MEN'S HEALTH
When the penis makes a curve ...
Almost every tenth man has a curvature in the penis. This can be quite painful when severe - and is extremely uncomfortable for many. What you can do about it
Pia Kruckenhauser
May 22, 2023, 06:00
People have a certain idea about the penis. When erect, it should be straight, and its length and girth should be visually appealing. But by far not all men meet these supposedly ideal criteria. After all, in every tenth man the penis curves in the course of life. The technical term for this is induratio penis plastica, or acquired penile curvature. "The cause is usually injuries that occur during sexual intercourse," explains Franklin Kuehhas, a specialist in andrology and urology and a specialist in surgical penile correction.
A single injury is not sufficient in itself for the development of a curvature, in normal cases it is caused by many small incidents. For example, the corpus cavernosum is easily injured when one slips during sex, and during healing a kind of scar, lump or plaque is formed. This area is then less elastic than the surrounding erectile tissue. During erection, this knot or plaque can no longer expand - and the penis curves. The larger such nodes are, the less elastic the corpus cavernosum is and the greater the deformation. In extreme cases, this can amount to more than 90 degrees.
But other deformations can also occur. For example, an indentation like an hourglass can form, or the front part of the penis narrows, creating a kind of bottleneck. "Since the deformation increases with the number of injuries, men in their mid-40s are usually affected by the more pronounced forms. But the problem starts earlier," Kuehhas knows.
Physical and mental pain
The more pronounced the deformation, the more pain it can cause, and there are also problems with penetration. And the psychosexual burden is enormous: "Many affected people are simply no longer happy with their genitals when they become deformed like this. They then seek less sexuality, and as a result there is also less intimacy. But the subject is heavily tabooed," says the expert. Those affected usually suffer in silence, and very few seek help - also because it is not talked about and many do not even know that they are not the only ones with the problem and that there are also solutions.
But why does this deformity occur in the first place? After all, almost all men suffer minimal penis injuries during sexual intercourse again and again. Why does the member only bend in around ten percent of cases? A major cause is probably genetics, says Kuehhas. Many of those affected suffer from excessive scarring of the connective tissue. In these patients, the connective tissue can also contract in other parts of the body after an injury, resulting in a retracted finger, for example, which is called Dupuytren's disease.
But not all of them need to be treated the same way. There are two criteria for this step - which, by the way, also apply to the much rarer congenital curvature of the penis, which affects about two percent of men: if the curvature exceeds 30 degrees or if there is psychosexual distress due to the problem. Not everyone is bothered by the issue to the same extent, and not everyone has complaints as a result.
The treatment of choice is surgery. Kuehhas emphasizes that surgical straightening is the only way to solve the problem: "There are no conservative treatments with sufficient evidence for improvement." While one can find therapy options when searching online, success is not a given, he says. And because the topic is still a taboo among both patients and many urologists, sufferers often receive the wrong treatment for a long time.
Preserve length
There are two methods of surgical intervention, which is medically indicated from a curvature of 30 degrees. In the Nesbit shirring technique, named after its founder, the skin is shirred on the longer and healthy side of the penile curvature, i.e. the convex side, until the healthy long side corresponds to the diseased short side. "The penis is then straight, but this results in a significant shortening," Kuehhas cautions. "The satisfaction rate of those affected is therefore only about 50 percent with this method. After all, the patient has already lost penis length beforehand, so this is further exacerbated."
However, there is also a method that restores the original penis length. "It is much more complex, however, and it can also cause sensory disturbances, erection problems and orgasm disturbances. That's why you have to have a lot of experience for this procedure," Kuehhas emphasizes. For this method, the short side is opened, part of the scarred tissue is taken out and artificial material, like that used in heart valve operations, is sewn in. This surgical technique is also called the incision or graft technique, and the penis length is preserved.
