Almost 2 years ago, we started offering low intensity shockwave therapy as an additional treatment option for men suffering with erectile dysfunction. Approximately 70% of the men with mild ED noticed significant improvement in their erections and a portion were cured of their ED completely, meaning they no longer met the criteria for ED. For many of the men with severe ED who were inadequately responsive to pills or injections, shockwave therapy resulted in good erections when the pills or injections were used.
Although 70% of men using Viagra typically see improvement in their ED, many of these men experience negative side effects, such as facial flushing, blood shot eyes, heart burn, nasal stuffiness and vision changes. Also, quite a few of my patients dislike the fact that they must take a pill whenever they want an erection.
The shockwave therapy procedure, which is non-surgical, painless and potentially curative, involves putting a probe against a man’s penis and then sending pressure waves through it. It is known that the pressure waves increase blood flow, although the mechanism by which this occurs is not yet clear.
At Maze, we use the Storz Duolith machine which has excellent data from trials for ED in many places throughout the world where it is approved and used widely. It’s currently FDA-approved for other purposes in the United States and is still undergoing trials for the treatment of ED.
It’s very exciting to see these kinds of results among my patients, as shockwave therapy is the first technique that specifically tries to reverse erectile dysfunction caused by arterial disease.
Many of our men have gone on to have spontaneous erections not needing either pills or injections.
If you’re experiencing ED and would like to find out if this procedure is right for you, contact us for more information.
