Inflatable vs Malleable - My Experience with Both & Infection

[Fidelio]

This is hands down one of the most important threads on this site, and insanely informative. I feel so sorry for what has happened to you, none should be going through that. The way you faced it tho...Like a hero. Especially the way you managed to preserve your size while being completely explanted - this brings a lot of hope to even the worst of cases.
This is also a thing I wanted to ask you about. Can you explain in greater detail what was your daily stretching routine? Was it literally wearing the traction device for ~8 hours and adding pumping on top of that for X minutes? This would come in handy for future cases, especially that yours ended with the best outcome (no size loss compared to mean size loss of 4 cms during explantation, as per literature).

[returntocenter]

Thank you for this post niceguy, it's enlightening. One question I had - in the days or weeks leading up to the development of your infection, can you think of anything you might have done or been exposed to that could have triggered it in the first place? Particularly messy sex, hot tubs, anything that could have exposed your genital area to unhygienic conditions? I know that by the 4-month mark none of this should really be a concern, but still - thinking back on it (as I'm sure you must have done ad nauseum) did anything come to mind?

Thanks again.

[niceguy1]

Wow, what a post! Very well written, structured, and all details described. Real added value. I'm glad you got over your infection!!

I can really understand the passage about regret after the operation. A little about me: I got an inflatable titan in March 2022 when I was 27, pills hit&miss, skipped injections. After the OP, the darkest 4 months of my life followed, I thought for a while that I didn't want to continue. Fortunately, that's over.

I have come to terms with my new life but since this phase I have been thinking about switching to a malleable, for many of the reasons you described. I think that I don't want to wait much longer until my Titan "breaks".

I have a question that interests me a lot and I am grateful for any information you can give me: how is the concealability? How suitable is a malleable for everyday use? I am still very young and of course I want to have a corresponding lifestyle.

I wish you all the best and am very excited to hear what you have to say! And thank you for your really wonderful post.

Thank you my friend. I am not yet sure how the concealability is for everyday use because I have mostly stayed at home during these first 10 days. I experimented with 2 pairs of compression underwear and putting jeans on top of it, and it seemed to work fine.

[niceguy1]

Thank you very much for sharing your story. I’m not sure it will cool off the guys who want to jump directly to implants without giving other methods a good faith try but it ought to.

You’ve got me a bit concerned about infection popping up unannounced, for no reason, at any time. I’ve had mine for 4 yrs 7 months. I’ll think positively and operate as if I’m past most of the danger.

My takeaways: you were lucky - damned lucky. You had a great doctor. He has found a solution that works for you and that’s what conquering ED is all about.

But I also have questions…a lot of “what ifs?” What if you had gone to hospital at the first sign of an infection and they’d blasted you with IV antibiotics? What if the surgeon had seen you immediately instead of after (I’m guessing) a 12 hour travel time? What if you had had an AMS product, with a different antibiotic coating? Or was the infection able to take hold due to the internal irritation caused by the Titan’s dog ears?

We will never know. Suffice it to say we are glad you’ve survived this and especially glad you’ve been repaired in such a manner that you’re functional & happy.

What you are is a pretty significant data point. I won’t tell other guys that only fools get 3-piece inflatable implants. What I will tell everyone is that only a fool gets a 3-piece inflatable implant WITHOUT DULY CONSIDERING THE RISKS OF INFECTION & SURGICAL COMPLICATIONS. We hear and tell about lots of success stories. It’ll do guys a lot of good to know that it might not always be rainbows & lollipops.

Thank you sir, I am just happy to be alive. When I called Dr. Eid, I asked him about going to a local hospital for an IV blast, but he told me that if it was an infection the antibiotics would not help me and the only solution would be to remove the infected foreign object. We discussed the option of having a local surgeon remove it, but it was a Sunday morning and there was no guarantee of a specialist being available to do the surgey that day, so we determined it was safer to go to NYC which was a 4 hour flight. From the moment I first spoke to Dr. Eid, I was in the the OR 8 hours later.

[niceguy1]

This is hands down one of the most important threads on this site, and insanely informative. I feel so sorry for what has happened to you, none should be going through that. The way you faced it tho...Like a hero. Especially the way you managed to preserve your size while being completely explanted - this brings a lot of hope to even the worst of cases.
This is also a thing I wanted to ask you about. Can you explain in greater detail what was your daily stretching routine? Was it literally wearing the traction device for ~8 hours and adding pumping on top of that for X minutes? This would come in handy for future cases, especially that yours ended with the best outcome (no size loss compared to mean size loss of 4 cms during explantation, as per literature).

