ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION SYMPTOMS
The four most common symptoms of men seeing their doctor
with erectile dysfunction are:
1. difficulty getting an erection
2. difficulty sustaining or maintaining an erection
3. premature ejaculation
4. low sex drive (libido).
Most patients have a combination of two or more of these
problems. They are usually first given a thorough medical
history and examination to determine the extent of the
problem and to hopefully pinpoint a cause. I want
to briefly outline the nature of these four symptoms so
that your problem will make more sense to you as a patient
if you are experiencing any of them.
Difficulty getting an erection
One of my patients described his dilemma as 'trying to
stuff a marshmallow into the coin slot of a vending machine'.
Another explained proudly to me how 'I used to be able
to hang a wet towel on the end of it'. The nostalgic ones
say, 'What I used to be able to do all night now takes
me all night to do.'
Most people remember what they were doing when they found
out Kennedy was shot. More recently, most would remember
where they were when they heard about Princess Diana's
accident and subsequent death. Similarly, a man will always
remember the first time his penis failed him, what he
was doing, and with whom. When erection problems start
to set in, a man will always remember the period in his
life, however brief, when he was able to have intercourse
several times in one day. He will compare his current
performance to this period for the rest of his life, believing
that 'anything less than this is inadequate'.
I define adequacy in intercourse as 'the ability to obtain
an erection sufficiently strong enough to penetrate your
partner during sexual intercourse and which remains erect
for an "adequate" period of time'. I will discuss
the term 'adequate' in the section titled, 'Difficulty
in sustaining an erection'. For the meantime this 'adequate
period of time' refers to a period long enough to attain
personal satisfaction, often related to the point of ejaculation.
The cause of poor erectile strength is either physical
or psychological, or both. Medical practitioners previously
thought that the majority of symptoms had a purely psychological
cause. As specialists in the field of erectile dysfunction,
we have now been able to prove that the majority of causes
of this condition are a combination of both physical and
psychological factors. The physical problem is most commonly
only the initial problem—the psychological consequences
are usually more debilitating.
