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I am only 18 years old, but have been suffering from constant ED from about age 14. It's very difficult for me to get an erection, if I do the erection is never full and it's impossible to keep my erection lasting for long at all. I've also developed PE as a result of trying to ejaculate quickly before my weak erection subsides. I believe that my ED started as a result of trauma I suffered to my erect penis when I was 14. It's been a very difficult thing to live with, especially throughout my teen years when most of my friends are enjoying satisfying and functional sex, something that I cannot take part of. It's lead to a lot of depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts, and it's been very difficult to hold on to hope.
I've been to see a lot of urologists and doctors over the years, and many have done no more than offer me viagra or cialis, or just tell me it's in my head, something I'm sure you've all experienced. Nobody wanted to address my underlying cause or find out what exactly was wrong and how to fix it.

Eventually I met with a urologist who was unsure of how to treat my case, but he referred me to Dr. Irwin Goldstein, a very well respected urologist in San Diego, CA. Thankfully, Dr. Goldstein was different from the other docs in that he promised me by the end of the visit he would know what exactly my problem was. He suspected from what I told him that I likely had fibrosis/scar tissue in my corpus cavernosum, which as you know inhibits the smooth muscle relaxation necessary to achieve a good erection.

Unfortunately, corporeal fibrosis isn't something that is easily treated. It's also something that I really want to treat right away. As I age, it's likely that more fibrosis will build up, and it's possible that because I don't have morning erections frequently at all that the lack of blood to the penis will cause scar tissue to grow and my penis to atrophy, so I really wan to do something about this soon. High doses of viagra can help a fair amount in enabling me to get and sustain an erection, but also gives me a splitting headache. Goldstein had me try out some trimex, and while it also did help me keep my erections ( still couldn't get full erections like I was hoping too) I can't say the idea of having to inject a needle into my dick everytime I want to have sex is at all appealing.

Which doesn't really leave me with many options. According to some medical literature I've read, high doses of viagra every other day for months can cause amelioration of the scar tissue in some people, although this wasn't something Dr. Goldstein has mentioned yet, and I'm not sure how hopeful I should be about that working. Then there are the experimental, non-invasive treatments. Goldstein really seems to be encouraging people to try them, he sent me over to Greece to receive some shockwave treatments. Apparently they're helpful for some guys with ED, and the medical literature reports this, but unfortunately that have had no noticeable impact on my erections. I'm worried that when I return to Goldstein he's going to recommend more conservative experimental treatments, such as palatete rich plasma treatment or stem cell therapy, and I'm really worried I'll sink a lot of time and money into these treatments like I did with the shockwaves, with no actual results.

I'm really confused and lost about where to go from here. I've been doing a good amount of research into penile implants. The idea that I could achieve successful and firm erections on demand is very very appealing, and the satisfaction rates of those who receive them are very high. My understanding is that if I wanted to get an implant, the best surgeons to go to in the US would either be Kramer or Eid, both are known to be very quick at responding, so I'm considering sending them both an email to ask what the next step would be if I wanted to receive an implant. Are these indeed the best surgeons I should consider, and would emailing them be a good idea?

I guess what I'm wondering about, and what I'm asking all of you is would it be a good idea to pursue getting an implant at such a young age? I see a lot of posts here about guys who regret not getting implants much sooner, but I'm also unsure if it would be a good idea to jump into an irreversible surgery when there may perhaps be other options on the table? But how long should I wait? How many experimental treatments do I have to try and fail before I should take the step?

Another thing I'm worried about is that medical advancements may soon come out with some sort of miracle cure or fix all for my type of ED after I get the implant. I know there's no reason to really believe this would be the case, but I just wonder. I know they recently performed the first fully successful penis transplant procedure in the United States. I also know there are labs out there growing fully functioning human penises. Would there be any reason to expect that a penis transplant would be an option to me anytime soon? I don't wanna waste my youth away without any sex waiting for a miracle cure, but at the same time if waiting five or maybe even ten years meant I could get a perfectly functioning, healthy natural penis I might be inclined to wait... Would anyone here even know about how a person would go about pursuing a penis transplant at this point?

