Viagra is probably your best bet if you suffer from impotence caused by vascular insufficiency, but other options are available for those who find that the drug doesn’t work for them or who suffer from ED that stems from other causes. Others may find that they can’t tolerate some of Viagra’s side effects, which are usually mild but can be particularly bothersome to those sensitive to the drug’s effects.
Other options for the treatment of ED include penile injection therapy, which involves the injection of a vasodilating drug — alprostadil most often — directly into the penis minutes before sexual activity is expected to begin.
This form of treatment has a very high success rate but isn’t for those who find it difficult, if not impossible, to picture themselves injecting a needle into the penis. Other options include penile implants, which range in sophistication from a flexible rod surgically implanted that can be manipulated into place for sexual activity to more advanced systems. The latter usually consist of plastic cylinders that replace the penis’s corpora cavernosa — twin columns of spongy erectile tissue — and can be filled on demand with fluid pumped from a reservoir implanted under the skin of the lower abdomen.