Erection Problems. Causes, Treatment, Complications

What Is Erectile Dysfunction?

Today, you’ll get the answers you are looking for. Erectile dysfunction, also called impotence, is a medical condition related to the male inability to attain and sustain an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse. The weak or unstable erection is diagnosed in about 40% of men aged 40 years and older. With every ten years of age, the prevalence grows by 10% respectively. However, in different countries, the figures are not the same. In Italy, for example, only 48% of men older than 70 have erection problems.

Doctors differentiate between five categories of ED by severity ranging from no ED to severe erectile dysfunction. The index that helps to determine it is called the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). The lower the score is, the severe your disease is.

Erectile dysfunction may also differ in how it is manifested. Some men can attain an erection but can’t keep it throughout the intercourse. Others can’t make their penis hard enough for vaginal penetration.

What Causes Erectile Dysfunction?

All causes of erectile dysfunction may be divided into two categories: those related to your physical health and those resulting from your psychological health condition. Erection problems may either be triggered by physical or emotional issues, exclusively; or they may result from a combination of these two factors.

Physical Causes

The physical causes of ED problems are responsible for the majority of cases of male sexual inability. The health conditions that may be the reason for a weak or unstable erection are:

  • Heart disease;
  • Diabetes;
  • Excessive body mass and obesity;
  • Nerve damage due to trauma;
  • Atherosclerosis;
  • Arterial hypertension;
  • High cholesterol levels;
  • Penile curvature, like Peyronie’s disease;
  • Enlarged prostate;
  • Treatment of prostate cancer;
  • Low testosterone levels.

Usually, trouble getting an erection is a result of a combination of several health issues. Impotence is commonly the result of an insufficient supply of blood to the penis, which can be provoked by cardiovascular conditions, atherosclerosis, and excessive cholesterol. Another reason is nerve damage due to high blood glucose levels, traumas, and surgeries. Therefore, the man’s overall health condition has a mandatory impact on his ability to get a healthy erection.

Psychological Causes

Psychological triggers of male sexual inability include:

  • Depression;
  • Problems with self-esteem;
  • Stress;
  • Anxiety;
  • Interpersonal problems with a sex partner;
  • Sexual performance anxiety;
  • The feeling of guilt;
  • Addiction to alcohol, drugs, or pornography.

Cases, when the psychological state of the patient is fully responsible for his loss of potency, are very rare, and they are more characteristic of individuals who have faced problems with erectile function before the age of 30.

Usually, violations in the emotional and mental health of a man affecting his male power are the consequences of having gone through an episode of unexpected failure in bed. The latter might have been caused by physical health factors but have also affected the psychological condition of a man.

As for sexual performance anxiety, it’s often diagnosed in men suffering from premature ejaculation. Studies show that the presence of premature ejaculation significantly increases the risks of developing erectile dysfunction. Thus, this psychological health issue may play a huge role in developing erection problems.

What Are the Symptoms?

Once in a while, almost every man experiences difficulties with an erection. However, they don’t mean you have erectile dysfunction. Only if such accidents in bed start happening regularly, you should consider a visit to a doctor to know if these are the symptoms of impotence. The three symptoms signaling issues with erectile function are:

  • Inability to attain an erection despite the presence of sexual excitement and adequate sexual stimulation;
  • Loss of erection in the middle of sexual intercourse;
  • Low libido, which doesn’t allow getting a firm erection.

Can You Prevent Erection Problems?

