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Erectile dysfunction affects more than 30 million men across the United States, yet it’s still something of a taboo. The problem can be difficult for men to admit to, and even more challenging for them to discuss with their partners. Here are the top three things most sufferers wish that their partners knew about erectile dysfunction.
If you’re having significant symptoms of low testosterone including low libido, decreased energy and decreased concentration, it’s important to have a complete hormone panel done in order to identify all possible causes. This means looking beyond the amount of testosterone circulating in the bloodstream, to include your SHBG levels. The problem with the protein SHBG is once testosterone is bound to it, it becomes unavailable for cells to use. A complete panel can help identify this and help your doctor determine the proper level of total testosterone for you.
In a recent New York Times health and wellness blog, your fitness age and lifespan was discussed. There is an increasing amount of research coming out on cardiorespiratory fitness assessments and predicting cardiovascular disease risk. Assessing an individual’s peak exercise capacity can also determine their mortality rates. A “Vo2max” or “Maximum Oxygen Consumption” is how you can measure one’s exercise capacity.
Let’s be honest, we are all looking for the best way to either get fit, stay fit, or improve our health. Whether it is for health reasons, personal goals, or our own vanity, it is essential that we are taking care of ourselves. I get a lot of questions about the latest and greatest supplements and exercise routines out there that can help us achieve a higher health status or a more desirable body. The answer to the question on how to achieve this is, quite simply, a little bit of everything.
In western medicine, we often look for a simple cure to anything that ails us. We get sick, we take a pill. We have pain, we take a pill. We have ED, we take a pill. The problem is, real health care is often far more entangled and involved than that. Factors that can cause health problems may pose no threat on their own, but when piled up on each other may lead to some frustrating medical issues. The little stresses of life we subject our bodies to, all take their toll, including on our penis and its ability to function. After too much abuse, our body signals that it is giving up the fight. An holistic, lifestyle approach to treating ED can help the recovery and maintenance of a functioning penis.
Many evidence based studies prove that pelvic floor physical therapy is an effective treatment approach for men and women suffering from pelvic pain caused by tight muscles and restricted tissues. The pelvic floor muscles can develop adhesions, tension or trigger points which restrict movement and cause pain. Thankfully, pelvic pain due to restricted muscles can be released and return to normal function, through regular pelvic floor physical therapy and performing some home exercises, often within 2-3 months.
One of the most common responses we see from men when they face sexual or erectile difficulties is simply avoidance. It makes sense. If sex has become frustrating, challenging, embarrassing, or humiliating, then why in the world would anyone continue trying to be sexual? Still, it remains a basic human need to be sexual, so even though sex may not be working the way we’re used to, or the way we’d like it to, we all still need to maintain both a solo sex life and an intimacy with our partners.
Sexual aids for men have always had a troubled existence. For decades, they have been associated with lurid porn shops in seedy parts of town. Sex toys and porn have been inextricably linked for far too long. The reality is that marital aids, as they are clinically called, can be a very valuable tool in helping restore and improve sexual performance in men.
In my work with men, I often ask if they ever use sex toys on themselves. I usually get a blank stare. Clearly I don’t get it. Toys, are meant to be used on the other person, right? That’s just how it works. Well, not exactly. Remember those childhood lessons on sharing? They apply to sex toys, too. When men hand over the toys to their partner and lets her use them on him – the new playground rules can be pretty fun!
Over the past few years, the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) has approved several new testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) products. Patients now have several options to choose from including those that can be applied to the skin via a gel or patch, injected into a muscle, placed in the mouth and allowed to absorb through the gums or inserted under the skin by their provider. There is no right or wrong choice, but the choice of treatment must take into account the patient’s age, existing medical conditions, previous and current response to treatment, and preference, as well as cost.
