What are Penile Straightening Injections?
Penis curvature or Peyronie's disease affects nearly 10% of men worldwide. The condition is commonly found among middle-aged men but nowadays it is now being witnessed among young and old men too. Usually, doctors prescribe pills to treat this disease. However, when no results are shown, physicians might consider injection therapy for Peyronie's disease treatment.
About Penile Straightening Injections
These injections are usually shots of medication that needs to be taken at regular intervals. Furthermore, the injections are also preferred if the curvature is more than 30 degrees during the initial diagnosis of Peyronie's disease.
Here are a few facts about injection therapy for Peyronie's disease treatment:
The penile straightening injections work by weakening and breaking down the plaque that causes the penis to curve. It is one of the most preferred treatments for penile curvature and Peyronie's disease. Since it does not involve any surgical procedure and can be administered at the doctor's clinic, therefore, these injections have gained popularity among patients and doctors in the last 5-10 years.
With approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), injections for Peyronie's disease are gaining momentum. The procedure usually involves four cycles of treatment that may span up to 28 weeks. Each cycle involves clinical procedures for about a week or 10 days and nearly six-weeks care at home by the patient. In every cycle of treatment, two shots of the drug are injected at an interval of one to three days, followed by a physician procedure. This usually involves the healthcare provider performing penile modeling that stretches the plaque and straightens the penis.
Following this, a six-week-long daily penile modeling needs to be performed by the patient at his home. The doctor demonstrates some penile stretching exercises that the patient performs at home by investing 20-30 minutes. During the treatment, the patient's penis might be wrapped by a bandage, and the doctor will advise when to remove it. For proper results, it is important for patients undergoing injection therapy for Peyronie's disease to strain their stomach muscles, especially during bowel movements.
Penile Curvature Treatment
The results of injections for Peyronie's disease are moderate. These injections are relatively new in practice and need a lot more improvement in order to have an increased effect on the patient. Doctors usually consider using penile straightening injections only when pills are not successful in achieving the desired results.
Injection therapy for penile straightening works only when it is coupled with penile modeling. Both the doctor and the patient have roles to play under the treatment procedure. The doctor performs certain penile modeling procedures during the treatment cycles and trains the patient to perform them regularly at home. This usually involves forcible bending of the penis in the opposite direction. The patient's compliance is crucial for better results
Results
As compared to pills, penile straightening injections are known to work better. Since they have a higher concentration of the drug, the chances of them having a better effect on the scar are higher. They could reduce the time of treatment due to improved results.
However, despite the time reduction, the results from these therapies are not very promising. They are better than pills but do not offer a complete cure to the disease. Several clinical trials show that the average range of correction of penile curvature is 18%. Some drugs have a better impact, but still, they are unable to provide satisfying results.
Effectiveness
Safety
Affordability
Cost of Treatment
Along with this, another major factor to worry for the patients is the cost of the treatment involved. The average cost of the injection is $3,300, and the total cost for eight injections would be $26,600. Further, it involves the doctor's fee and other additional costs to manage treatment that is quite expensive according to the standards of healthcare. Thus, it is difficult for many patients to afford a course of injections for Peyronie's disease treatment.
It is also important to note that those undergoing treatment should also not indulge in sex or any sexual activity between the first and second shot of injections and four weeks after the second injection of each cycle.
Injection therapy for Peyronie's disease has a moderate impact and is considered to be highly expensive.
It requires compliance from the patient as the treatment lasts for nearly 28 weeks with adequate care at home.
Guarantee and Clinical trails
Xiaflex is among an FDA approved penile straightening injections. There are two clinical studies available to prove the effectiveness of the Collagenase injection on patients with Peyronie's disease.
Unfortunately, there is no information about Xiaflex guarantee. Unlike other popular methods of Peyronie's disease treatment like penis straightening devices or surgery, Xiaflex is not supported by a money-back guarantee. If you do not see positive changes in your penis curvature, there is no chance to ask for a refund and return at least a part of your fees. And don't forget that the cost of injection therapy course is up to $30,000!
Clinical studies
The study involved more than 500 men being administered with Xiaflex and another group of men with a placebo ("fake" medication) to test the impact of the medication. Men were observed for 52 weeks since the commencement of the treatment. In the first study, it showed that men who took Xiaflex showed 35% improvement in their penile curvature while those who took the placebo showed some effect or 18% change.
