A Word Or Two About Priapism

I discussed the cause of impotence at some length in a previous blog. Priapism is the exact opposite of impotence in that a male has no problem achieving an erection but the erection will not subside after he has ejaculated or, in some cases, when he has not been able to ejaculate and wishes to terminate his attempt at intercourse. There are many causes of priapism, in my day sickle cell anemia in blacks was among the most common. Today, priapism often is caused the medications like Viagra which are prescribed to treat impotence and it is the glut of radio and television adverting of these medications that has prompted me to write this blog. It is not my purpose to argue the pros and cons of any of the impotence drugs; rather, I want to point out a very misleading and potentially dangerous component of the admonishments on side effects that are included in the impotence advertisements. All of these TV come ons have one thing in common. They invariably admonish the person taking the impotence medication to contact a physician if their erection persists for over four hours. This, by the way, was what I was taught when in my urology residency in the late 1960s. This admonishment was wrong then and it is just as wrong today, 46 years later. I have no idea why this piece of erroneous urologic lore has persisted all these years, but it has. In my case, although I knew this information was erroneous, there was always something else that seemed more important to write about so I never got around to correcting the situation. If I had it to do over again I would have acted differently! Well better late than never, I guess. Back to the point which is very simple! If your erection persists, ever for a few minutes, after you are finished with sex, you are in big trouble, have no doubt about it. Time is of the essence. Forget about the four hour rule and get your butt to the closest emergency room as soon as possible. Let's hope that there is an Urologist on call who knows what he or she is doing when you get there. In any case, the longer you wait the more difficult it will be for the urologist to resolve the issue. All erections ultimately will subside, usually within seven to ten days, unless you should die first. Interestingly, if you succumb with an erection it will remain a prominent feature of your anatomy as long as you remain recognizable as human being. This interesting bit of medical trivia is of little or no importance, of course, as long as the lower half of the casket is closed during your funeral. However, if you should live through the experience it can be a problem since about 50% of men with untreated priapism will lose the ability to have future erections. This occurs because the blood flow to the penile erectile bodies is greatly reduced during priapism. The resultant anoxia can permanently damage the fragile erectile tissue within the penis and render you impotent. It is not my goal to discuss the treatment options for priapism in this blog; rather, I simply want to emphasize the importance of early treatment if you should develop a prolonged unwanted erection for any reason and especially if the erection persists after taking one the impotency drugs. In this respect, every minute wasted reduces your chances of a successful outcome if you are unfortunate enough to develop a persistent erection. Take my word for it, applications of ice will not help. So, get a move on, times a wasting!