Where to start?

[sidb416]

Hi All,

Is there like an FAQ on here or a “start here” for someone who is just starting to research implants? I can't seem to find much online anywhere but this forum obviously has a ton of info.

I am 36 and I’ve had pretty moderate to sometimes severe ED for about 10 years. Never seriously thought about an implant.

From what I gather:

1. Once implanted, there is a risk that you may not have natural erections, as the erectile tissue is damaged.
2. So, I would need to keep getting broken pumps replaced etc, for the rest of my life. If I get an implant?
3. Also I am on the smaller end. I may have lost a bit from the ED. I am about 4.7 inches on a good day, and girth wise a bit over 3-3.2 inches. Could I even get an implant??

Thanks a ton in advance!

Sid

[hopeful_future]

Don't know if there's a FAQ per se, but folks are usually happy to answer any questions. Your real first stop should be your primary care physician, followed by a urologist, possibly an endocrinologist, and finally a urologist that specializes in implants (if boner pills and other interventions don't work). Talk to your doc.

1) Once implanted, you are very unlikely to have a natural erection for the rest of your life. Some people have some engorgement still post-surgery, but that won't inflate the tubes they put in your dick.

2) Yes, you would need revisions every 5-15 years or so. Seems to be a complete dice roll on how long it will be. It's just going to fail at some point, and you'll need it fixed in surgery.

3) You could probably get a an AMS700 CXR, which is made shorter and narrower than most of the other options.

Keep on thinking it through, talk with your doc, and folks here can help answer additional questions or give non-medical opinions about whether your doctor has any idea what they're talking about (many docs don't because it's a rare procedure). If there are other interventions besides an implant, it is most definitely worth looking into those first. This is a permanent procedure and comes with some risks and downsides.

Best of luck, friend!

[Lost Sheep]

Sid416, welcome to the forum.

Hi All,

Is there like an FAQ on here or a “start here” for someone who is just starting to research implants? I can't seem to find much online anywhere but this forum obviously has a ton of info.

You will get answers to your questions from current members and they will trickle in over the next couple of weeks.

If you want to get answers much quicker and some answers that you may never get (because some members are no longer active) I recommend what I did when I first joined FrankTalk. I took a couple weekends to read through a few years of posts/threads with titles that interested me and appeared informative. It will give you a better basis for forming questions and understanding the answers.

This knowledge will also help get your medical team to accept you as a contributing partner in the decision-making.

There is an acronym list in the "General Discussion" forum
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9123
which will help you get the terminology we commonly use.

I am 36 and I’ve had pretty moderate to sometimes severe ED for about 10 years. Never seriously thought about an implant.

If your ED is intermittent an implant is premature (in my opinion). Implant is irreversible and best reservd for those whose E.D. is intractable. If intermittent, that means there is something causing it which is not there all the time. If you can find that "thing" and treat it, no need for an implant. As good as an implant it, it is not a cure. It is a darned good treatment, but nothing beats a fully functional penis for satisfying sex. I will admit my implanted penis does get close but there are risks and costs to consider also and some things a natural penis has you will never get back.

From what I gather:

1. Once implanted, there is a risk that you may not have natural erections, as the erectile tissue is damaged.

Correct
Do not jump to an implant right away. Implant does not cure E.D. If virtually guarantees 100% impotence until you inflate.

During the operation the surgeon inserts a dilation tool into your Tunica Albuginea (the structure that gets inflated by your blood, much like those nylon tubes they blow air into in front of car dealerships and other stores). Insdie the Tunica is your corpus cavernosum. Blood flow into that spongy tissue is vital to the erection. During the implant operation a dilation tool is inserted, which traumatizes or damages that tissue. Some surgeons even remove the cavernosum tissue entirely. Some use a "tusse-sparing" technique which may or may not retain some erectile ability, but it is rare and hardly guaranteed. Essentially you will be rendered totally dependent on the implant for erections for the rest of your life.

If you could struggle through a 9 minute mile on your own feet, would you opt for prosthetic feet that enabled a 4 minute mile, but if (when) they failed, would leave you in a wheelchair until undergoing another surgery?

That is essentially what an implant does. So, it is usually reserved for men already in that wheelchair.

2. So, I would need to keep getting broken pumps replaced etc, for the rest of my life. If I get an implant?

Yep. Hopefuture said it very well

3. Also I am on the smaller end. I may have lost a bit from the ED. I am about 4.7 inches on a good day, and girth wise a bit over 3-3.2 inches. Could I even get an implant??