The final thing I'm concerned about is potential shrinkage or loss of length/girth from the implant. Currently, if I use trimex or viagra I can get my penis up to a good 6.2 inches, nothing to brag about but more than enough. I'm worried that if I wait to get the implant or other treatment, my penis may shrink or atrophy more, as I think it already has from when it was young and healthy four years ago. That being said, I'm also worried that if I do get the implant I might loose some length or girth. I'm not huge to begin with, and I really wouldn't wanna loose any size if possible. Is erect implant size based on a stretched flaccid size, or is it based on pre-op erect size? Is this something I should be concerned about?

I'm sorry this post is so long, I'm not good at writing succinctly and I have a lot of thoughts on the matter. I appreciate this community being there for guys like me. Thank you all.

Welcome to the forum Swoosh. No need at all to apologize for a long post. It was clear and informative. You are an articulate young man that has a good handle on your condition and you are taking all the right steps to find solutions. With this approach, I have no doubt you will see fulfilling days ahead.

Your story sounds so much like Merrick when he was your age that I would recommend you read his journal. It is huge but it is the most comprehensive implant journal on the Internet. You might consider reading only his posts and might even skip around and read the end to get his conclusions. He suffered from a similar but possibly less severe condition from his teens to about 40 I believe before he got an implant that is highly successful. Here is a link
viewtopic.php?t=6010

There are likely no surgeons better than Dr. Eid and Dr. Kramer. I can speak to the fact that Dr. Eid is almost a loving kind man who clearly cares for his patients and loves what he does. It is his life. His staff will always talk to you if you call and he gives his patients his cell phone and actually talks to them at length on weekends and evenings if needed.

While you research I would suggest you ask Dr Goldstein if he will prescribe Pentoxifylline often called Pentox. A Combination of Pentox, Arginine, Viagra. L-Arginine is an over-the-counter supplement often prescribed by doctors that specialize in issues of penile fibrosis. This combination is often referred to as a PAV cocktail. It will have few downsides and could stall or even reverse your fibrosis. While all of this may not apply to you, you might find some value in this post http://www.peyroniesforum.net/index.php ... 180.0.html

I am not a doctor or research scientist but I do not think anything about an implant will interfere with future cures. My guess is those cures will come in the form of better implants or tissue regeneration which should still work post-implant because nothing is removed. While an implant this young would mean many revisions with today’s technology, the problem exists now so you need a solution now.

Now I am going to turn to grandfather mode. When you solve this, and I have confidence you will, don’t squander it in too many shallow relationships. It will give you the gift of true intimacy and a bond that can endure for eternity. The basis of intimacy can be learned and appreciated even now. It takes far more than a functional penis for an intimate relationship. Hopefully, in the absence of that you are learning that lesson and when you have a functional penis it will just be the missing piece of a puzzle you have already put together.

If you ever want to talk by phone just send me a pm. Good luck.

Man…
Firstly, I am just sorry to hear your story.
When I read it, it raises a lot of thoughts in me. Your story is in some ways very similar to mine, or at least our stories could have been the same.
The similarities lie in our symptoms and when they started, i.e. way too early in our lives.
I am in my mid forties now, and I remember clearly that at some time I did have perfect, lasting erections. Unfortunately, by the age those erections were starting to be used for something, the quality of them were already gone.
I started making out with girls when I was around 11-12, and by then they were already weak and short lasting.
Years later when I first had sex, I got it confirmed the brutal way that something was wrong.
I could have sex, most times, but never without constrictions, and never without adjustments to my ED. That often meant short foreplay, fast and hard sex, no position changes etc.

The differences between our stories is that you have searched for help, and even though you think you haven’t got the help you wanted to get, I can tell you that I got nothing.
I first went to a doctor in my early twenties. He said it was all in my head, there can’t be anything wrong physically with you. All he did to make that diagnosis was to look at me over his desk and talk to me.

