Peyronie’s Disease

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Peyronie's Disease Information and Examples

Peyronie’s Disease is a disorder of the penis that is characterized by focal scarring and penile curvature. The principal symptom of the disorder is when men who develop this disorder consistently notice a bent or curved penis during erections. There is no set timetable for the development of the disorder, as some men may notice a penis curvature that develops gradually over a span of years, while other men may suddenly wake up one morning and notice their penis is significantly bent with a morning erection. While some penis curvature is completely normal and no cause for concern, an abnormal penis curvature caused by Peyronie’s disease can be quite drastic and come with other symptoms. The disease can also cause pain during an erection, prevent sexual intercourse, and can be associated with erectile dysfunction, which makes it difficult to achieve or maintain an erection. In some cases, the disease will resolve itself without any treatment, but oftentimes in order to resume a healthy sex life, treatment is necessary.

Penis Curvature Image From Different Angels

Peyronies

This image is an example of a mid-shaft bend of the penis. While the base of the penis is straight, about midway down the shaft the penis dramatically curves to the left. This first-person photograph is an example of when treatment should be sought out.

Penis Curvature Image From Different Angels

Peyronies

This image is an example of a mid-shaft bend of the penis. While the base of the penis is straight, about midway down the shaft the penis dramatically curves to the left. This first-person photograph is an example of when treatment should be sought out.

Bent penis

There are a variety of different bends and curvature that can be signs of the disease. In this case, the curvature is towards the patient’s side, along with a slight upward U-shape bend. There is no set way the penis has to curve or bend to be symptomatic of the disease, as the focal scarring differs in each individual case. This photo is taken facing the patient, illustrating the importance of offering several different image angles to accurately represent the curvature of the penis.

Crooked Penis

This image demonstrates the importance of offering several different angles of the curvature, as mentioned in the previous slide. In this side view, the curvature is only partially demonstrated, making it difficult to also see that the patient has an upward bend of the penis. When seeking treatment, it is essential to provide Dr. Gelman at the Center for Reconstructive Urology with a variety of different angles to fully understand the extent of the curvature.

Penis Curved side

This image is an example of a disabling penile curvature, in which the patient’s symptoms are so dramatic that sexual intercourse would be very difficult or impossible. While some men have mild penile curvature, the curvature to the left side illustrated above is an example of disabling curvature. Patients can develop a very abnormal penis with up to and occasionally more than 90 degrees of penile curvature.

Side Penile Curvature

When men develop severe disabling curvature from Peyronie’s Disease, as seen in this picture, surgery can straighten penis curvature allowing the man to resume sexual intercourse.

Penis Indentation

Peyronie’s Disease is associated with a plaque within the penis that leads to penile curvature. In some cases, this plaque is to some extent along the circumference of the penis leading to an indentation of the penis and in some cases an “hourglass deformity” of the penis. In this picture, the indentation can be seen.

A man's hand touching his penis.

Upward Curved penis

Although men who develop a bent penis from Peyronie’s Disease can have curvature in any direction, it is common for the curvature to be upward as the penile plaque is often along the top part of the penis. In this case there is a penile plaque towards the tip of the penis along the dorsal (top) aspect. This patient underwent a successful surgery to correct his curvature at the Center for Reconstructive Urology.

A man's hand touching his penis.

Downward Penile Curvature

Although upward penile curvature is common along with some curve to the side, some men also can develop a downward penile bend as shown in this picture of a one of our Peyronie’s Disease patients. This man underwent a successful surgery to straighten his severely curved penis, and his now able to have intercourse once again.

Congenital Curvature Flaccid

This man reports that he had penile curvature, mostly to the side, for his entire life. This is called Congenital Penile Curvature. In this picture, the extent of the penile bend is not appreciated because he does not have an erect penis. Given that curvature is best seen during an erection, it is for this reason that we ask our patients to bring pictures of their erect penis to their initial appointment at the Center for Reconstructive Urology.

