Dr. Rakesh Agarwal

A normal healthy love life is as important as having a healthy body and mind. However, many men tend to have problems in maintaining a healthy love life due to the problem of impotence. A man is diagnosed as impotent when fails to get erection despite arousal or maintaining it during sexual intercourse.

Physical and mental impact If the failure to get erection / erectile dysfunction becomes a regular phenomenon, it can severely affect the person’s relationship status, not to mention his self-esteem. Sometimes, impotence might be an indication of a serious underlying condition.

Symptoms you might be suffering from male impotence if:

1. You are experiencing recurrent and significant trouble in order to get and subsequently maintain an erection.
2. You are suffering from a low sex drive for a long amount of time.
3. A combination of the both.

Solution

Either way, a consultation with the doctor might help to cure male impotence through a prescribed dosage of medications. In extreme cases, the doctor might prescribe an artificial replacement of testosterone within the body or even a surgery in order to normalize things.  If male impotence occurs due to psychological factors, sessions of counseling might help to improve the condition. If diagnosed and treated efficiently, male impotence is an easily curable condition.

Causes 

Causes of male impotence or erectile dysfunction might occur due to numerous physical or psychological factors. Some of the known causes of erectile dysfunction are as follows:

1. Underlying health issues: If you are suffering from major health disorders you may suffer from erectile dysfunction. Some of these could be
   • Hypertension
   • Diabetes
   • Obesity
   • Alzheimer’s disease
   • Parkinson’s disease
2. Medication and treatments: Erectile dysfunction might occur due to side effects of certain medications such as chemotherapy and blood pressure medications.
3. Excessive alcohol consumption, tobacco usage or drug abuse: These elements put many harmful elements within your body and may result in prostate cancer or surgery within the pelvic area. If anyone has recently undergone surgery to treat prostate cancer or other problems of the pelvic area, it may cause impotence as well.
4. Psychological trauma: Since the brain is one of the most important agents responsible for erections, any form of psychological trauma, anxiety or stress might trigger a dysfunction in the process as well. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

When the male reproductive part accumulates fibrous scar tissue, it results in an erection that is curved and painful, which is known as Peyronie's Disease. While a man’s penis varies in size, a bend in erection doesn’t necessarily indicate any reason for worry. However, Peyronie's Disease causes an erection that is significantly bent and causes pain. This condition can hinder sex life as the erection does not last for an adequate amount of time. It can also result in distress and anxiety. For few percentages of men, the Peyronie's Disease can disappear without having to do anything, for others it requires medical assistance to get a permanent cure.

What are the symptoms of Peyronie's Disease?

The symptoms and signs of this disease can build up gradually or might suddenly appear in an individual. Some of the common symptoms are as follows:

1. Scar tissue: As a result of the accumulation of the scar tissue, a lump or hard tissue can be felt under the skin
2. Penis size: Penis can become shorter when a person is facing from this disease
3. Erection problems: The erection might not last as long as it should
4. Penis bent: The penis might bend significantly at an angle
5. Pain: There could be a significant pain while erection. As days go by, the pain becomes worse.

Causes of Peyronie's disease?
While the exact cause of Peyronie's disease is not known, researchers indicate a variety of factors for this condition:

1. A repeated penis injury from athletic activity, accident, trauma and damage resulting from sex
2. If in the process of healing, the scar tissue forms a lump
3. The improper functioning of corpus cavernosum
4. In few cases, this disease can occur normally without the involvement of any accident or injury

What are the risk factors?
There could be various factors that put a person at risk of facing this disease:

1. Heredity: If someone in the immediate family is facing this disease, it puts a person at increased risk of facing Peyronie's disease due to heredity.
2. Age: With age, the risk potential of this disease increases since the tissue tends to become softer.
3. Disorder of the connective tissue: People suffering from connective tissue disorder are at a higher risk of getting this disease. It is often observed that a person who has been diagnosed with Peyronie's Disease often suffers from a connective tissue disorder known as Dupuytren's contracture.

