Contrary to some long-held misconceptions, there are many sources of erectile dysfunction. Medications, prostate disease, low testosterone, snd surgical treatments for prostate cancer are just some potential culprits. Thankfully, there are numerous ways that your specialist can address many of these issues. The most well-known is the “little blue pill,” known as Viagra. However, these treatments aren’t effective for everyone. 

How Prostate Disease And Its Treatments May Cause ED

Once, there was a long-held belief that erectile dysfunction was primarily the result of psychological pressure. Generalized stress and performance anxiety were often blamed, but we now know this often isn’t true. 70% of all modern diagnoses of erectile dysfunction are due to physical problems. These problems may cause blood flow restriction or impair how nerves function. Kidney disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, alcoholism, and vascular disease are all common causes.

Prostate disease is another prominent source of problems with ED, and its treatments can be as well. Prostate cancer treatments, in particular, tend to have a negative effect on performance. 

• Prostate cancer: The surgery used to treat prostate cancer often has to sever important arteries and nerves to create and maintain an erection. The total removal of the prostate gland impacts the ability to have erections in 25%-80% of all men. Even modern nerve-sparing surgical techniques produce erectile dysfunction in over half of all cases. Numerous factors come into play, including the skill of the surgeon, the age of the patient, and the location of the tumor. Tumors located close to the nerve bundle may make it impossible to spare them. However, even when they are spared, it can take 18 months to see improvement. This time is required for the nerves to recover from the trauma caused during surgery.
• Benign prostatic hyperplasia: This is a noncancerous condition that causes the prostate to become enlarged. Those with this condition often experience ejaculatory problems and erectile dysfunction. BPH is not the core cause of these problems; however, the medication used to treat it is. Finasteride is one example of an anti-testosterone drug used for the treatment of BPH. Approximately 4% of all men who use it experience erectile dysfunction, and 3.5% experience a reduction in libido. There is also a surgery used to treat BPH when the medication is ineffective. This procedure also results in a small percentage of patients experiencing erectile dysfunction.
• Prostatitis: This condition is an acute or chronic inflammation of the prostate gland. Acute cases are generally caused by bacterial infection, while chronic cases generally are not. This condition can result in erectile dysfunction in severe cases but can also produce painful ejaculation even in mild cases.

How Prostate Treatment May Influence ED

Medication is a common component of therapeutic treatments of prostate conditions. Erectile dysfunction can occasionally result from underlying conditions. Medication is often more effective for certain types of erectile dysfunction than others. Prostate surgery is one case where pills probably won’t be as effective as in others. Speak to your specialist to determine what kind of influence your treatment may have over cases of erectile dysfunction.