How to prepare for an implant before the surgery

[PeaceofPain07]

Hi Guys,
My doctor told me there's nothing I can do to prepare pre-op for the surgery. However, I ran into some posts of people recommending using vacuum pumps before the surgery.

Is it nonsense?
If not, how early should one do it before the surgery?
How long should it be done?
Should it be fully inflated the whole time, or cycled (inflate,deflate, repeat)
Do I still need to use the vacuum post-surgery?

If all 5 of these questions have been answered here somewhere, please just link me.

[newbie443]

If you have lost size VED use can help in some cases. There is a paper in the General Discussion section of this forum under a pined thread Documents Worth Reading List. https://file.scirp.org/pdf/ASM_2013012514045982.pdf Lots of other good information to read in that thread.

[PeaceofPain07]

Thank you for sharing that link. I read the study. Pretty much answered all my questions.

Sounds like it's not nonsense, vacuum at least 2 weeks prior to surgery up to 2 months, for 10 minutes daily, inflate only up to where a slight burn is felt, stay inflated for the whole 10 minutes instead of cycling inflating/deflating.

[Lost Sheep]

Hi Guys,
If not, how early should one do it before the surgery?
How long should it be done?

The first two weeks of VED protocol produce the greatest results, but 60 days was recommended in the paper cited by newbie443. I cycled for 14 months with no ill effects (no gains, either, but then I started cycling before I lost any size to ED.) I took that long because I was still getting authorization from the VA and searching for the best surgeon I could find.

Hi Guys,
Do I still need to use the vacuum post-surgery?

It used to be thought to be dangerous to use a VED over an implanted penis. Thoughts are changing on that front. I worry about separating the penile tissues from the implant and risking an abcess. I have heard no reports of such happening, but I err on the side of caution.

Thank you for sharing that link. I read the study. Pretty much answered all my questions.
Sounds like it's not nonsense, vacuum at least 2 weeks prior to surgery up to 2 months, for 10 minutes daily, inflate only up to where a slight burn is felt, stay inflated for the whole 10 minutes instead of cycling inflating/deflating.

Hi Guys,
Should it be fully inflated the whole time, or cycled (inflate,deflate, repeat)

There was a paper (sorry, do not have the link handy) recommending cycling, with the reasoning centered around flushing blood through the penile tissues.

I feel that the 30 minute protocol 60 days prior to surgery using the inflate-deflate in 60 second cycles is best. Carefully avoiding over-pumping. My reasoning: The inflate-deflate cycles of naturally occurring nocturnal erections a couple times a night are meant to be emulated by the VED protocol. The VED cycling actually pulls blood (with its accompanying oxygen and nutrients) into the penis tissues. Granted, some of it is venous rather than arterial blood, but something is better than nothing. The paper linked to in newbie44's post is one I followed in 2017 until someone posted another protocol which recommended the cycling.