Questions About Life Between a Broken IPP and Revision Surgery

[CarbonBurrito]

Hey everyone,
I’m hoping to hear from guys who’ve experienced a mechanical failure with their IPP and had to wait for a revision surgery. Revision is something that I'm sure everyone is afraid of when contemplating an implant. In most cases, t seems like something that's not "if" but "when."

I’m trying to understand what that in-between period is actually like. A few things I’ve been wondering:

- Were you still able to have orgasms even though the implant wasn’t working?

- Was penetrative sex (PIV) still possible at all?

- What about oral, manual stimulation, or any form of intimacy during that time?

- What kind of pain or discomfort did you deal with while waiting?

- For those who had to pay out of pocket originally, did insurance cover the revision, or did you get hit with another major bill?

If you’ve gone through this, I’d really appreciate hearing what the experience was like and anything you wish you had known ahead of time.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[ColoplastTitanUpOver]

Revisions are fortunately very uncommon. Only about 1% of patients ever need one, according to my surgeon and I trust him. I absolutely respect and appreciate your questions, but this is not something I would be overly concerned about. The technology keeps improving at a rapid pace, and we have already come a long way, with even more exciting advances on the horizon in the years ahead. Do not let the 1% revision posts become a bottleneck for the other 99% of your life. Revisions are just a 1% problem. Just my two cents.

[PowerliftingDad]

See my story.
I was very fortunate to still have PIV intimacy with a failed implant.

viewtopic.php?t=21371

[NYCGay]

My Coloplast Titan OTR failed on October 18, after only four and a half years. Dr. Eid concluded that a tube to the pump has broken, and said that this has happened to 8% of the Titan OTRs that he has put in guys. I’m now scheduled for revision surgery on December 19. So I’m in that period between failure and revision you are asking about right now. Here are my answers to your questions. Others might have other experiences.

I thankfully have no difficulty getting myself off, but not even jerking off is as fun as it was when I could get hard.

I’m gay, so I don’t have PIV sex, but I’m pretty sure any kind of penetrative sex would be impossible for me now.

As for oral, yeah, of course it would be possible for someone to take my limp dick in their mouth, but I haven’t tried to make it happen. It just doesn’t feel appealing; I don’t feel sexy without a hard-on. The only kind of sex I’ve engaged in since the failure is quickly jerking off while my husband caresses me. It gets me off, but it’s not very satisfying.

Pain or discomfort: none. I can’t pump it up; that’s all.

With due respect to ColoplastTitanUpOver, I think the 1% lifetime error rate might be a little too optimistic. A quick Google search shows the 10-year survival rate of IPPs to be around 77% and the 20-year survival rate around 53%. (I haven’t examined the sources.) Based on those numbers, it’s likely that you will need to get at least one revision in your life if you get an implant at your current age of 46.

While it’s true that the technology keeps advancing, it doesn’t always seem to be the case that newer models are more durable than older ones. The Titan OTR is a later model than the Titan Classic, but according to Dr. Eid, the OTR has a much higher failure rate. (I’m getting the Classic this time.)

If I hadn’t been able to afford the revision surgery, I would have been utterly depressed right now. But since I know that I will get this fixed and that I will be able to resume the kind of sex life I had before the failure, it’s no disaster. It’s a drag to have to put sex on hold for three months, but I have something to look forward to.

So, in conclusion, if your insurance covers revision surgery, or if you have the means to pay for it out of pocket, then I don’t think the risk of implant failure should hold you back.