A botox injection into the penis could one day become a treatment for erectile dysfunction.
- Erectile dysfunction is a lasting decrease in the quality of erections.
- The most common treatment for these disorders is Viagra.
- Botox relaxes the walls of blood vessels in the penis.
Impotence is not inevitable. Several drugs can treat this erectile dysfunction, and a new treatment could soon see the light of day. In the specialist journal Urologyresearchers show that a botox injection would treat this disorder.
Several studies on the effectiveness of botox against erectile dysfunction
They carried out a meta-analysis of seven different studies published between January 1990 and July 2021. In total, this represented a sample of 362 men, suffering from erectile dysfunction.
They either received an injection of Botox, or a placebo, at the base of their penis. To test the effectiveness of this method, the scientists used the scale of “hardness of erection”which measures the stiffness and strength of an erection on a scale of 0 to 4.
0 corresponds to no erection and 4 to a “completely rigid penis”. The scientists also measured the blood circulation in the penis using an ultrasound technique. One of the trials shows that the method is 50% effective: half of the participants obtained a better score after the injection. Another trial found that 40% of participants were able to have sex three months later.
“Regarding the duration of benefits from BoNT-A injections [Botox]the above studies showed a clear benefit during the first three months of treatment, summarizes Dr. Rawad Abou Zahr, urologist and co-author of the study in the New york Post. This effectiveness seems to regress after a period of six months.“However, this meta-analysis needs to be confirmed by another medical study, as the sample of participants was too small.
What are the causes of erectile dysfunction?
Generally, health professionals provide different advice to fight against erection problems: changes in lifestyle are sometimes sufficient to resolve them. Weight loss, smoking cessation, resuming physical activity are among the recommendations of doctors.
When this does not work, additional examinations are carried out to rule out any disease such as diabetes or Parkinson’s. Then, treatments can be put in place, by medication or by prosthesis in cases where all the solutions fail.
Finding an appropriate and effective treatment can take time, because it is first necessary to identify the causes of erectile dysfunction, but many factors, both physical and psychological, can explain the appearance of erectile dysfunction.