Peyronie's Disease Treatment and Copper

Posted on January 28, 2009August 8, 2013 by Dr.Herazy

Copper and Peyronie's disease

Many people underestimate the benefits of copper in Peyronie's disease treatment. Copper is not like some of the more popular dietary and nutritional superstars like calcium, iron or zinc. Copper is not as widely discussed because its range of uses within the body are narrow and too technical to be easily explained.

When someone says that calcium is needed to build bones, that is a rather simple and direct connection because calcium is thought of as coming from rocks and bones are hard like rocks. When someone says that iron is needed to build red blood cells, that also is a rather simple and direct connection because iron is a primary element in hemoglobin, and iron stains things red and blood is red (because of the iron in hemoglobin). But when someone says that copper is essential for the Krebs citric acid cycle, that is not so easy to think about.

The copper PDI advocates is presented to the body in the form of a copper peptide, which is easily taken into the tissue and used in a wide variety of essential, but small, technical processes. The copper product we use is formulated by one of the world’s leading authorities on the subject of copper metabolism of the skin, Dr. Loren Pickart. It is his product that we use to assist the healing of Peyronie’s disease, called Super CP Serum. It is intended to saturate the tissue, traveling deeper over time with extended use. Very little copper (about 0.1%) actually gets into the skin, but all the human studies on intact skin, both with GHK-Cu and the newer SRCPs, found positive actions on skin within 2 to 7 days. Apparently, even at this low saturation level, the tiny amount of copper that enters the tissue is enough to accomplish the desired results. The Neutrogena company has published very extensive studies in Cosmeceuticals volume 2 that confirm this principle.

The PMD DMSO we use will easily carry the copper-peptides deeper and more quickly than if it was not used. This is why PMD DMSO is almost always used with this copper peptide product to assist the tissue of the penile shaft absorb the copper peptides and incorporate it at the cellular level. It is theorized that some of the copper is carried away from the area with the blood circulation, while the remainder extends progressively deeper with use. Depth of saturation has to do with several factors: amount applied, frequency of application, duration of application, and unique cellular physiology.

You might want to consider applying these two products in this way: First, apply 2-3 drops of the Super CP Serum over the sites of the lesion(s). After a few seconds of light rubbing and you will see and feel that it is quickly absorbed.

Second, flip open the spout of the PMD Topical DMSO Solution, and apply 2-3 drops over the same area and quickly spread it around. You will likely notice an almost immediate warming sensation where you applied the DMSO; this is the response of the subcutaneous fat layer of this tissue to the penetration of the DMSO – that is how fast DMSO enters the tissue.

You might consider increasing the synergy of this local topical treatment process by also applying the Callisto vitamin E oil at the same time. Even though the Callisto oil is being mentioned last, it is not applied last; it should be applied either before or after the Super CP Serum – and the PMD DMSO is always applied last, to drive the others into the tissue.

There is an additional benefit of using the Callisto vitamin E when using these other products that was not mentioned on the website: The vitamin E oil tends to keep the skin over the scar from becoming irritated; it doesn’t happen often, but it can occur. The problem is that the skin of the shaft is thin, delicate and generally doesn’t receive much contact or abuse in the normal course of a day. For this reason, the penis shaft tends to be easily irritated by a lot of things that do not bother skin in other parts of the body. Since we don’t know just how sensitive your skin may be to concentrated copper or DMSO, adding in the Callisto oil can keep this problem from occurring. Most men do not have this irritation response to either product, but you just might be the exception that proves the rule. With this preventive measure you are assuring that irritation is minimized or eliminated, and so will you will be able to continue uninterrupted with your copper/DMSO therapy. To review why vitamin E is an important part of a PD program, check out the Vitamin E and C section on the website, at vitamin E

Usually progress of copper saturation is judged by evaluation of changes in pain (intensity and frequency), various qualities of the scar (density or firmness, size, shape and number), and penile function (deformity, angle, rigidity of erection, and shape). Once this process gets started, it may still take additional weeks or months for it to be great enough to be detected. Dr. Pickart tells of anecdotal information concerning copper and PD, when he informs me that men who apply copper peptides preparations on their penis after general skin irritation often say they wake up at night with erections; this he speculates is due to the activation of copper and zinc SOD which helps normalize nitric oxide vasodilator reactions.