In the second clinical study, men who took Xiaflex showed 33% correction in their penile curvature at the end of 52 weeks, while those who were injected with the placebo showed 22% improvement. Both the groups involved penile modeling, a procedure that involves exercises to bend the penis. This supports the treatment and is considered necessary.
Bother and distress
Further, studies also measured changes in concerns of patients such as pain, erection, problems during intercourse, and the frequency of intercourse. All these factors are collectively stated as bother score in the study. In the first study, the patients who took Xiaflex along with penile modeling stated that their bother domain score fell by 37% at the end of 52 weeks. While other sets of patients who consumed placebo, the results showed that their bother score fell to 22% at the end of 52 weeks.
A similar scenario was witnessed among the patients in the second group, too. The bother score of patients who took Xiaflex with penile modeling dropped by 35%, while those who were injected with the placebo expressed 18% drop at the end of 52 weeks.
These clinical studies support the effectiveness of injection therapy on patients with Peyronie's disease. The only problem is a lack of a money-back guarantee and high costs of this kind of treatment.
Penile Straightening Injections: Side effects
Like every drug, injections for Peyronie's disease have some side effects. For example, patients may suffer from minor side effects like swelling and bleeding at the sites of injection. It might also lead to a change in the skin color, itching in the penis and scrotum, blisters or a lump at the injection site, pain or tenderness, and bruising.
However, there are also serious side effects that may affect future life of a patient:
Fracture
One of the most commonly cited side effects is fracture of the tubes inside the penis called corpora. The administration of penile straightening injections may result in bursting of these tubes. The only treatment of the corporal fracture is surgery. However, surgery might still not be able to cure the damage caused by a corporal fracture.
Hematoma
Another commonly cited problem among patients after receiving injection therapy for Peyronie's disease is a hematoma. This is a condition where the blood vessels inside your penis could rupture and the blood could accumulate under your penis' skin. This could require a surgical procedure to drain the blood beneath the skin. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid sexual activities between two shots of the penis straightening injections and at least for four weeks after the second injection in every cycle.
Atrophy
One more side effect of penile straightening injections is atrophy. Since the treatment involves four cycles where four cycles of each two injections will be injected into the patient it could result in the death of local tissues. This is a common issue when the patient is exposed to steroids for a long time.
Allergic reactions and Hypersensitivity
Some of the other commonly found side effects among patients receiving injection therapy for Peyronie's disease are allergic reactions and hypersensitivity. The drug contains some proteins and as a result, the human body's immune system may react to these proteins. It may lead to a swollen face, cause breathing trouble, dizziness, fainting, chest pain, hives, reduce blood pressure, etc.
There are several common side effects of injections for Peyronie's disease.
You should always inform the doctor about hypersensitivity before adopting the treatment.
If you want to avoid these side effects, you may want to look for other penile straightening solutions.
How to straighten penis without injection therapy?
While injection therapy for Peyronie's disease is a common treatment option among doctors, many are gradually shifting towards prescribing penile straightening devices.
Are penile straightening devices better?
Yes. These devices are considered to offer better results than pills as well as injection therapies and are known to be safe and cost-effective.
Most devices can be easily used after adequate advice from the physician. These devices help improve the blood flow in your penis and gradually improve the curvature, correcting the bent penis. The results are promising provided patients to use them appropriately.
In Peyronie's disease, the consistent application of pressure opposing the curve results in one-sided growth of the penis. When a penis straightening device is used it straightens the curve and allows growth of cells on both the sides through a process called cell duplication.
There are many penis straightening devices over the web, but there are a few in the market for years, with a clinically confirmed record of curing more than 100,000 patients. These devices can be used anytime while working, exercising, or even sleeping. Doctors suggest that they should be used for a certain amount of time every day, over a period of a few months, to achieve promising, permanent results.
Penis Straightening Device: Correction of Penile Curvature
How to straighten penis? Penis curvature can be easily prevented by using the Penis straightening device.
It stretches the side of the penis with scar tissue to match up with the other side and prevent penile curvature. The device does wonders in providing a firmer, thicker and longer erection to restore the sexual confidence of shaken males who suffer from penile curvature.
According to scientific studies:
Penis Straightening Device provides unprecedented success in stabilizing and even reversing the conditions of penile curvature and injuries associated with penis curvature.
This is an attractive, economical, safe and natural method of treating penile curvature!
Read more about penis straightening devices