I've Started Shock Wave Treatments for ED

 I finally decided to try my urologist's U-Wave treatment even though it is supposedly not as effective for guys with advanced/severe ED like me.  I figured for the new lower price it would be worth a try, and it's good I signed up when I did-- the price jumped from $1500 to $2000 as of January 1, 2022.  This was still much better than the Total Performance Medical price of $5500 I was quoted maybe a year ago (see  past blog post).  

The procedure is very simple: you strip below the waist, the technician applies an acoustic gel to your willy and then he goes over it with the shockwave wand. After that you put your knees up and he gels and wands the area at the base of your shaft behind the testicles, where the artery supplying your genitals is located.  You can feel the pulses, kind of prickly/tingly, but it doesn't really hurt.  My 3rd treatment was given by the actual urologist, and he used a little less gel, which meant I felt it more, like really mild pin pricks but nothing to complain about.  I had my 4th treatment yesterday from the regular tech, and he uses more gel, which means I don't feel anything.  You get 2 treatments per week for 3 weeks.  The treatment takes about 4 to 6 weeks to have its full effect, after which they have a doctor consultation to gauge its success or failure.

As I said, I just completed my 4th session, and I can tell a difference even though I'm far from cured.  I take Super Bi-mix injections to achieve erections, and the tech suggested I induce one every 48 hours and keep it hard for as long as possible while the treatments are on-going, to help the body build and open the penile blood vessels. Before I started this, my injections were kind of hit or miss as far as success was concerned, not sure why.  Since I began U-Wave, however, every erection has been rock-hard and I've managed to make it last 1.5 to 2 hours as long as I put off climaxing... WOOHOO! That much alone makes it worth the $1500 to me.

I'll update this post after the last treatment, if there's anything new to report, and again after the 4- 6 week period.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have an injection to prepare.  ;-)

UPDATE:  My member feels "fatter" than it did, and my erect length seems to have improved, although not to what it was before I had Peyronie's Disease (see previous post).  Alas, I can't see much improvement in my ED in general, still need an injection to get hard. *Sigh*

Is Peakperformanceformen.org a Scam?

I think not, although they definitely pursue the hard sell.  My regular urologist has a low-intensity shock wave machine, and he said it would cost about $3000, so I visited Peakperformanceformen to see what their treatment is like and how much it would cost.  I had to pay $49 for the consultation (it's advertised as $99 on TV, but if you mention their website you get the cheaper price),  They ask you a bunch of relevant questions about your ED to start with, and an assistant then uses a hand-held doppler device to listen to the pulse of your femoral artery and then 2 other arteries which supposedly feed into your penis. My femoral artery had a loud, regular pulse while the other two had almost none at all. Surprise, surprise!

An actual physician came in a few minutes later and said from his review of my history and the doppler test I qualified for the treatment.  I was then ushered into the business manager's office (kinda like buying a car, eh?) and long story short, the fee was going to be $5500 plus a possible maintenance treatment in 6 months for another $900.  What the?  I suppose in my younger years I might have been desperate enough to pay that, but today, MEH, no way.  As a last ditch sales pitch, the business guy said the shockwave treatment could be used on my testicles to get them to produce more testosterone, something neither I nor my urologist had ever heard.  I have since received several follow-up voicemails from the main office of the company offering a lower fee, but I haven't called them back.

Some notes:  1) My dick doc said that for guys with severe ED, such as requires bi-mix injections rather than just oral ED drugs, the shockwave treatment seldom results in enough improvement to stop using the injections, so if I wanted to throw $3000 at it anyway, they could do that. 2) It looks like Peakperformanceformen uses a device branded Piezo Wave.  When I googled them it seems their device is primarily used for torn rotator cuff repairs and the like, but I may have been wrong. 3) I wonder that maybe because this is a relatively new treatment in the US is why it costs so much.  Perhaps like laser vision correction a few years ago, the price of the procedure may come down as it becomes more commonly available and initial demand for it subsides.  We can only hope!

Peyronie's Hope & Despair: Penis Implants Now, or Hope for Something Better Down the Road?

I'm in a quandary.  I can't seem to commit to the idea of getting penis implants.  I got over the fear of the surgery (although it is done under general anesthesia, which has its own problems), since all the work is done through a small incision in the bottom of the scrotum.  The idea of being able to have an erection whenever I want one is alluring, too, and once the surgery is paid for there might not be the constant expense of ED drugs.  But once made, it's a permanent decision to always have implants, which, since the current inflatable models last only ten to fifteen years, might mean additional surgeries to replace them (although the manufacturer supposedly warrants them for life, so replacements wouldn't cost anything).

On the other hand, I read a .pdf download from Medispec.com, the manufacturer of the ED1000 (see post).  It was a digest of all the testing & research regarding Low Intensity Shock Wave Therapy (which is what the ED1000 is) and it also included some research regarding High Intensity Therapy for Peyronie's using a lithotripsy device to try to break up the scar tissue that causes it, the results of which have been mixed but look rather promising.  If I get implants now,  the ED1000 won't be available to me when it finally gets approved for use in the USA, so it seems to make sense to wait, for a while, at least.

It's frustrating, though, because my wife and I have only had actual intercourse twice in the last two months I've had Peyronie's, and it has been extremely awkward, although we did have some success with a doggie-style arrangement where she kneeled on the bed while I stood up on the floor, but it certainly isn't like it used to be.  Sigh.....  (Years later I have tried shock-wave therapy and finally had the implant surgery.  See later posts.)