Lastly, Dr. Pickart reports that his company has many hundreds of reports of regular scar tissue vanishing after using his products, with Super CP Serum being the newest of these. For information about the use of copper in a Peyronie’s disease treatment plan, go to copper and Peyronie's disease

It comes down to following your diverse Peyronies treatment plan with therapies like copper peptides and PMD DMSO for a reasonable period of perhaps several months, and seeing what happens in your individual case. Send a question here to the blog and I will do my best to assist you. TRH

Peyronie’s Disease Treatment and Copper

Posted on January 28, 2009August 27, 2020 by Web Designer

Copper and Peyronie’s disease

Many people underestimate the benefits of copper in Peyronie’s disease treatment. Copper is not like some of the more popular dietary and nutritional superstars like calcium, iron or zinc. Copper is not as widely discussed because its range of uses within the body are narrow and too technical to be easily explained.

Peyronie’s Disease Treatment: Early Changes to Look For

Posted on January 25, 2009March 18, 2013 by Dr.Herazy

Early signs of response to Peyronie's treatment

This post is about an interesting question I am asked from time to time about Peyronie’s disease treatment. I thought it might be of interest to you. The question is asked something like this, “When people finally get some positive changes in their Peyronie’s disease, how does it usually show up? What usually happens first? I want to know what I can expect, although I know we are all different.”

Well, usually – not always – as a man continues with a sufficiently large and aggressively applied Peyronie’s disease treatment plan from PDI, he will notice at first some small and TEMPORARY changes in the size and density of his scar. The temporary nature of the change does not last long. As treatment continues the changes and improvement become permanent. Usually the scar itself will change before there is a noticeable change in the penis curvature or his ability to develop an erection. This scar change will take place maybe during months 2-6 of the treatment cycle, although I have worked with men who see changes in the scar after just a few weeks of a PDI plan. This fast response is the exception and not the rule, so do not plan on that kind of response although it does happen.

The initial and temporary improvement in the Peyronies plaque or scar will not last very long, maybe just a few days or so, and then it will often go back to how it was before – maybe even worse. I wish I could say why this happens – it just does. Soon a pattern will develop in which there is improvement, regression, improvement, regression, back and forth, etc. What happens over time is that you will notice that the amount of improvement will be greater than the regression, and the improvement will last longer than the regression. You will likely see the pattern shifting slowly in favor of improvement – it will last longer and it will be greater than the regression. Just like the stock market – it goes up and it goes down – but the general trend and pattern is that it slowly comes gets better. This is how I have seen most every case of Peyronie’s disease improve.

Just as the Peyronie’s plaque changes, a little while later it is common to see a change in the curvature. The initial change in the penis curvature is not always improvement, however. My curve worsened just after my scar showed some real strong progress for the first time. I kept in mind that the Peyronies plaque was getting better, so I did not let the change in the curve upset me. I kept working to reduce the scars I had and in time the curve I had also eventually improved.

Peyronie’s plaque and pick-up-sticks

Ever play “pick-up-sticks” as a kid? With the complex interplay of sticks lying across each other, removing one stick makes three or four other sticks shift a bit. I think the same happens in Peyronie’s disease.

