FrankTalk.org

Glad to be back to the forums, even if it's taken a pandemic to give me the time.

For those who don't know I'm a young guy, 20 years old, and I had an AMS LGX installed by Dr. Karpman in October of last year. So I've had my implant for over six months now. I've been impressed and very pleased with the results. There is still pain when I have it inflated for a while, and some when I have sex, but it's much less than it used to be, and living without ED has just been such a burden lifted off my mind.

All the posts and topics about implant failures have just got me thinking/worrying about it again. This was one of my chief concerns prior to being implanted. Karpman said that these newer implants should last me a good 10-15 years and he seemed pretty confident about this statement. Eid gives the same number on his website.

Eid says that, like any mechanical devices, the more the implant is used the faster it will wear down. He says average use is considered to be 1 to 2 times per week. I followed Dr. Karpman's twice daily inflate protocol for the first 4 months. He only instructed me to do it for three months, but he said it wouldn't hurt to cycle for a while after. For the past two and a half months or so I have been very consistently inflating and deflating my implant leaving it inflated for 30 min to an hour.

Should I stop this? I don't have a girlfriend right now and what with the pandemic, probably won't be getting one anytime soon. There is no reason I need to inflate/deflate my implant daily. Should I cut back to only inflating once or twice a week? Or given that I've still only had it for ~7 months, should I keep regularly cycling for a while longer?


Eid also said this about AMS implant faliures:

The AMS silicone cylinders are more fragile than the Bioflex Coloplast cylinders and are the most likely cause of failure of this brand of implant. Failure occurs because of repeated bending of the deflated cylinders at the location of folds and not at the point where the cylinders are connected to the non-inflatable proximal portion.

During sex, I often have to bend my penis somewhat (it is curved downwards at 30 degrees) especially if I'm in missionary for example. This was initially very painful but is getting much more comfortable. Is bending the inflated penis at the base to "fit" into various positions a strong concern? I imagine most men have to do this to have sex in various positions, even those with completely straight penises.

Obviously, when my penis is deflated, the cylinders are bent downwards at the floor under my pants. There's nothing that can be done about this I guess, it's just upsetting that I'm essentially causing wear on my implant every day by simply standing and wearing clothes.


Any insight or recommendation on this topic would be appreciated. I really want to get the most out of this thing. If it failed in 10 years I would be satisfied with it's life, but it if it quits on me significantly before that I'm gonna be pretty upset.

WindWizard wrote:Obviously, when my penis is inflated, the cylinders are bent downwards at the floor under my pants. There's nothing that can be done about this I guess, it's just upsetting that I'm essentially causing wear on my implant every day by simply standing and wearing clothes.
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Do you mean, "Obviously, when my penis is inflated." or "Obviously, when my penis is deflated,"?

When my penis is inflated, it points slightly upward (as did my natural erection, though the natural erection pointed a bit higher at its best).

When my penis is deflated, it points up against my belly because I wear underwear that keeps it so.

I do this (when deflated, pointed up as much as possible) not just for the reasons that are your concern but primarily so any tissue (normal tissue stretching or scar tissue formation) will keep the orientation of my bits upward, where my lover and I like them.

The reason we cycle our implants is to regain any length we may have lost. For example, I lost about 2.5" over a number of years due to having long term ED, mostly from having my prostate removed, and some from Peyronies Disease. My surgeon said it could take as much as two years of daily cycling to maximize my size. I ended up just slightly over my lifelong length well before that. If you are satisfied with your size, it seems there is not specific reason for cycling.

You are young so your perspective is likely different from mine. I just turned 64 and had ED for 30 years before a great doctor finally got me the test to diagnose a Venous Leak. Up until then no doctors cared enough to figure out what the problem was. Now I feel like I am making up for all those lost years so I use my implant every day for sex or masturbation, and sometimes both. The entire reason I got it was to enjoy it and I am. I would feel it was a waste if I have it and did not use it as much as I wanted to. I do understand for your age that you are thinking more about how many future replacements you might need. That is a valid concern. Each one of us who gets an implant has to weigh and balance our desire for sex versus the desire to preserve the implant for a longer time. There isn't a correct answer.

Just my own history: I inflated my implant several times a week, and it lasted 12 years;

Not something I am worrying about. This thing is getting inflated when I want to. Due to hernia surgery deflating my reservoir I am 2 weeks into my 1st revision. Less than a year on my titan.

