advice on deciding to get an implant -- is it better or worse than a natural dick

[oneperson]

FML, it is not personal. I am not statistically significant, but when I had no ED I could stand fully erected for more than 30 minutes without any problem.

That 5-10 minutes average you tell, I guess is not valid for healthy people withot any kind of ED.

Even after my firsts episodes of ED I have been able to keep a more than 30 minutes erection. Good erection.

Said that, I neither believe that average healthy man can control his erections. I never have been able to keep and erection intencionally, and I don't know anybody able to be erected when he wants, for the time that he wants.

I think a healthy, youn man, can keep an erection for as much time as his arousal and physical state can stand. That can be more than 30 minutes for sure.

[jump.ship]

hard Not to take that personally

Shit sorry! Did not mean insult. I was trying to take aim at the notion that an implant is better than a normal dick. Not you! Apologizes. But maybe your ED started earlier than you think though? Mine was from day one when I was like 15 years old - which is as grim as it gets in ED land really.

[Lost Sheep]

Working dick works for 5-10 minutes average. Working dick also subject to stress and other factors. Before ED I had success with less then half the women I attempted to have sex with. And the times I did it often lasted just a few minutes.

Tomas1, jump.ship, Oneperson and FMLFML85 and anyone else I did not notice,

This is an interesting discussion re: How well does a completely natural 100% functional penis actually work? In a 20 year old , 30 year old, 4-, 50 60 and 70 year old? Particularly with respect to duration.

I have never read any studies or reliable statistics on the subject. Only anecdotal reports (and those were mostly locker room talk that I usually took with a grain of salt or reports from my sexual partners which may have been "adjusted" to spare my feeling or support my ego).

Only a person who has had sex with a large number of men and actually witnessed the performance parameters can say from first hand knowledge, and even then the surveyed population is not, perforce, a random sample of all men.

But, I have heard credible (anecdotal) stories of sexual experiences (whose narrative was NOT focused on duration of erection) that could only be associated with an erection of at least several minutes, if not tens of minutes.

My particular E.D. appeared to be venous leakage (V.L.) perhaps aggravated by premature ejaculation (P.E.). But the P.E. might have been caused by the V.L. in this manner: I could keep an erection, but only by maintaining continual stimulation. That stimulation inevitably produced orgasm, ejaculation and refractory collapse of the erection. Slowing stimulation to prevent orgasm inevitably let the erection collapse from V.L.

In my youth, my morning erections were very persistent.durable and refused to go down for very long times which was problematic when I had a full bladder. I could not urinate until the erection decompressed my urethra (either by waiting or by masturbation to orgasmic refraction).

I really do wonder how many men's (outside of the population that have E.D. because of injury or specific disease)
E.D. experience is like mine and how many men without that clinical history have erections that naturally stay for longer than 5, 10, 15, 20... minutes during active coitus.

A study of a statistically valid, random sample of men (and identified as having clinical E.D. or not, the E.D. without specific injury or disease causing it) would be interesting.

20 year olds What percentage last under 5 min, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes 15-20 minutes etc
30 year olds What percentage last under 5 min, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes 15-20 minutes etc
40 year olds What percentage last under 5 min, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes 15-20 minutes etc
50 year olds What percentage last under 5 min, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes 15-20 minutes etc
60 year olds What percentage last under 5 min, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes 15-20 minutes etc
70 year olds What percentage last under 5 min, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes 15-20 minutes etc

Put that in a spreadsheet (or bar graph)

I wonder how many women would volunteer to help with the research?

edited to add, in deference to Jump.ship and others "I wonder how many men (would have to be bottoms/"catchers", I guess) would volunteer to help?"

[jump.ship]

I even often have sex with men in their 50s or 60s and they can hold an erection just like a 20 year old. Very rigid pointing at 2 o clock - for what appears as long as they want. Some can't of course, but plenty seem to have no problem.

Last month I was with a guy in his 50s and I left to go to the toilet and get a some water. When I came back into the room, his erection was still pointing to 2 o clock... with no manual stimulation. He was just looking at his phone. Looking at his phone taking his penis completely for granted.

My dick fucking sucks is what I thought to myself.

[Waynetho]

The decision was easier for most of us.

Tomas1, how easy the decision was for me? Let me tell you... After I was in the hospital earlier this year and coupled with an earlier colonoscopy that was paid out of pocket, I figured that I was near my insurance provider's "OUT OF POCKET MAXIMUM" so I sought out a urologist to first take care of my BPH and ultimately take care of my PD and ED that I have been plagued with for almost 25 years in one way or another.

My relationship with my wife has suffered to the point where we become only roommates in an apartment, all because of the mental stress of a penis that couldn't be navigated successfully when erect, but progressively in later years wasn't able to be erect enough to be usable even if it was straight... I stopped being romantic because that leads to intimacy. Intimacy leads to cuddling. Cuddling leads to petting. Petting leads to foreplay. Foreplay leads to --- OH, NOTHING!!

I researched BPH treatments and settled on UroLift, then I watched quite a few Youtube videos of IPP implantation surgeries (without cringing!) I made my mind up that that was the course I would take. I then scheduled my first ever appointment with a urologist in Plano Texas in June and went in telling him the laundry list of my problems and my expectations of what I "wanted" him to do for me. Those expectations:

1. UROLIFT so I can pee properly and not have to wake up 4 times a night and stand for 30 minutes each time.
2. INFLATABLE 3-PIECE PENILE IMPLANT - to overcome my Peyronie's and ED so I could become intimate with my wife again

For both points above, my urologist tried medication. He prescribed Cialis for my ED. He prescribed Uroxatral for my BPH. Both affect blood pressure by potentially lowering it and have a combined effect when used together - I am already on blood pressure meds so I had to monitor my BP carefully when I started taking both new meds.