Penile straightening is performed as a day inpatient procedure, you can go home the same day. The following week the penis has a permanent bandage, Kuehhas recommends sick leave during this time. Sports are possible again two weeks after the procedure, and six weeks after that one can also become sexually active again. (Pia Kruckenhauser, 5/22/2023)
Source | Archive
Pia Kruckenhauser
May 22, 2023, 06:00
People have a certain idea about the penis. When erect, it should be straight, and its length and girth should be visually appealing. But by far not all men meet these supposedly ideal criteria. After all, in every tenth man the penis curves in the course of life. The technical term for this is induratio penis plastica, or acquired penile curvature. "The cause is usually injuries that occur during sexual intercourse," explains Franklin Kuehhas, a specialist in andrology and urology and a specialist in surgical penile correction.
A single injury is not sufficient in itself for the development of a curvature, in normal cases it is caused by many small incidents. For example, the corpus cavernosum is easily injured when one slips during sex, and during healing a kind of scar, lump or plaque is formed. This area is then less elastic than the surrounding erectile tissue. During erection, this knot or plaque can no longer expand - and the penis curves. The larger such nodes are, the less elastic the corpus cavernosum is and the greater the deformation. In extreme cases, this can amount to more than 90 degrees.
But other deformations can also occur. For example, an indentation like an hourglass can form, or the front part of the penis narrows, creating a kind of bottleneck. "Since the deformation increases with the number of injuries, men in their mid-40s are usually affected by the more pronounced forms. But the problem starts earlier," Kuehhas knows.
Physical and mental pain
The more pronounced the deformation, the more pain it can cause, and there are also problems with penetration. And the psychosexual burden is enormous: "Many affected people are simply no longer happy with their genitals when they become deformed like this. They then seek less sexuality, and as a result there is also less intimacy. But the subject is heavily tabooed," says the expert. Those affected usually suffer in silence, and very few seek help - also because it is not talked about and many do not even know that they are not the only ones with the problem and that there are also solutions.
But why does this deformity occur in the first place? After all, almost all men suffer minimal penis injuries during sexual intercourse again and again. Why does the member only bend in around ten percent of cases? A major cause is probably genetics, says Kuehhas. Many of those affected suffer from excessive scarring of the connective tissue. In these patients, the connective tissue can also contract in other parts of the body after an injury, resulting in a retracted finger, for example, which is called Dupuytren's disease.
But not all of them need to be treated the same way. There are two criteria for this step - which, by the way, also apply to the much rarer congenital curvature of the penis, which affects about two percent of men: if the curvature exceeds 30 degrees or if there is psychosexual distress due to the problem. Not everyone is bothered by the issue to the same extent, and not everyone has complaints as a result.
The treatment of choice is surgery. Kuehhas emphasizes that surgical straightening is the only way to solve the problem: "There are no conservative treatments with sufficient evidence for improvement." While one can find therapy options when searching online, success is not a given, he says. And because the topic is still a taboo among both patients and many urologists, sufferers often receive the wrong treatment for a long time.
Preserve length
There are two methods of surgical intervention, which is medically indicated from a curvature of 30 degrees. In the Nesbit shirring technique, named after its founder, the skin is shirred on the longer and healthy side of the penile curvature, i.e. the convex side, until the healthy long side corresponds to the diseased short side. "The penis is then straight, but this results in a significant shortening," Kuehhas cautions. "The satisfaction rate of those affected is therefore only about 50 percent with this method. After all, the patient has already lost penis length beforehand, so this is further exacerbated."
However, there is also a method that restores the original penis length. "It is much more complex, however, and it can also cause sensory disturbances, erection problems and orgasm disturbances. That's why you have to have a lot of experience for this procedure," Kuehhas emphasizes. For this method, the short side is opened, part of the scarred tissue is taken out and artificial material, like that used in heart valve operations, is sewn in. This surgical technique is also called the incision or graft technique, and the penis length is preserved.
Penile straightening is performed as a day inpatient procedure, you can go home the same day. The following week the penis has a permanent bandage, Kuehhas recommends sick leave during this time. Sports are possible again two weeks after the procedure, and six weeks after that one can also become sexually active again. (Pia Kruckenhauser, 5/22/2023)
Source | Archive