Diagnosis and treatment:
A physical exam gives a doctor possible indication about the disease. The patient may be asked to bring the photographs of the penis in erect condition to get an idea about the curvature degree and scar tissue location. He might also prescribe an ultrasonography. The medication depends on the stage of diagnosis. In the early stage, a doctor might recommend a wait and watch approach. He might also prescribe medication to minimize the pain and remove the scar tissue. If medication fails one might have to go undergo a surgery to get a permanent cure.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

It is always advisable to practice safe physical intimacy, which helps avoid many complications including unwanted pregnancies and STDs. Talking of the latter, while some like herpes manifest shortly after contracting the disease, some may take months and years to show up and infections like chlamydia are extremely hard to detect.

So, if you think you could have contracted an STD from someone, be sure to watch out for the following signs and symptoms.

1. Vaginal or penile discharge: If you are experiencing anything unusual in terms of discharge (color, consistency, or odor change) from your genital organs after unprotected sex, it is always advisable to get it tested. The risk is higher if you are not sure of your partner’s history.

2. Vaginal or penile itching: This could again be one of the early signs of infection and therefore it will be good to get it checked.

3. Sores or lesions on the genitals: Whatever the size, shape or color, if you are seeing sores on the genitals, especially after doubtful sexual relations, visit your doctor and have a frank chat.

4. Vaginal bleeding: If there is abnormal bleeding which is not normal for you, it could be a warning sign of an STD and it is better to get it checked.

5. Painful sex: Again, if this is abnormal for you, it is time for a checkup. Note that this would usually be combined with one or more of the above symptoms and would not be the only issue you are having.

6. Testicular pain: Pain in the testicles which is not normal for you could be another indication of an STD. This would not be the only symptom and would be accompanied by other symptoms mentioned above.

7. Pain in the lower abdomen: Most STDs in men and women also have lower abdominal pain, in the pelvic/scrotal area.

8. History: If your partner has had a history of STDs in the last one year, then the risk of you developing an STD is  quite high. In such cases, it is always advisable to get it tested. This will help clear your doubt plus control the disease at an early stage.

9. Inability to conceive: Some STDs can cause infertility and so inability to conceive may require ruling out STDs

10. A Manifestation of symptoms: For more severe conditions like HIV, the symptoms manifest after a long time and include general symptoms of immunosuppression like fatigue, tiredness and slowly develop specific symptoms like oral candidiasis and other infections.

When in doubt, do not hesitate to get yourself or your partner tested. There is no reason for embarrassment and avoiding tests in the early days can prove very dear if the disease progresses to advanced stages.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Can you imagine your life without your cell phone? Difficult isn’t it, but did you know that these devices could be harming your sexual health? Most people keep their cell phones in their jeans or trouser pockets or clipped to a belt on their waist. While this does make the phone easily accessible, it also affects male fertility.

There are two main aspects to male fertility; the motility and viability of sperm cells. Motility refers to the sperm cell’s ability to swim through body fluids and fertilise the egg. Viability refers to the number of living vs non-living sperm cells and sperm cell abnormalities.

Cell phones are constantly working even when we’re not talking into them. They constantly send out and receive electromagnetic frequency radiation to keep your social media accounts updated. Given the close proximity of the cell phone and your body, this energy may be absorbed by your genitals. As a result, the sperm cells may change shape and lose their ability to attach themselves to an egg. The structural abnormality may impede the sperm’s ability to swim and thus reduce motility. Semen exposed to this type of radiation also has a high level of free radicals.

In order to produce sperm, the testicles maintain a specific temperature that is ideal for sperm health. Smartphones typically also have a higher temperature than that of the room you are in. Thus, when you keep your cell phone in your pant pockets, they increase your skin temperature in the groin by approximately 2 degrees as well as the temperature within your testicles. This slows down the production of sperm cells and can even kill them thus, reducing sperm cell viability.

In the ideal world, a cell phone should only be carried in a bag, but almost all men may cringe at the thought of carrying a bag. Hence, take your phone out of your pocket whenever possible, for example while driving, at a restaurant etc. The use of Ayurvedic aphrodisiacs can also lower the harmful effects of cell phones. The dried roots of asparagus or safed musli can help increase sperm count and rejuvenate a man’s libido. Ashwagandha, shilajit and kawach are also very effective Ayurvedic herbs to treat male infertility. Increasing your intake of food rich in vitamin C and E can also help deal with the stress in sperm caused by phone radiation. The use of these herbs has negligible side effects and hence can be safely used by men of all ages. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!