Curvature Of The Penis

What is "Peyronie's disease"?
Peyronie's disease is a disease described by François de la Peyronie, a French physician to the court of one of the French kings in the 17th century. And it's a condition to describe a curvature of the penis.

What causes Peyronie's disease?
Peyronie's disease is caused by one of two things. Either it's a congenital problem where someone is born with a curvature of the penis, or more specifically, it's a scar that forms in the aligning of the penis that causes the penis to bend toward the side of the scar. The penis is comprised of elastic cylinders, or actually, they're semi-elastic, where they'll grow to a certain point and then they'll become rigid. If there's a scar in one of these areas, then that area loses its elasticity, so that site can't grow, so it results in a curvature of the penis.It's almost like if you took one of those long children's water balloons and you were to fill it up, it would get longer and longer and longer, and then it would get to a certain point and then it would stop getting longer. If you were to put a piece of Scotch tape on one side, all of a sudden, when you fill it up, that side won't expand, so it's going to curve to the side where the scar, or in this scenario, the Scotch tape is.

What are the symptoms of Peyronie's disease?
The symptoms of Peyronie's disease are, number one, a man notices his penis has become curved and this can be disturbing to him for several reasons. Number one is he may not like the way it looks. Number two is it might cause him pain. Sometimes the scarring inside the lining of the penis can actually be painful. It may be painful to his partner during intercourse or it may be so deformed such that it might not be possible for him to achieve penetration.

How is Peyronie's disease treated?
Peyronie's disease is treated with a variety of different things: with either medical therapy, injection therapy, or with surgery. There are several prescription and non-prescription medications which can decrease the inflammation that occurs in the lining of the penis, although they're not very effective. Some doctors have advocated injecting shots of anti-inflammatories right into the area where the scar is in the penis. But these also have not been exceptionally effective, and actually injecting the needle into this lining can cause it to scar.The most effective treatment for Peyronie's disease is to perform a surgery where the plaque, or area of scarring, is actually incised and allowed to spring open, and then that is covered with a patch of either vein or some other substance.The other treatment for Peyronie's disease is a procedure where the opposite side of the curvature is actually ratcheted down with sutures to straighten the penis. But because men lose length with that procedure, most men who are undergoing surgical procedures want the procedure where the plaque is opened up, because that helps to preserve the length of the penis.