Medicinal products with erectile dysfunction: Which ones are available?

Over recent years the possibilities for the treatment of erectile dysfunction with medicinal products have greatly increased. Widespread therapy options are medicinal products subject to medical prescription that are taken orally (meaning through the digestive tract) or applied locally (on the penis). Virility increasing medicinal products subject to medical prescription intervene in the hormone metabolism or in other biochemical processes of the body.

Oral medicinal products with erectile dysfunction – "Open your mouth and then …

… first wait for a while“. Since nearly 30 years a group of medicinal products has been available against erectile dysfunction that is called phosphodiesterase-5-inhibitors, in short PDE-5-inhibitors. These are a group of chemical medicinal products with the same effect principle: After the intake of the virility increasing medicinal product it comes to a relaxation of the smooth (not intentionally influenceable) muscles in the penis. The blood can flow better into the spongy body and thereby allows the development of an erection. The following active substances are counted amongst the PDE-5-inhibitors:

• Sildenafil
• Tadalafil
• Vardenafil

All three active substances are taken in tablet form. Depending on the preparation the virility increasing effect of the medicinal products sets in 40 to 120 minutes after the intake and continues for 4 to 36 hours. But attention: The erection does not develop automatically but occurs only after sexual stimulation.

Good to know: An increase of the sexual desire (libido) cannot be achieved with PDE-5-inhibitors.

For application on the penis: Locally virility increasing medicinal products

Apart from the intake of tablets, locally acting, prescription dependent medicinal products belong to the standard repertoire of allopathic medicine. Here the active substance prostaglandin E comes into application. This causes a relaxation of the smooth muscles as well as certain blood vessels in the penis. Through this the blood can flow into the spongy body, the erection develops and is maintained through the partially restricted vessels.

The active substance is injected through a syringe or applied in the urethra by means of a small rod.

• SBAT (spongy body auto injection therapy): Hereby before the sexual intercourse the man injects himself a virility enhancing medicinal product into the spongy body. By massaging the penis the active substance is distributed.
• MUSE (medicated urethral system for erection): With this system the active substance is inserted into the urethra through a mini tablet and a small rod. There it is absorbed through the mucous membrane.

Both locally inserted medications act against the erectile disorder within 5 to 10 minutes. The active substance with MUSE must however be given at a higher dosage, as it is not directly injected into the spongy body. SBAT is therefore regarded as being the more effective method, but does however require overcoming the fear of injections.

This is something you should know: Considered overall locally acting medicinal products against erectile dysfunction can be applied relatively pain-free, are effective and safe. But there are however several critical points. The patient must not only comprehensively familiarise himself with the technique in the presence of a trained physician, he should also be prepared for possible side-effects. These include a permanent erection and with SBAT tissues change in the spongy body (fibrosis). The consistent supervision through a urologist is therefore necessary with this therapy form.

It is not uncommon for some men to reject the treatment with local medicinal products of this type, because not only the active substance itself but also the technique is impairing for an erotic mood, and they prefer to resort to natural agents to enhance virility such as Monk's pepper.