Scared about implants

[steveking]

I think this may be the path i need to do. But i want to be sure. Should I talk to dr eid for consultation and go from it?

Also, why are there so many people with revision within few years or even months? I am a young guy and cant afford to do this like 20 times.

[newbie443]

This is a choice that only you can make. No one should or can make it for you. The good thing about that is that as only you can make that choice then it is the right one. You can't be wrong.

The reason you see so many problems on this site is that men who do not have have problems do not look for this site. Some men come across this site looking for answers but a lot of those answers are for problems. This site is a very small percentage of men with ED.

As far as Doctor recommendations there are many very good ones around the US. The thing to remember is if you travel is that you give up follow up care most all the time. And that no doctor is perfect. You reduce your chances of problems with a very good doctor that does one implant surgery every 2 weeks or more. But even the big name doctors talked about on this site have men that have problems. So I recommend looking local first for a really good doctor. Then if you find none you trust for this then you can expand your search. Looking for the right doctor can take some time and some do just skip that and go to a big name doctor mentioned on this site. Again this is your choice so it cannot be wrong.

Good luck with this.

[Quincy]

I was scared, too, when I heard this my be my only choice for having a sex life. I'd never heard about it before and it seemed too extreme. But with my doctor's help, I tried everything else and nothing worked well. Sometimes super trimix would make it possible for me to get hard enough to get started, but usually not to finish.

I've had my implant 3 years now and wish I'd done it sooner. The feelings I get are great, I can be hard whenever I want and for as long as I want. Sex can go on for hours and I never have to worry about getting done too soon and not being able to finish for my partner.

As discussed above, people come here mainly because they are having problems. Most don't return once the problem is fixed. Those that stay here like to help others, like to chat, enjoy learning and interaction, and/or are close to the subject material. I've interacted with a lot of men here and most just stay long enough to work out their problem. So you'll have more problems here, but more men that have experience, as well.

IMO, you should educate yourself as much as possible about the implants, doctors, and options available to you. Some men are happy with VEDs and constriction rings, pills, or injections. These didn't work for me, and I chose to be able to have a hard dick rather than just giving up. Glad I did.

From what I've heard, the average length of time before revision is needed is 12 years. Some are much shorter than that, some longer. Some guys need a revision almost as soon as they heal, as the doctor didn't do a great job. Find the best doctor you can, one you are comfortable with in process, implant selection, low infection rate. I traveled 700 miles to get to the doctor I wanted rather than do it locally, and if I had it to do over again, I would do it the same.

If you want to talk about implants in detail or decisions, drop me a PM.

Quincy

[Lost Sheep]

I think this may be the path i need to do. But i want to be sure. Should I talk to dr eid for consultation and go from it?

Also, why are there so many people with revision within few years or even months? I am a young guy and cant afford to do this like 20 times.

I emailed with Dr Eid before my decisions. He is a true boon to his profession and a very caring individual. Yes, he will give you good advice (based on how he treated me).

"So many people" is a relative measure. Many men with implants drop out of the forum, not needing much from it any more. That leaves the men who do need advice, including those whose implants fail. Plus men whose implants work well who just hang around to give advice or swap stories. You can't draw a lot of statistical conclusions from the sampling here. Better to research the Medical Journal papers and studies you can find on-line (from legitimate peer-reviewed professional journal articles, not necessarily popular press and certainly not tabloid-quality journalism).

Most implants which fail seem to fail early on or last 10-12 years. Early failures may be due to manufacturing defects or improper surgical installation. Like automobiles. A few are lemons and break early. Most that pass that "break-in" period last a long time.

Put another way, When a ship is first built and launched, it us usually taken on a "shakedown cruise" so the crew can find any defects in the engines or other systems. So it is with an implant. A ship that gets through its shakedown cruise with no trouble is likely to have no trouble for a very long time.

Yes, you should be SURE before getting an implant.

Knowledge is power. It dispels fear, confusion and is a powerful tool against frustration. I spent nearly two years researching. Sadly, a lot of it was wasted before I was shown where to find FrankTalk. But when I did, I spent a weekend reading through a couple years of posts on all the forums in FrankTalk, spending time on any that looked relevant. You will 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 gained a "feel" for the E.D. problems that plagued me for over 3 decades and learned a lot about the various solutions and treatments.

If you are at the point that you have nothing erectile to lose, your decision is made and you have no reason to fear the outcome of the surgery.  Risk of infection or making things worse is minimal and can be reduced by study to select the right surgeon.

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

Remember that an implant is not a cure, but it is a darned good treatment. Not perfect. But the best we have at the moment if nothing else works.

In the pantheon of treatments, implant is the one that is guaranteed to be irreversible and irretrievably destroy what erectile ability you still have. So do not go into it lightly, but only when no other treatment is satisfactory. If a true cure were to be discovered the day after you are implanted, it will do you no good once the implant operation has destroyed, damaged or compromised those erectile tissues (corpora cavernosum inside the tunica albuginea). Only go to an implant if there is nothing to go back to.

Whatever your path to restored function, I recommend documenting your size (length and girth) by careful measurement and photographs. Make sure your measurement protocol is repeatable (you will want to measure after surgery also). The most widely used measurement is to press a measuring tool against your pubic bone just above your penis, compressing the pubic fat pad as much as possible and measuring (straight) to the tip of your penis (not following the curve around to the tip, but just straight out like a shoe store measures your foot to the tip of your toe - but you can follow the curve of your penis' shaft.) Girth is measurement of circumference at the midpoint of your penis. Some choose to find the girthiest part, instead. Usually the two points are the same or very close.

​​​​​​​An implant is non-reversible and will render you unable to get an erection without it. An implant does not cure E.D. It guarantees 100% impotence until you inflate. 

If you could struggle through a 10 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 you have another surgery?

Implant is not a cure.  It is a treatment.  A very good one, but not a cure.  A natural erection if far superior in many ways, so if a treatment that is less invasive, destructive and flawed than an implant will work for you, take it.  Most treatments do not leave you permanently changed as an implant does.  But if NOTHING is available, then do consider an implant

My implant is VERY much to my liking. Deciding to get it was not a struggle for me at all. (Finding the right surgeon was, but the decision was easy - it was essentially made FOR me by my dysfunctioning penis.)

[defiant]

I think this may be the path i need to do. But i want to be sure. Should I talk to dr eid for consultation and go from it?

Also, why are there so many people with revision within few years or even months? I am a young guy and cant afford to do this like 20 times.

What are you basing your comment about so many people having revisions on? What you read online? What you read on Franktalk?

Try to remember that the people who get a bad result or have a bad experience will often go online, perhaps with an axe to grind, and try to find the biggest resource to do with the matter that has upset them, in this case, a poorly installed implant.

The vast majority, the vast, vast majority will get a great result and just get on with life. As such, you won’t hear from them.

But people WILL venture online to complain. And they will steal the spotlight.

I actually think it’s testament to just how good and reliable implants are that even here online, there are many, many good reports and happy patients!