Sure, no problem. Your external penis measurement is somewhat irrelevant to the implant size. It is the internal measure (from the bottom of your pelvic crus to the tip of your penis (the inside, of course, which is a little bit short of the outer tip)

Thanks a ton in advance!

You are most welcome.

Please navigate to the "Signature" part of your FrankTalk profile and fill in a few details. They will inform anyone who reads your posts in this thread or other threads of some of your particulars which will help us help you.

p.s. If you do not get erections at least once every day or two (nocturnal erections do count, as do erections you can get yourself manually and make last several minutes) you might consider a VED (Vacuum Erection Device). It has been demonstrated to help maintain penile size (increase-not so much, but keeping size is pretty good) by inducing erections artificially It also pulls blood into and out of your penis which keeps tissues there healthy. The VED therapy is not for sex, so no constriction rings should be applied, but intermittent inflation (by suction) and deflation flushes healthy blood through your tissues, and keeps them elastic, stretchy and the same size as what nature gave you. And you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on medical-grade VEDs. A vacuum is a vacuum and any device that can form a seal comfortably and is easy for you to control will do.

[irishguy]

Hey sid so the guys have covered a lot for you already!! So just afew questions what do you mean by moderate to severe Ed?? Like can you get a fully functioning erections sometimes? have you gone to docs or urologists, if so what have they said??
When you say you have never really thought of an implant is that because some pill or injection works??

[Gt1956]

As for length, I just checked. AMS makes a 12cm long implant. Using the common accepted implant to external penis lenght ratio. This could mean a penis length of 8cm could be implanted. If a guy had a deep crus, maybe even a bit shorter than 8cm.
In my opinion, the implant companies have made their products to fit the majority of the men in the world. Despite huge length claims. I'm sure that there is some surgery technics to at least get very close for those few men. Probably on girth there is fewer surgery technics but good implant selection, a good surgeon & dedicated pumping should get you really close also.
When faced with the certainty of the long term effects of ED. Fear of length/girth loss needs to be balanced.

[sidb416]

Hey sid so the guys have covered a lot for you already!! So just afew questions what do you mean by moderate to severe Ed?? Like can you get a fully functioning erections sometimes? have you gone to docs or urologists, if so what have they said??
When you say you have never really thought of an implant is that because some pill or injection works??

Hi there, they suspect I have venous leak . Honestly, it all started after I stopped Propecia, about 10 years ago. I can get an erection, with manual stimulation but loose it fast when not stimulated. And its not hard enough for penetration. The pills allow for bigger erections but still hard to maintain. I haven't tried injections yet. My hormone profile also looks okay, according to the endocrinologists that I've seen.

Thanks for the warm welcome hopeful_future, Lost Sheep, Irishguy and Gt1956. Really appreciate the detailed responses and questions. Lots of good info and good food for thought. Really glad to have discovered this forum!

[smphead]

Hey sid so the guys have covered a lot for you already!! So just afew questions what do you mean by moderate to severe Ed?? Like can you get a fully functioning erections sometimes? have you gone to docs or urologists, if so what have they said??
When you say you have never really thought of an implant is that because some pill or injection works??

Hi there, they suspect I have venous leak . Honestly, it all started after I stopped Propecia, about 10 years ago. I can get an erection, with manual stimulation but loose it fast when not stimulated. And its not hard enough for penetration. The pills allow for bigger erections but still hard to maintain. I haven't tried injections yet. My hormone profile also looks okay, according to the endocrinologists that I've seen.

Thanks for the warm welcome hopeful_future, Lost Sheep, Irishguy and Gt1956. Really appreciate the detailed responses and questions. Lots of good info and good food for thought. Really glad to have discovered this forum!

Welcome Sidb416.,

Yes propecia is one of the most common causes of ED.
Do you have some curvature to the left?
Hope you will find your solution.

[irishguy]

Hey sib, so when you say they think it’s a venous leak was that just a doctor if so you need to research a good urologist close to you and get the doctor to organise a consultation with that uro. Then from there tests will be done to prove you have venous leak also you will be put on injections and or muse and if you decide you will be offered to have venous ligation surgery which I got this done and from what I get from most people on here and my urologist at the time is a waste of time!! If all that doesn’t work your real only option is implant.. or if injections work for you, you have a decision to keep injecting or go for the implant..