Peyronie's Disease is a penis problem caused by the formation of scar tissues called plaque that form inside of the penis. These scars can be easily palpated as a lump and tend to be tender for a few months during the initial phase of the disease. This can result in a bent penis, rather than a straight penis.
Most men who suffer from Peyronie's Disease are still able to have sex, although, for some men it can become painful or cause erectile dysfunction. Depending on the symptoms you have, you may opt for medical or surgical treatments.
Peyronie's Disease plaques cause loss of elasticity of the tunica of the penis and this reduces the capacity of the penis to stretch during erections. Patients therefore frequently report penile shortening and deformity such as curvature and narrowing of the shaft penis, which become visible during erections. In flaccidity, the lumps can still be palpated, but the deformity is not visible.
What Causes Peyronie's Disease?
Although Doctors are not entirely sure exactly why this disease happens, researchers do believe that those fibrous plaques could begin to be formed after a trauma to the penis; such as blunt force trauma, bending or hitting; that would cause bleeding inside the penis. Unfortunately, you may not notice the injury, and the plaques would being to form over time. Resulting in Peyronie's Disease.
There have also been studies that show Peyronie's Disease can be inherited genetically, so for some men, injury and genes could be a factor. Some medications have been known to list Peyronie's Disease as a possible, rare, side effect, however there is no evidence that medications caused the condition to occur.
Peyronie's disease is frequently associated with other known cardiovascular risk factors, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, obesity and tobacco smoke. It is now established that more than 60% of patients have at least one known cardiovascular risk factor.
Who gets Peyronie's Disease?
This is a condition that occurs mainly in middle-aged men. Although both younger and older men can get this at any time. It does become more common in older aged men, but keep in mind that this is not a normal part of ageing- it is a condition that needs to be treated.
What are the symptoms of Peyronie's Disease?
Your symptoms may develop slowly over time, or they may appear immediately following a trauma. When the penis is soft, you won’t be able to see any problems with it. But when the penis becomes erect, the hardened plaque will hinder flexibility and cause pain, as well as forcing the penis to bend or arc. The bend in the penis can worsen over time, however, in most cases, the pain will subside with time.
It is quite common for patients with Peyronie's Disease to have their erections worsen over time, becoming more painful and harder to perform sexual acts. Although this can be potentially caused by the plaque itself, as it allows the blood to be rushed out of the tunica of the penis, certainly the cardiovascular risk factors also play a role by causing obstruction to the arteries feeding the penis, thus reducing the blood inflow into this organ.
Since Peyronie's Disease can be associated with penile pain, shortening, deformity and worsening of the quality of the erection, it can cause severe distress in both the patient and the partner. This is why many men opt for surgical treatment to fix the problem.
Our Uro-Andrology department is led by Dr. Giulio Garaffa, an award-winning Consultant Uro-Andrologist with over 20 years’ international medical experience in this field. Dr. Garaffa has a global reputation for his excellence in urology and andrology, and is one of the leading experts in the fields of erectile dysfunction, congenital penile curvature, complex penile reconstruction, phalloplasty, Peyronie’s disease, male infertility and microsurgery.
You are in excellent care at Cadogan Clinic for treating Peyronie's Disease.
To book a consultation please contact the clinic today.