The Uroxatral did not do anything noticeable in the first month to alleviate my BPH symptoms. Results: flexible cystoscope verified I was a good candidate for Urolift. After fighting insurance company for a month or two over pre-approval rejections, I had 4 Urolift implants placed in my prostate on 8/12/19. I didn't have to pay full price because my out of pocket max - I only paid about 600.00 for a $6000-8000 procedure (conservatively).

The Cialis on-demand 20mg dosage didn't do much. Due to hinging at the base caused by Peyronie's, my erection was unusable and was insufficiently rigid for penetration even if there hadn't been hinging. I also had headaches and stuffy nose which lasted several days after the dose. I cut my pills in quarters and started taking the daily dose of 5 mg every day. All that did was to give me painful morning wood (the Peyronie's hinging at the base caused me pain when erect). Results: Insurance approved a 3-piece inflatable penile prosthesis and it was implanted on 10/28/19.

On my first appointment my expectations were to get UroLift and a 3-piece IPP and ultimately that's what happened.

Incidentally, my doctor unaffectionately nicknamed me "Doctor Google" .

[Lost Sheep]

Incidentally, my doctor unaffectionately nicknamed me "Doctor Google" .

Too bad. My Primary Car Doctor told me I knew more about E.D. its treatments than he did. My surgeon told me I was the best-informed patient he had ever had and even commented to his nurse the same, which came back to me, so I know he wasn't just stroking my ego). Most of my knowledge came from reading medical journal articles found online. I tried to get the terminology right, not get taken in by hucksters' hype and focus on reasonable realities.

Surgeons are not known for their bedside manner nor appreciative of participatory patients. I searched until I found one who was. 14 months until I lucked out.

Dr. Eid wrote to me, "Find a surgeon in love with his craft." Such a physician will put the welfare of his patient and an optimal outcome above all other considerations.

[charlie17]

I'm actually the one who PM'd Tangerine the original question that he shared for this post.

Tangerine - I really appreciated your excellent and thoughtful answer, and I think this thread has been a helpful one as well, thank you for posting it.

The discussion on this thread inspired me to share a bit more context on my situation so that you all can understand why I'm on the fence. I'd welcome further thoughts either way on this.

I'm 45 and have a spinal injury that caused reduced penile sensation, which led to my ED starting 3 years ago. That ED led me to fracture my penis in Feb. Since then I've healed somewhat, my dick performs OK but not like it did back in January before the injury when I only had mild ED.

Pro's:
- with 40 mg cialis I can get erections with stimulation, so I can have spontaneous sex
- I'm able to have sex 20+ times a month, usually for 30 min's or more per session

Con's:
- I get about 95% hard a best, often less
- I lose my erections without constant stimulation, within 10 seconds or so
- At times I have some penile pain at the base where the fracture is/was after sex
- I have reduced sensation/sexual pleasure. Not sure if this is due to erection quality, nerve damage, or both
- It's becoming increasingly more difficult to achieve orgasm. Not sure if this is due to erection quality, nerve damage, or both
- although I'm not depressed and have supportive relationships, it has been weighing on my mood since the injury in Feb. Good sex is very important to me

So maybe this helps everyone understand why I'm on the fence. I've done a ton of research and also spoken on the phone with 8 or so patients of Dr Eid to understand their experience.

From what I understand, here then are the trade-offs I can expect if I do get the implant:

Pro's:
- can get as hard as I want as long as I want whenever I want
- improved erections may improve sexual pleasure (maybe)
- improved erections may make it easier for me to achieve orgasm (maybe)
- Dr Eid tells me the penile pain from the fracture would eventually go away most likely

Con's:
- painful surgery and recovery
- Could end up with reduced sexual sensation, including possible reduction in glans engorgement
- Could become more difficult to achieve orgasm
- post surgery "angle" may make sex more difficult/uncomfortable in some positions
- with implant may lose the natural "hinge" making sex more difficult/uncomfortable in some positions
- need to replace every 8-15 years or so. I'm 45 so this could mean 2-3 revisions, and as I understand it the risks of all the con's above increase with each revision

So best case an implant seems like an improvement over my current situation. But there's also a good chance I'd be worse off than I am compared to my current damaged state. What I don't know is high likely either outcome might be.

Honestly if I hadn't have talked to so many patients this summer I would have gone ahead with the implant back then. A few mentioned how things were "not as good as their regular dick" when I talked to them...and it put me on the fence.

My thought now is to hold out as long as I can despite my moderate ED and reduced pleasure, but I welcome any and all thoughts from your experience.

Thank you all in advance for any further thoughts

[WheezeTheJuice]

I was someone who could get an erection on command, and keep it for a loooong time. Then one day I suffered an injury, within 5 months those days were gone. I got an implant on my mind.

If someone suffers from a Venous leak and cannot maintain an erection even with all the little tools we have available these days, I'd say get the damn implant. I've talked to quite a few guys who have V-Leaks and they just went and got an implant, they didn't even waste their time. They could not be any happier.

[oneperson]

["not as good as their regular dick"]

Nobody can tell you different. Absolutely nothing in this world is better than a health, fully functional, young dick.

The question I asked me when had to make a decision was: have I something near to that?

My answer was: not, by far. And took the decision.

[twaters]

It was a no brainer for me. Suffered for 20+ years with ED. so the decision was easy. I have had mine for 12 years now with no complaints.