I hope this one lasts longer and I will not let another surgeon near my implant unless they have a urologist with them to explain where stuff is.

An implant was it for me. As about the only way I could get an erection before the implant was literally 2 popsicle sticks and duct tape.

Lost Sheep wrote:Do you mean, "Obviously, when my penis is inflated." or "Obviously, when my penis is deflated,"?

When my penis is inflated, it points slightly upward (as did my natural erection, though the natural erection pointed a bit higher at its best).

When my penis is deflated, it points up against my belly because I wear underwear that keeps it so.

I do this (when deflated, pointed up as much as possible) not just for the reasons that are your concern but primarily so any tissue (normal tissue stretching or scar tissue formation) will keep the orientation of my bits upward, where my lover and I like them.

Yes, my apologies, I mistyped. I meant when my penis is deflated.

Interesting... I was not instructed on how to orient my penis when deflated and I am wondering how I should orient. It feels much more natural to have it pointing downwards, but this is likely due to the curve, and I wonder if keeping my penis pointed downwards in my underwear for most of the day is perhaps a factor in keeping the curve present.

Dr. Karpman said that eventually my penis should straighten out pretty well overtime and thru cycling, and many users on here have made posts documenting this gradual straightening overtime. Half a year later and I have not seen any straightening yet, it's as curved as it was after implantation.

I just wonder if I should be keeping my penis pointed upwards to stretch tissues in that direction and help with straightening out the curve... It doesn't exactly feel natural for the cylinders tho, they want to point downwards, I would hope that pointing them up wouldn't cause stress that could contribute to early malfunction...

David_R wrote:Just my own history: I inflated my implant several times a week, and it lasted 12 years;

Thank you David! That is great to hear! I'm glad you got a good service life out of your implant, I hope I am as fortunate as you were!

Greg1956 wrote:The reason we cycle our implants is to regain any length we may have lost. For example, I lost about 2.5" over a number of years due to having long term ED, mostly from having my prostate removed, and some from Peyronies Disease. My surgeon said it could take as much as two years of daily cycling to maximize my size. I ended up just slightly over my lifelong length well before that. If you are satisfied with your size, it seems there is not specific reason for cycling.

You are young so your perspective is likely different from mine. I just turned 64 and had ED for 30 years before a great doctor finally got me the test to diagnose a Venous Leak. Up until then no doctors cared enough to figure out what the problem was. Now I feel like I am making up for all those lost years so I use my implant every day for sex or masturbation, and sometimes both. The entire reason I got it was to enjoy it and I am. I would feel it was a waste if I have it and did not use it as much as I wanted to. I do understand for your age that you are thinking more about how many future replacements you might need. That is a valid concern. Each one of us who gets an implant has to weigh and balance our desire for sex versus the desire to preserve the implant for a longer time. There isn't a correct answer.

Interesting... two years of cycling is much longer than Dr. Karpman instructed me to continue with a cycling regimen...

You are correct, there is no correct answer and that's what can be frustrating about this. It seems from reading many posts by various users that some people are fortunate to have their implants last for well over a decade with very frequent use, while others break in 5 or 6 years with minimal use... I wish I had more information to know how best to extend my implant...

But I definitely understand your perspective as well. I got the implant to use it, so I shouldn't be afraid to use it. Finding that balance will just be the trick.

Thank you for your input!

WindWizard wrote: I wish I had more information to know how best to extend my implant...

But I definitely understand your perspective as well. I got the implant to use it, so I shouldn't be afraid to use it. Finding that balance will just be the trick.

Thank you for your input!

I guess since we don't have the scientific data you are really looking for the best advice I can offer is this.

1. My wife and I get full enjoyment from sex with the implant pumped to about 75-80% of maximum inflation. We do this because it is the most comfortable for both of us, but it also means fewer pumps which equals less wear on the pump.

2. I can masturbate to orgasm without any inflation, but get more enjoyment from it with at least 5 pumps. Again, the less you are using the pump and squeezing the fluid from your cylinders, the longer it SHOULD last.

On the plus side, you are young enough to maybe experience some future advances in penile prosthetic equipment. who knows? maybe it will be a matter of hitting a remote control and BAM! there it is.