Some factors can speed up the development of physical causes of erectile problems. They are mainly related to the lifestyle a man lives. Changing one’s attitude to his habits and preferences in daily life can help prevent or significantly delay the onset of problems with an erection. Here’s what you can do to prolong your active and healthy sexual life to the maximum:

  • Cut back on alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption has a negative impact on your heart health condition, weight, blood pressure, and the functioning of the liver and kidneys. In a complex, the negative consequences of alcohol abuse will result in impotence.
  • Give up smoking. The studies claim men who have given less than 10 years to this harmful habit have high chances for complete restoration from the impact of nicotine on the blood vessels. This means you can prevent the development of ED or mild manifestations if you refuse this habit.
  • Exclude high-cholesterol food and those rich in saturated fats from your diet. Such a step will help to make your blood vessels cleaner and stop the development of atherosclerosis – the disease that prevents normal blood supply to the penis, thus worsening your erectile function.
  • Give preference to the Mediterranean diet, which showed to be the best for men suffering from impotence. It is rich in all sorts of useful fats, vitamins, minerals, and microelements that positively influence the health of your cardiovascular system.
  • Spend at least 30 minutes a day doing aerobic exercises. This will do good for your body-mass reduction, as well as improve the blood circulatory processes.

How Are Erection Problems Diagnosed?

man with erection problems and doctor

The diagnosis of erectile dysfunction may be performed either by your physician, psychologist, or a urologist. The physician will review the facts from your medical history that might affect your ability to get and keep an erection firm, like heart disease, arterial hypertension, diabetes, and so on. Also, he/she will fulfill a physical examination of your genitals to check if the reason for your disease is the curvature of the penis (Peyronie’s disease) or the scarring processes of the skin or erectile tissues. The latter might result from penile trauma.

Besides, this doctor will ask you to pass blood and urine tests for determining the levels of sugar and sorting out the inflammatory process, if any. In case the reason is found, you’ll get the needed prescription. Yet if there are no signs of underlying medical conditions, you may be advised to visit a urologist and a psychologist.

The additional tests you might need to pass are:

  • Psychological test for evaluating your mental health condition;
  • Doppler ultrasound test to check the penile blood flow;
  • Hormone levels test to exclude hormonal imbalance.

Treating Erection Problems

How to cure erectile dysfunction at home? The natural remedies for ED give a lot of options to choose from. They include a variety of herbal products and techniques that might improve your erectile function, like:

  • Panax Ginseng helps the improvement of the flow of blood to the penis and has an anti-inflammatory effect;
  • Acupuncture. The studies show that by impacting certain acupuncture points, the firmness and the duration of erection in men with ED can improve;
  • L-arginine is a natural amino acid promoting the secretion of nitric oxide, which plays one of the main roles in erectile function.

In case the natural remedies for erection problems don’t give the desired result, it’s time to consider some more radical ways of managing your problems below the belt. The medicines that are considered most effective in this regard are generic Viagra, generic Cialis, and generic Levitra. They all come in tablet form. After the pill ingestion, you’ll be able to attain a firm and lasting erection within 30 – 60 minutes. However, the results of such a treatment are temporary. Generic Levitra usually lasts for 5 – 6 hours, Viagra – for 4 – 5 hours (in some men, up to 12 hours). Generic Cialis lasts longer – up to 36 hours.

Men who have difficulties swallowing tablets or just want to speed up the onset of the effects of the medicines may try taking Kamagra Oral Jelly.

Our selection of ED pills:

When to Call Your Doctor?

You should call a doctor once you start noticing that your failures in bed became systematic. By delaying a visit to the doctor’s office, you give way to the exacerbation of the disease and its growing severer. The sooner you contact your GP, the sooner you get the needed recommendations and health examination.

The treatment of erectile dysfunction should always be discussed with a healthcare specialist. It doesn’t matter whether you take natural remedies only or use ED pills, as caution is needed anyway.

Get Effective Remedies to Cope with Erection Problems at Home

Getting effective treatment for ED problems is crucial for any man because this health issue has a significant impact on the emotional condition of a person, his self-esteem, and his interpersonal relations with a partner. However, facing such a challenge, one shouldn’t give in to the problem. Online pharmacies offer a diverse selection of ED pills, gels, and sublingual tablets. They are highly efficacious for erectile dysfunction of any severity. Don’t stay alone with your problem. Talk to your sexual partner about it and visit a doctor. Although incurable, impotence is manageable, so don’t refuse a chance for healthy and active sexual life.

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