How your body makes an erection
If you’re a man, you’ve probably had an erection or two. They just happen – right? You wake up in the morning and there’s your old mate, standing to attention. Your good old, reliable, one-eyed trouser snake, popping up whenever you need him.
All is well, until suddenly it isn’t. According to an Australian study, at least one man in five over the age of 40 has an erection problem. Everything from anxiety to heart disease can impact Mr Percy’s performance. If you throw in prostate cancer, things generally get a whole lot more difficult.
It might be tempting to just give up, but please don’t. It helps to understand how your body goes about making an erection – who are the team players and what are their main tasks during the game, so to speak.
Your erectile team players ...
Brain - Team Captain
Your senses get the party started. Something that you see, hear, smell, touch, or think kicks your brain into action. A really sexy thought comes into your mind.
Arousal starts upstairs (in your brain) before the message heads downstairs to your groin.
Your brain triggers the release of chemicals into your bloodstream that get your body into action. If your brain isn’t sending any signals, the rest of the team can’t do their job.
Blood vessels & nerves - Team Runners
Once your brain has started the game, it’s up to your Team Runners to get the instructions out onto the field.
Your blood vessels carry the chemical messages through your body. Your nervous system transmits those messages to the muscles. How else will they know what they’re supposed to do?
Muscles - Team Heavy Lifters
Once your muscles receive their instructions from the neurotransmitters (chemicals like neural and endothelial nitric oxide), they can then go to work with the blood vessels in your groin.
Smooth muscles in your penis relax which allows more blood to flow in. Spongy tissue inside your penis fills up with the fresh blood and, woo-hoo, Mr Percy rises to the occasion.
What happens after prostate cancer treatment?
As you may know, erections generally take a big hit from prostate cancer treatment.
Even with “nerve sparing” surgery, it can still take around two years (or more) for your erections to return. They may not ever be as strong or as reliable as they once were.
If you are put on ADT (androgen deprivation therapy to suppress testosterone), your libido (arousal) will also decrease significantly. All those silly jokes about the wife “having a headache” might begin to hit a nerve with you.
For many men, one of the hardest parts (sorry, bad pun) is the lack of certainty. There is no way of knowing for certain how long it will take for you to get your mojo back. Some men will be luckier than others – even the surgeons can’t really tell who will recover best!
Is there any good news?
Of course there are things that you can do to help your old feller. In our experience, it’s best to try as many as you can until you find the ones that work for you. Sometimes they can be used in combination.
The main options are:-
Vacuum pumps
This is the first one you should use.
Invest in a good quality, medical-grade vacuum pump and you will not be sorry. There are manual versions and battery-operated devices too.
Alan uses a Vacurect, which works really well and is not too bulky. Vacuum pumps are non-invasive, effective and cost far less than other treatments overall.
Don’t be tempted to visit your nearest sex shop to buy a cheap version. These pumps are not designed for men who’ve had prostate cancer treatment, so don’t waste your time and money.
Oral therapies
You’ve all heard of Viagra, right? It’s just one of the oral therapies available – there’s also Cialis and Levitra.
None of these pills work instantly and they do have side effects, but they can be part of a penis rehab strategy.
If you do try any of these, you still need to use your brain and your imagination. No pill is going to wake Mr Percy on its own.
Injection therapies
Yes, we’re talking about injecting a chemical mixture into your penis. The needles are really, really fine so that they don’t hurt much.
Trimix and Caverject are the main two injectables – Alan uses Trimix and it definitely works.
Penile implants
Definitely not for the faint-hearted. There’s major surgery involved, plenty of painful recovery time, and it isn’t cheap. However, these devices can be very successful.
We have heard from men who are thrilled with the certainty that their penile implant gives them – they know that it will work whenever they want it to.
If you want to know more about penile implants, check out our recent article and videos.
Really exciting news
Here in Melbourne, a new nerve-grafting surgery is being trialled.
Dr David Dangerfield and Professor Chris Coombs are working together on “End-to-side Somatic-to-autonomic Nerve Grafting to Restore Erectile Function and Improve Quality of Life After Radical Prostatectomy”.
For men who have had a radical prostatectomy and have not been able to regain their erections, this new technique looks really promising.
You can check out some recent video interviews with David and Chris on YouTube:-
