Intracorporal Injections

Rigid erection can be induced and maintained for hours by injecting the penis with medications that act by relaxing the cavernosal muscles and dilating the arteries, therefore increasing blood pumping into the penis and thereby inducing erection.

These medications act directly on the penis without need for sexual stimulation, and have the virtue of  reaching the penis straight forwards without dilution in the blood.

They are therefore among the most powerful and effective erection-inducing medications. Unfortunately, this has the drawback of causing prolonged erection that may require medical intervention (priapism) if injected without medical supervision.

The dose and type of medication can be calibrated to avoid priapism. Another drawback is that repeated injection may result in fibrosis of the penis.

The most popular medication among the injectable drugs is Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1).

The use of these injections vary from diagnostic to therapeutic applications. One of the first step to diagnose the cause of impotence whether organic or psychogenic is to inject PGE1 into the penis and measure the response.

Moreover, the patient can be taught to inject himself at home, and the dose can be determined by the physician, enabling "Home Therapy". If prolonged home therapy is intended, followup is necessary by penile duplex every 4-6 months to stop treatment if fibrosis starts.

Injection therapy is ideal in cases of impotence caused by cutting the nerves connected to the penis, such as in paraplegia. This is because a small dose is capable of achieving a strong response, and because oral pills need nerve impulses to activate their action while injections do not.

In very severe cases, injections alone may not work, viagra and similar drugs alone may not work, but a combination of both may work. If this is not enough to correct impotence, then surgery is mandatory.

Injection How-to:

Medication is injected in the corpus cavernosum and not into the urethra, into arteries, veins or under the skin.

The expiry date and storage condition of the medication is checked. The bottle is wiped with alcohol. The syringe is prepared. Injection is performed by an insulin needle. An accurate amount of the medication is aspirated into the syringe as dictated by the physician. The needle should be kept from touching anything but the sterile bottle.

The site of injection is determined: the near third of the penis, towards the base of the penis, on the right or left side

Injection should NOT be through the upper surface of the penis, or else the nerves and vessels that course on the upper surface will be injured.

Injection should NOT be through the lower surface of the penis, or else the urethra that courses on the lower surface will be injured.

 

 

An anesthetic spray can be applied prior to injection to avoid pain, though this is usually unnecessary.

The area is sterilized by an alcohol swab. The penis is stretched outwards and forwards by holding it from the glans with the left hand (or the right hand in left-handed men).

The needle is inserted at the point chosen for injection, 1 cm deep. The plunger is pulled. As the plunger is pulled, blood should not be aspirated into the syringe. If blood appears in the syringe, this means that the tip of the needle is in a blood vessel. Injection SHOULD NOT proceed. The needle is pulled back for a short distance and the process repeated. If no blood appears, the plunger is pushed all the way to release the medication into the penis.