Congenital Penile Curvature erect

This man has lifelong Congenital Penile Curvature as seen during an erection. Although Peyronie’s Disease is an acquired disorder associated with penile plaque formation, Congenital Penile Curvature is caused by unequal development of the penis prior to birth. This patient underwent a successful correction of his disabling curvature with penile plication at the Center for Reconstructive Urology.

Most men are not even aware that this disease exists. In fact, many of our patients who come to our Center for Reconstructive Urology, located at UC, Irvine in Orange County, California, often have no idea what is wrong with them. They think they have a rare disease that they may have to “live with”, or believe they may have cancer. However, that is not the case as the disease can oftentimes be treated by an experienced urologist. Since most patients are unaware of the disease, there are often a plethora of questions, and below are some of the most frequently asked questions.

Frequently Asked Questions about Peyronie's Disease

Your penis is now bent because of internal scarring and plaque within the penis. The scarring causes one side of the penis to have limitations in terms of how far it can stretch and expand, while the other side is unencumbered. Therefore, during an erection one side of the penis stretches less and is shorter than the other side, causing a noticeable bend.

While the exact cause of the disease is at this point unknown, there are a number of possible contributing factors. Experts believe that the disease may have a genetic component, or in some cases that trauma to the penis during sex may be a factor. To learn more about the causes of the disease, explore the “Causes” section.

While many patient’s first fear is that the symptoms of the disease are a sign of cancer, that is not the case. The disease is in no way related to cancer and is not contagious or sexually transmitted.

While Vitamin E can help with a number of skin issues, when it comes to penile curvature it is generally ineffective. Whether medications are effective depends on whether the patient is currently experiencing the early stage or stable stage of Peyronie’s Disease. The early phase is when the curvature is developing and changing, while the stable phase is when there has been no noticeable change of the curvature for approximately 6 months. Many medications have been promoted as effective options to decrease curvature or prevent curvature progression during the early phase. However, in general, these medications have not proven to be effective treatment options. When the disease is stable, if erection rigidity is satisfactory and the penis curvature is problematic, the “gold standard” for treatment is surgery. For the past 20+ years, we have performed successful curvature correction surgeries. More recently, a medication called Xiaflex became an approved treatment option. This treatment requires a series of injections into the penis plaque. However, this medication has certain restrictions and limitations, does not have the same success rate, and can only be used for treatment in select cases.

While surgery does not cure the disease, it can reliably straighten a curved penis and provide immediate results. For patients who have a curvature that is disabling, surgery is often the best option. A disabling curvature means that either the bend is so severe that penetration is impossible, the curvature interferes with intercourse by limiting positions and enjoyment, or the bend causes partner discomfort. Surgery to correct a disabling curvature means that the patient can resume their normal sex life without any difficulty or discomfort.

 

If you are a man suffering from Peyronie’s Disease, this website will provide you with all of the information you need to help you better understand this disorder and the best available treatment option for you. You can also access our educational information about the disease by going to www.peyroniesdisease.com.

Absolutely not! With proper treatment or possibly surgery, you will be able to resume your sex life.
 

If you are a man suffering from Peyronie’s Disease, this website will provide you with all of the information and Peyronie’s disease pictures you need to help you better understand this disorder and the best available treatment option for you.

On the following pages, you can learn about normal penile anatomy and function, the potential causes and symptoms of the disease, and the current non-surgical options for the medical treatment of a crooked penis. If surgery is deemed as the best method of treatment, the surgery-plication and surgery-graft sections discuss surgical options to straighten penis curvature. 

Patients with disabling penile curvature, which is when the curvature is so severe it prevents sexual intercourse, are often referred to Dr. Gelman at the Center for Reconstructive Urology. Men who develop an abnormal penis with a disabling curve should know that the curvature can be successfully treated, allowing them to resume sexual intercourse. Good candidates for surgery are patients who have tried various treatments with no success, including medications, topical creams or penis stretching devices. Dr. Gelman will perform a penile curvature correction on these patients, and they are then able to resume healthy sexual relations.