As many men have discovered, it can be more difficult to uncover the reason for diminished sexual performance than simply getting a prescription. The symptoms of erectile dysfunction may be caused by any number of underlying physical and mental disorders that affect your ability to get and maintain an erection during sex.
Erectile dysfunction, also known as “impotence”, or simply, “ED”, is a problem that most men fear, and that many men experience at one point in time. However, the symptoms of ED don’t necessarily mean that you need to be treated for ED. Here are some ways that your doctor can help you discover the underlying cause for your erectile issues.
What Is ED, Really?
The National Institute of Health provides the accepted consensus definition of the disorder, describing it as the “inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance.” Where “impotence” describes the inability to achieve erection in a romantic instant, “erectile dysfunction” is a persistent issue with erectile behavior.
This is the key to teasing out the reason for the impotence that you may be experiencing. If you’ve never experience impotence in the past, and you suddenly become unable to get an erection, it probably isn’t ED, which describes the chronic inability to perform.
So What Can You Do to Find Answers?
The definition of ED implies that you should be on high alert for impotence that persists or worsens in nature. If it happens only on one occasion, it probably isn’t ED. If it happens over and over, and you find yourself becoming less and less able to perform, it may be.
If you’re experiencing the symptoms of ED, you should consult your doctor immediately. Often men that start to become unable to achieve erections begin to internalize the problem and add an additional layer of stress and anxiety to sexual performance in general.
A simple discussion about your health, your psychological condition and some details about your life may give your doctor all the information he needs to be confident about a diagnose, but more likely, he’ll want to run some diagnostics. Here are some tests your doctor will probably want to run to tease out the underlying cause of your impotence, whether it really is erectile dysfunction or some other medical condition:
Vital Checks: Basic tests determining the health of your vital bodily functions can go a long way towards discovering the source of your impotence. These tests include blood pressure measurement— high blood pressure can lead to improper blood flow and in turn, poor circulation and blood flow to the penis —as well as tests that measure the function of your heart and central blood vessels.
Blood Tests: Blood tests can tell you whether you have insufficient testosterone, high bad cholesterol levels or whether your thyroid is functioning properly. These issues can all lead to the symptoms of ED.
Physical Exam: A doctor may want to personally inspect the penis to see if there are any malformations in or near it that may be affecting its ability to function properly.
Mental Exam: As many as 20% of erectile problems can stem from psychological disorders, from as simple as work or relationship related stress to more serious issues such as anxiety and depression. The medications used to treat these conditions can also cause hormonal imbalances, which may adversely affect your testosterone levels.
Ultrasound or Other Imaging: Imaging of the penis can allow doctors to study the blood flow to the area and look at tissue behavior as arousal occurs. While “insuffiencent blood flow” is usually caused by some other physical condition, it can allow professionals to narrow down the probably causes.
MRIs and CT scans can determine whether or not you have fatty plaque clogging your arteries, a condition that restricts blood flow known as “atherosclerosis”.
Urinalysis: Analysis of a urine sample can lead to conclusions not available through blood testing. Proteins and excretions from your kidneys and liver are present in urine, and can suggest other disorders that may be keeping you from maintaining maximum sexual potency.
Overnight Erection Test: The overnight erection tests involves a breakable band placed onto the shaft of the penis, intended to measure the occurrence of nocturnal erections. The reason for this test is that men with ED generally don’t have normal nighttime erections like those of otherwise healthy men.
Is It ED or Just a Circulatory Issue?
Improper blood flow is, by and large, the most common cause of the symptoms normally associated with ED. Many of the causes of insufficient circulatory function is, however, not as easy to discover, and may involve some major lifestyle changes to remedy.
Other factors may include a serious accident that jeopardizes the pelvic region, or normal factors of aging, sometimes called “manopause” that can begin as early as 40 years of age.
Your doctor is the only person qualified to tell you if you’re in sound body and mind, and help you seek the answers for the reasons why you may be experiencing some of these issues. The human body is a very delicate system, and a simple change in hormonal balance, psychological status or physical health can throw what seemed like a constant function totally out of whack.
If your doctor determines that your problem is genuine erectile dysfunction, don’t panic. There are numerous options for treatment of the disorder, including oral medications like Viagra, Levitra and Cialis, physical treatments like penis pumps and penile implants and a whole array of herbal and homeopathic remedies on the market.