The stretching routine was to use the RestoreX for 10 minutes. Take a break for a few minutes. Then use the vaccum for 10 minutes. Take a break for a few minutes. Then repeat alternating between the two devices. You have to take breaks to avoid the risk of "glans necrosis," which is a truly terrifying term that Dr. Eid used. Basically i just sat in bed most of the day alternating between devices throughout the day until I went to sleep, then woke up and repeated this awful process for 3 months. But it actually worked and I did not lose any length. Even Dr. Eid was surprised by this when he examined me 3 months later.

[Mark1974]

This was extremely informative and persuasive for me to get a malleable on my first revision. I am petrified of an infection or a disaster leading to glans necrosis. I have been thinking of that for a while.

I'm still going with an AMS inflatable for my virgin implant, because all of the leading surgeons with the exception of Dr Carrion recommend the inflatable, but after the first failure I am not taking any chances.

You are a gifted communicator. Epic post.

[easymoney]

Dr. Carrion at times I have found flips back and forth on what he likes or dislikes .. Told me in the beginning he would only do a mallabble due to age and health issues .. then when he decided to do the revision he wanted to know if I wanted a IPP instead of the Rigicon

[niceguy1]

Thank you for this post niceguy, it's enlightening. One question I had - in the days or weeks leading up to the development of your infection, can you think of anything you might have done or been exposed to that could have triggered it in the first place? Particularly messy sex, hot tubs, anything that could have exposed your genital area to unhygienic conditions? I know that by the 4-month mark none of this should really be a concern, but still - thinking back on it (as I'm sure you must have done ad nauseum) did anything come to mind?

Thanks again.

Good question, I have considered this ad nauseum and I do have a theory. In the weeks leading up to the infection I was on oral prednisone, which does have the side effect of lowering your immune system. The bacteria that caused the infection was cultured during explantation and determined to be E. Coli. I believe it was introduced during surgery and grew progressively over the months, but I remained asymptomatic due to my immune system supressing the infection. The oral steroids caused a weakening of the immune system and allowed the infection to run wild.

I shared this theory with Dr. Eid when I was in the hospital, and he told me something interesting that will be useful to everyone here. There was a study conducted where they cultured broken implants during revision surgery and found that 50% of the devices that were removed had detectable bacteria living on them. This means that half of us have a bacterial colony living on our devices right now that is significant enough to show up in a culture, but 99% of those who have the bacteria present do not ever get an infection. The most logical conclusion is that our immune systems are working to supress the bacteria from growing into a full blown infection. Therefore, I think is it important that everyone who has an implant takes active measures to keep their immune systems strong at all times and avoid any type of pharmaceuticals that may weaken your immune system.

[niceguy1]

Thank you for sharing your detailed experience.

You have gone through a lot of turmoil. Did you also take any psychiatric medications or undergo psychotherapy during this time? It's not something I could personally handle on my own, and I would need professional help to preserve my sanity if I were to acquire an infection.

Genesis is a great device. Does Dr. Eid also implant the Rigicon Rigi10? It claims to have the highest axial rigidity of 6.6 lbs among all FDA-approved malleable implants in the US market. I would like to know his rationale for selecting Genesis for you.

The natural tumescence you feel 10 days after getting a malleable may not be the same after 3 months when the capsule and scar tissue mature. That's just my layman's understanding. I sincerely hope your tumescence remains the same on day 90 as it is on day 10, and I wish you a speedy recovery.

I didn't end up going for psychotherapy or take any medications. I basically just cut off the entire world so that I wouldn't ever have to answer the question "how are you," except for a few close friends that I trusted to share what was going on and spent time with when I took a break from the stretching routines. Other than that I distracted myself with work, movies, and a lot of online chess which I played so much that I managed to get a rating over 2000 at this point

[Mark1974]

I shared this theory with Dr. Eid when I was in the hospital, and he told me something interesting that will be useful to everyone here. There was a study conducted where they cultured broken implants during revision surgery and found that 50% of the devices that were removed had detectable bacteria living on them. This means that half of us have a bacterial colony living on our devices right now that is significant enough to show up in a culture, but 99% of those who have the bacteria present do not ever get an infection. The most logical conclusion is that our immune systems are working to supress the bacteria from growing into a full blown infection. Therefore, I think is it important that everyone who has an implant takes active measures to keep their immune systems strong at all times and avoid any type of pharmaceuticals that may weaken your immune system.

If this is the case we are never fully cleared of the threat of infection