How many plaques or scars do you have? If more than one, then the dynamics are made even more complicated. If you have only one scar (kind of unusual) then you have one scar that could be influencing 2-3-4 different planes of connective tissue within the corpora cavernosa of the penis that it is attached to. It is not difficult to understand that if a part of a scar is changing, or one of four scars is disappearing, it could cause alteration of the tensions and angles of pull – as the scar is INCREASING or DECREASING in size – that could cause a change in the curve – to make it INITIALLY better or worse. So in this sense, an increase in your curve is only seen as a bad thing if you know FOR A FACT that your scar(s) are increasing in size, shape or density. Over time, as the plaque continues to soften and reduce in size, and as the internal pull and tension created by these plaque begins to normalize, the curve should begin to straighten. Continue monitoring yourself as you work aggressively, and you should see this positive pattern of recovery play out for you.

A worsening of the curve is acceptable if the plaque is improving. As far as treating your condition and monitoring progress, the condition of the Peyronie’s plaque is far more important to monitor than a curved penis; plaque changes size, shape and density characteristics, and even seem to move, and so the plaque or scar tissue exerts control over the curve; the curved penis is just a reflection of plaque activity – good or bad. A smaller plaque can create a larger curve if it is in the wrong place or is pulling or pushing in some strange way. It might make you feel sick to see your curve get worse, but ignore the curve and keep checking the condition of the Peyronie’s disease plaque. How do you check your plaque? Go to review information about my book, at Peyronie’s Disease Handbook

Whenever someone sends me an email reporting that he is seeing improvement in his plaque or bent penis, I warn him that it will not initially last very long and that his problem will surely return for a short while. I can almost guarantee this pattern. Come to expect it; count on it. It is just the way it goes, so do not be discouraged or disappointed when it happens. In a short time, you will see the pattern develop that will tell you that good things are finally happening. Just stay with it.

How long it takes for the improvement to become permanent is also variable (just like everything about Peyronie’s disease). Once you get your plan fine-tuned and working well for you, most of the time it takes 6-12 months or more for the progress to level off and become as good as it is going to be. That does not mean that in 6-12 months or so you will be cured or completely well. It just means you will be as good as you are going to be, in spite of your best effort.

Peyronie’s disease treatment via direct drug injection

Posted on January 17, 2009September 13, 2013 by Dr.Herazy

Injections can injure delicate tunica albuginea, leading to Peyronie's disease

This blog post about Peyronie’s disease treatment using direct drug injections (Verapamil, cortisone, etc.) should hit home for a large number of you. Many men have undergone painful drug injections into the penis because their medical doctor thought it was worth the effort, and only found themselves worse for their effort.

First I will simply copy an article, “Extracorporeal shock-wave therapy in the treatment of Peyronie's disease.” This research discussion is essentially about Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy, ESWT (or ESWL as they call it here). This article comes from www.pubmed.gov under the reference number PMID: 15114750 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE].

What is important to note in our particular discussion is the area I have highlighted for emphasis. You will note from an earlier post about ESWT in Peyronie’s Disease Treatment Forum blog, this form of therapy has been fairly well abandoned by a large percent of doctors who used it for many years since these injections seem to cause more problems than it helps. The reason this information about ESWT (or ESWL) is included in this article about penile injections is that these Russian physicians make a very interesting comment while discussing ESWT that underscores the damage created by injections (of any kind) into the tunica albuginea.

[Article in Russian]

Ne?mark AI, Astakhov IuI, Sidor MV.

The authors analyze the results of treatment of 28 patients with Peyronie's disease using extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESWL) performed on Dornier U15 lithotriptor. A total of 2-6 sessions were made, maximal number–12. The efficacy was controlled by clinical indices and ultrasonic investigation (Doppler mapping of the blood flow). ESWL proved to be efficient in the treatment of Peyronie's disease (PD), primarily, in patients with early disease before appearance of severe fibroplastic alterations. Less plaque vascularization by energetic Doppler mapping due to ESWL is an important diagnostic criterion of PD treatment efficacy. Conservative treatment is not indicated in marked deformities and plaque calcification, erectile dysfunction. Moreover, any injection into the tunica albuginea, especially complicated by hematomas (deep tissue bruising) may be a damaging factor which triggers fibrous inflammation. Such patients should be treated surgically. If the patient is interested in immediate results or is not interested in continuation of sexual life, the treatment is ineffective. Thus, ESWL is an effective, safe method of PD treatment but requires further study and accumulation of clinical experience.

