New Member but VERY experienced ED sufferer!

[wallyworld]

Hi all,

My signature below tells my history so I'll jump right to my current situation and immediate questions. I can still get chubbies without medicine and partial (not suitable for intercourse) erections using WAY too much Mega-quad mix. But sex life sucks for me and my wife of 23 years so I've opted to get an AMS LGX implant with the flat reservoir. I selected the AMS Conceal (flat) reservoir for aesthetic reasons (I assume that's the purpose) but I haven't yet confirmed that's the benefit or the only benefit. Any guidance there would be helpful.

I selected the LGX because of the 25% increase in length and girth (as advertised on the AMS website) and because, per AMS, "It most closely mimics a natural erection, provides rigidity when inflated and a natural, flaccid appearance when deflated". But despite a lot of reading here and from other sources, I remain unclear whether the the LGX (example assumes an uninflated 18 cm device) is implanted at 22.5 cm and shrinks to 18 cm or is implanted at 18 cm and grows to 22.5 cm plus 25% girth expansion. In example of my confusion, this quote is from the AMS site "Answers the #1 complaint of men who have ED – loss of penile length – with up to 25% in length expansion depending on patient’s anatomy". So let's say you shrunk to 5 inches pre-surgery. If they implant you with the LGX uninflated, I can see where you could expand the tissue over time and get back to your original length or greater because the device can expand 25%. Conversely, if they implant you with an inflated (includes the 25% expansion) LGX at your current length of 5 inches, you don't have the ability to gain any length back. Hence my confusion.

I REALLY want to understand it before I go under the knife this fall. Does AMS have a customer support service? I don't see anything on their website. Keeping my original length, not measured yet, is my goal. Additional length is simply a bonus.

I have several future consultations with my surgeon before the actual surgery; he also did my RP. I want to be certain both he and I understand EXACTLY what I can expect. I did not lose any length with my RP, or none that I noticed, and I continued to be able to have erections until I added Afib to my list of successfully acquired diseases so I trust this guy completely. My wife who is a nurse anesthetist worked with him and knows his work which is why I went with him for the RP and will go with him for the implant. He takes his time to do it right. In comparison, I interviewed Dr. Catalona, the "father of the PSA test" who does a huge number of RPs and rejected him because I felt that I would simply be a sack of meat on the table and he wouldn't make that extra effort to ensure that I could still get an erection and not end up incontinent. Just why I made that decision and now this one and not meant as any indictment of Catalona. He is likely a fine surgeon, just not for me.

Hope this is clear. Any positive suggestions, thoughts welcome.

Mark

[dg_moore]

25% increase in length or girth does not mean your implanted erect penis will be 25% longer or thicker than your natural erect penis. It just means that the implant is designed to expand internally as far as your individual anatomy will permit, which is not the same thing. An implant will not give you more length or girth than you were born with, unless it's correcting a disease process such as Peyronies.

[wallyworld]

Thanks for the quick reply. My confusion lies, and remains, in trying to understand the benefit of the ability to expand 25% but with that expansion being limited to what nature gave me. So if I am sized for a 22.5 cm max, why not just implant a 22.5 non-expandable? If we implant a 22.5 cm LGX then what happens to the 22.5 cm device, or more importantly to my dick, when it is deflated? Going to look like a nub as the device pulls the glans down into the shaft? Similarly, if we implant the maximum length device, in this example 22.5 then I there could be no tissue expansion possible. Although I wouldn't get any more length, the shrinkage to 18 cm may be what gives this device a more natural flaccid look?

I have read several medical articles recently in my journey that state tissue expansion is possible with implants. But I want to be clear, I am not suggesting a 25% expansion of the tissue is possible; I'm just trying to understand this device and what to expect when I own it!

Mark

[DougAnd]

Mark,
My implant is scheduled for Aug 8th with an AMS 700 LGX. I spent 4 years in research and 4 surgeons to get to this point. Also I have an AMS RN on my implant team. During surgery the inside of your penis will be stretched and measured. This should equal your current erection length. The implant will be a flaccid LGX. It will expand up to 25%. if your now erection has shrunk from your original erection and you have not lost the elasticity then you will see some growth in theory. I used a $20 vacuum pump for 2 months and stretched my penis from less then 5 and a half to more then 7 inches. Now I'm having the surgery. I don't think my implant will take up all 7. Right now if I take a really hot bath for 30 min and then stretch my penis like crazy I only get 6 and a half. So I expect that the LGX can only lengthen about half and inch more because that is all that I have. As for your flaccid length, everything that I read says that in a year your resting penis will be about 1 inch shorter than your fully inflated. But I don't know, just theory I haven't been there done that yet.DougAnd