Next attempt was in my mid twenties. This guy sent me and my wife (girlfriend at that time) to a therapist. We had to travel by car for an hour for each session, taking half a day off from work both of us, and sit there and describe our sex life to an older woman. She gave us ”homework” to do in bed which we reported back.

Of course nothing helped. I knew all the time something was wrong. I didn’t have any spontaneous erections, no proper morning wood, and my ED was just as bad when masturbating as when having sex. And since I could get hard, but not stay hard, I just knew that somehow my dick was leaking. This was way before I even knew what a venous leak was, which I got diagnosed with almost 20 years later.

Anyway, in my late twenties I got Viagra. It helped, but did not restore me to ”normal”. I never experienced some side effects though, except for some blushing in my face and on my chest.

Fast forward, three years ago I did some experimental surgery called sclerotherapy with some improvements but no way near a cure. Later same year I had an implant by Dr. Eid.

Anyway, you have gotten so much further in your search for help than I had when I was 18. And that is good.

Should you get implanted then? Nobody can answer that question except yourself. My best answer would be to think back and ask myself: If I could turn back the clock till when I was 18 and choose to get implanted, would I? I have seriously never even thought about that, and I don’t have a clear cut answer. The whole key is in how bad the ED is. If my ED had been worse, and I would have failed every time when trying to have sex, my answer would for sure by yes. But my ED was not severe, maybe not even moderate, but probably mild at that time. 9 times out of 10 I could have sex. But 8 out of those 9 I had to adjust to minimise its effects.
Of course, with an implant I would just have been able to fuck in whatever way, and for however long time, I wanted. But what we can’t forget is that hooking up with the girl in one’s high school class and pull out an implanted dick (if she notices) isn’t exactly an 18 year old’s dream. That could create many other problems instead. At least in one’s head.
So my answer is I don’t know. However, I do regret I didn’t do it sooner than I did. But at 18? I don’t know.

However, what I should have done is not relevant to you. It depends on your situation. How bad your ED is. Can you have sex? How often do you fail? What quality is your sex? How bad do you feel about this? If the answer to all those questions are way out on the negative side of the scale, then you are definitely a candidate to get implanted at 18, and I would probably say that you should. If they fall in the middle of the positive/negative scale, it is more difficult to say.

Same thing with waiting for any other potential cure. What do you have right now? Again, if what you have works to some degree, then maybe it is worth waiting and trying other things. But if you fail all the time and feel like shit, then a few year’s ”waiting” could destroy your life.

I have described in detail how I feel about being implanted, how it works when having sex, the mental aspect of it, etc, in my thread here on FT called ”My Journal”. Just sort all the topics on most viewed or most replied and it will come up top of the list. Read it.

As far as I know, the urologist you are seeing is an authority in this field. What is his opinion about implants?

And finally, since you are so young, and unmarried I assume, there is simply less room for a poor result for you. You would suffer more from a shitty result than an 80 year old man who has been married for 55 years. You definitely want a perfect result. You want it to be invisible in the locker room with your buddies, meaning pump perfectly placed behind the balls, no visible tubing. When you have sex, you want the only way your partner can notice to be by thoroughly licking, grabbing your balls. Again, no pump half way up your shaft, no palpable and visible tubing. You want good sex, so no floppy head which folds back over your shaft. You want to enjoy sex, so no lame doctor who damages your nerves and your ability to enjoy sex and orgasms. You want a firm, super stiff erection which stays that way for the entire life time of the implant. So you don’t want an amateur who is not skilled enough to install an implant without RTEs, or doesn’t keep enough inventory of all sizes and therefore needs to stack up with RTEs, which after a few years will increase the risk of giving you a wobbly unnatural ”hinge”-erection.
That leaves you with the only option of seeing a doctor you trust 100%. Whatever doc you choose, there should be nobody on the planet who you think would give a better probability of a perfect outcome. As long as the one you choose is right up there as an equal with the famous top docs, then fine. But if not, pick one who is. How do you know? Research, research, research.

