Peyronie’s disease is a condition that causes fibrous scar tissue to build up deep under the skin of your penis, leading to pain and changes in the size and shape of your penis when it’s erect.
Inside your penis, there are three tubes. The main job of your penis is to carry out sperm and urine through one of these tubes, called the urethra.
The other two are called the corpus cavernosa, and they’re filled with blood vessels that make your penis hard enough for sex when you’re aroused. Calcium in your cells regulates the contraction and relaxation of your penile muscles.
When you have Peyronie’s disease, the scar tissue in the penis causes it to shrink or bend when it becomes erect. You may even have difficulty getting or maintaining an erection satisfactory for sex, which is why the condition is often simply dismissed or misdiagnosed as erectile dysfunction (ED) and nothing more.
However, Peyronie’s disease is very treatable and the treatment may look different than treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED). So, urology and ED specialist Paul H. Chung, MD, and the rest of our team at his practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, want to discuss telltale signs that you have Peyronie’s disease and how we can help treat it in this blog.
The main symptom that accompanies Peyronie’s disease is flat scar tissue buildup which you can usually feel through the skin of your penis. Any other symptoms that you notice might come on suddenly or develop gradually, but these are some common things that often indicate Peyronie’s disease:
Often, Peyronie’s disease starts with ED symptoms, and the changes in the shape and size of your penis come later. As the disease progresses, so can the pain and physical changes in your penis. Usually, after about a year the pain stops but the penile bends and curvatures stay.
You should always seek expert-level care for Peyronie’s disease as soon as you notice any symptoms since early treatment of the condition tends to be more effective.
If your penis doesn’t have advanced scar tissue buildup, more conservative treatment methods are often all that’s needed to break up the tissue and relieve symptoms. These include trying gentle penile stretching exercises, doing penile traction therapy, and taking medication.
However, if the scar tissue buildup is hardened and severe, more aggressive treatments are probably needed. At his practice, Dr. Chung offers injections that can help break up the scar tissue along with surgical options that can physically remove the tissue or even place a penile implant to help with bends, indents, or curves in your penis.
To learn more about our options for Peyronie’s disease diagnosis and treatment, schedule an appointment with our team by calling our office today.