It seems that the problem penile injections can cause is not necessarily about the drug that is injected into the tunica, but the needle itself that is used to deliver the drug. An injection to deliver any drug – or sterile water – can cause injury to this delicate membrane. This sets off an inflammatory response that can result in significant Peyronie’s disease plaque or scar tissue formation for men who as so predisposed. Doing this once can be risky. Doing this up to a dozen times over a few months, as is often the recommended course of therapy, just multiples the opportunity for injury to mount on top of injury.

This Russian research team offers the opinion that the effects of such injection into the penile shaft causes such significant Peyronie's plaque development, that surgery is the best treatment option for the damage that it can cause. Obviously, I do not agree with that, since Peyronie's surgery can also cause more scar development. Their conclusion is that they find men who receive these injections often eventually are rewarded with a disturbed and discontinued sexual life.

This idea is brought to your attention to demonstrate there are many in the medical community who agree with the same position that I have taken for many years now. These doctors and I contend it is inherently risky, in fact, dangerous, to stick needles repeatedly into the penis for Peyronie’s disease treatment. Their logic concludes that any treatment that can start or aggravate the very problem it is attempting to treat, is not much of a treatment.

It is unfortunate that the medical community turns a blind eye to the direct observation of poor results, serious irritation of the tunica, and the solid logic that reputes injections as a form of Peyronie’s treatment. Those who continue to inject their Peyronie’s disease patients, and bring these men farther down the road toward greater plaque development, must be desperate to look useful or just ignorant of how Peyronie’s disease often develops. It is so common for medical doctors to think only in terms of medicine and surgery, notwithstanding the tragedy that can often result from their limited thinking.

The PDI concept of using non-invasive methods to increase the healing response of the body is a safer and more trustworthy Peyronie’s disease treatment than some of the aggressive medial schemes being promoted today. For more information about the Alternative Medicine treatment philosophy for care of PD, please go to the PDI website.

Peyronie’s Disease Treatment and Partial Success

Posted on January 10, 2009July 21, 2015 by Dr.Herazy

Everyone has a different response to Peyronie's treatment

Not everyone responds the same to Peyronie’s disease treatment. After a few months of intense and faithful use of a Peyronie’s treatment plan a man will often, but not always, discover one or more small, but important, changes in his condition:

1. Reduction or elimination of pain in the penis

2. Softening and or reduction of the Peyronie's plaque

3. Changes in the penile curvature

4. Improved erection capability

As these changes are noted, and take on permanency over time, a person with Peyronie’s disease assumes these changes will continue to develop at the same speed and degree of improvement.

In other words, if in one month there was a 10 degree improvement of the curvature of the penis, a person tends to assume that the next month would bring another 10 degree change. When this does not happen, as is so common, disappointment can develop. And sometimes disappointment advances into a sense of failure and hopelessness. Given all the complex interplay of powerful emotions and interpersonal tensions that are a part of living with Peyronie’s disease plaque, this disappointment can be fueled into something greater than it needs to be. This kind of disappointment – high hopes based on early progress, followed by frustration because lofty expectations are not fulfilled – can lead to dark depression.

Where a man would otherwise have a sense of partial success and satisfaction that progress has at least begun, in Peyronie’s disease doom and gloom often prevails. Let us take the example of the man who starts Alternative Medicine Peyronie’s disease treatment with a 90 degree bend. After 2-6 months of self-care, he now has a 45 degree bend. Is he happy and satisfied? Of course not! He doesn’t even think about or feel appreciative for the 45 degree improvement, he just thinks all the more about the 45 degrees of curvature that has not improved. I suppose that is human nature. With so much intense interest and effort focused on the Peyronies curvature and plaque, he focuses all of this interest only on that part of his problem that has not improved.