It is in my signature that I chose Dr. Eid. it could have been Kramer as well, but chance made it Eid and not Kramer. I did however decide to find the best, and not just take anybody. At that time, my shortlist ended up consisting of Eid and Kramer only.
Take it for what it is worth, but after having gotten what I think is a 100% perfect result from Dr. Eid, and reading here on FT and making my own statistical conclusions based on the stories here on all other docs on the planet, I seriously believe he is the best. But others will have other opinions. I doubt however nobody can back anybody else than Eid by just summing up all stories on FT and looking at who has the lowest failure ratio.

Good luck.

Sorry if I respond quickly but I do not speak well english. I do not understand all your speech because of the language.
This my Story, shortly. I had a big problem with my penis from ever. Never i had good erection because I had a strange "penis morphology". to have sex I had to use injections and my penis received a lot of fibrosis. So many doctors told me not to use medicine, nothing works for fibrosis, (yes its real, trust me). The only alternative its implant, so go with implant and you will have hard and working penis.
I had reconstruction surgery ( not in US) . It tacken + 4 hours, implant with graft and plastic surgery also. I think my result is wonderful. I have a working penis and the doctors have done an miracle on me, they keep and increase my size. But, i repeat, my surgery was reconstructive also, not just implant.
You need ( like all here) simple penile implant surgery (+ - 1 hour, very easy). It will not increase your size, but if you choose the " rigth" surgeon, you will maintain your size. Go with implant NOW.
Good look.

I was 26 when i got my implant. I would have got it at 18 too if i knew there was no other fix out there. I exhausted all the other options and it was the only way. I feel alot more relaxed about life knowing that its something i dont have to worry about anymore. I say if you looked at all other options and theres no cure then do it sooner rather than later. Make the most of your younger years

The hardest part for me was to wrap my head around an irreversible surgery, but what do you have if you do not? How much time have you lost and how much more are you willing to lose? I can only tell you read other's experience. You will find over and over those like me who say they wish they had an implant years ago instead of waiting. The longer you wait and more time you spend on half assed cheap fixes, the more damage you do and your body does to itself. I've stated before and I am still certain that fantastic results that some here have are because the 1) got an implant when the issue became an "issue" instead of waiting and 2) the younger they are the better the outcome seems to be. Few things in life allow you to have some control in your destiny. This is one that does. Cheers man and a big hug.

You covered a lot of details in your post.

Generally, insurance requires that you exhaust the less invasive treatment, oral drugs, vacuum pumps [VED], supositoies, injections before and possibly even corrective surgery prior to approving an implant.

Some of this would also depend on your age, diagnosis, other medical conditions or complications and input from your doctor. I've even heard, but cannot confirm that it could even possibly be dependant upon having regular commited partner [married?] .

I don't believe I'd put much faith in any new miricle cures anytime soon.

Your specific insurance coverage or personal ability to pay privately may limit or advance your options.

Best Wishes..

Dr Goldstein is one of the best on the west coast. Why would you go to Eid or Kramer. He does as many implants as they do and has been doing implants since their inception. He is very thorough. He just does not get much talk time on this forum by the eid/kramer cheer leaders. Where is your home? Danial Cainfield works with SD Medicine, and had ED from his teens. Contact Danial to hear about his journey.

Hey man! I can relate to everything you wrote in your post. I also believe my ED stemmed from a sex accident too, which caused scar tissue to form. Over the past 7 years I've been trying everything, viagra, cialis, pentoxifylline, trimix injections, shockwave therapy,...And now I'm starting to look into implants like you. It's hard for anyone to really tell you what the right option is for you, but it seems like 99% of the time all these little treatments for ED do shit all except drain your bank account. The shockwave treatment is the only thing that helped me at all, and it was great at first, but after a few months the effects wore off. And now a month after my second round of shockwave therapy I didn't get nearly the same response and the positive effects are already starting to wear off. Anyways just my 2 cents. From the sounds of it you've tried essentially all the "go to" treatments for ED, and from my understanding the next step is probably an implant. The specialist I'm seeing essentially told me the very last option (here in Canada) before doing the implant is shockwave therapy. If that's done nothing for you then I'd definitely start research implants. I wish I could give you some personal experience with an implant, perhaps in another year or so I might be able to lol

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