using the oral pills like Viagra for treating erectile dysfunction is known to most of the men. Not only this the media has made it possible for the men folk to also become aware about how these kinds of oral pills function in our body to give the kind of erection required for a satisfactory sexual intercourse.
Apart from the oral medication there are some other options for erectile dysfunction as well. These options are vacuum devices, surgery, penile injections etc. Apart from all these options, erectile dysfunction caused due to psychological reasons can be treated with psychological counseling or sex therapy.
- Psychological Therapy
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Psycho therapy is implemented when the patient is suffering from anxiety based erectile dysfunction. Sometimes when there is a strain in the relationship for whatsoever reason, it starts showing in the bedroom of the couple and the strain thus manifests itself in to the erectile dysfunction during the sexual act. All these kinds of anxiety and strain induced erectile dysfunction can be treated by taking the help of a sex counselor, or a psychiatrist. This method targets any anxiety that may be associated with sexual intercourse.
- Vacuum Devices
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Vacuum devices are non-drug options for treating erectile dysfunction over-the-counter. The device creates a vacuum around the penis, which draws blood into the penis and allows it to engorge, hence causing an erection. The devices are made up of three parts: a plastic cylinder that is placed over the penis; a pump which draws air out of the cylinder; and an elastic band which is placed around the base of the penis to maintain erection after the cylinder is removed and during intercourse to keep the penis engorged with blood.
- Drug Therapy
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Drugs can be administered either orally through anti-impotence pills like Viagra or can be injected directly into the male sex organ or into the urethra at the tip of the penis. Self-injection involves using a short needle to inject medication through the side of the penis directly into the corpus cavernosum, which produces an erection that lasts from 30 minutes to several hours. Prostaglandin and phentolamine produce results similar to Viagra but are localized in the penis after injection. They cause vascular dilation and a relaxation of smooth muscle. Prostaglandin is the only substance currently approved for erectile dysfunction treatment. Phentolamine is a heart medication with similar effects used by some physicians to treat impotence.
Many men have reported to have achieved satisfactory penile erections and the erections achieved are natural and help during sexual intercourse. These drugs have shown to cause erections in at least 80% of the men who inject them. These kinds of injections are relatively painless and they give erections as fast as within 5 to 15 minutes itself after injecting. These kinds of injections are not recommended to be used more than once in every 4 to 7 days.
- Surgery
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Surgery is performed in the penile region to mend any fault in the blood vessels of the penile region. We know that a penis can achieve erection only when there is proper flow of blood in the penile tissues and when it would get engorged with blood it is then only that the penis can achieve erection, but if there are faulty arteries then there would be no erection. Hence the goal of surgery is:
- To plant a device in the penis to make it erect
- Restructuring the arteries to ensure smooth blood flow
- Blocking the veins in order to stop the leaking of the blood from the penile tissues
Implanted devices known as prostheses can improve the erections in the men suffering from erectile dysfunction to a great extent. Though these kinds of implants provide erections, these types of surgeries have fallen out of favor in recent years due to the possible risk of infection associated with such invasive procedures. As a result, prescription medications have become the treatment of choice for erectile dysfunction.