These observations are presented to expose this idea to you in case you are guilty of these same negative reactions to partial success. It is the old story of the glass being either half full or half empty; very often it is just a matter of how we look at things. But in the case of Peyronie’s disease, there is a potentially damaging consequence to this distorted way of looking at the partial success of treating this problem. When someone is so emotional and upset as is common in PD, it is easy to lose sight of the progress that is being made. In this negative state of mind I have seen many men stop successful care prematurely merely because a portion of the initial problem still remained. Worse yet, a man can disregard a good solid 10 degree of improvement simply because it is only a partial improvement and abandon all of his therapy because he has a disillusioned way of looking at himself.

If you have benefited your Peyronies curved penis with only partial success and want more, well that means you are like everyone else. You must allow yourself enough time and opportunity to respond and improve. You must also not be guilty of setting yourself back by continually injuring your penis during the course of a day by the way you handle yourself. This is a subject that is very important, and is covered in some detail in “Peyronie’s Disease Handbook.”

Keep things in perspective. Don’t be so discouraged that you are not yet perfect. Continue your treatment until you are as good as you can make yourself. Be grateful for what you have accomplished, even if more needs to be done. Keep a realistic attitude about your timeline for healing and repair.

“Lord grant me the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I can't change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Stay positive. Stay focused on the progress you have made while following the best Peyronie’s disease treatment plan you can put together.

Peyronie’s Disease and Stressful Emotions Related to Sex

Posted on January 2, 2009August 21, 2013 by Dr.Herazy

Stressful emotions and Peyronie's disease

Peyronie’s Disease Institute has for many years written about the various emotional issues closely associated with the bent penis disease.

Even though Peyronie’s disease is said by some to occur in 3-9% of all men, surprisingly very little is known regarding the psychological or emotional disruptions to the sexual well-being of those afflicted with this problem. In a 2008 research project, reported in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2008;5:2179-2184, Smith JF, Walsh TJ, Conti SL, Turek P, and Lue T, attempted to determine the source of emotional and relationship problems in Peyronie’s disease. In addition, this study attempted to identify risk factors associated with psychosocial difficulties in men with PD.

Of 245 men in this study, the mean age was 54.4 years, ranging from 19.4 years to 75.6 years; of these men 62% were married, and 59% presented within 2 years of disease onset. The overall prevalence of emotional and relationship problems that were attributable to Peyronie’s disease was 81% of the married men, and 54% of the unmarried men. Among those men who reported to experience relationship problems, emotional problems were noted in 93%.Loss of penile length and inability to have intercourse were strongly identified as the cause of a very high percent of emotional problems reported in this study.

Peyronie’s disease has physical and emotional aspects

Studies like the one mentioned above prove what every couple who deals with Peyronie’s disease knows all too well: living with PD is not easy and it puts a lot of stress on any marriage or relationship.

It is obvious to any Peyronie’s disease couple who must daily deal with the reality of this problem, that Peyronie’s disease can quickly and easily become a source of great mental and emotional stress to both partners. Having Peyronie’s disease should not be seen as a reflection of a man’s self-worth, masculinity, or virility. In all cases of Peyronie’s disease in which a loving couple is involved, improved communication skills make a great difference in how the stress is managed and how the couple survives on a daily basis.

If Peyronie’s disease advances it sometimes causes occasional or permanent erectile dysfunction. This inability to achieve an erection strong enough to allow for penetration is often seen as a sign of diminished masculinity by the man, and diminished sexual desire by the woman. It is most important that every man with Peyronie’s disease takes special effort to reassurance his sexual partner that this limit of sexual function is purely physical and not a refection of reduced interest and desire. Conversely, every woman who is involved with a man with Peyronie’s disease should assure him that his physical limit is not a true or valid reflection of her respect, love, or desire for him.

For additional insight into dealing with the complex emotional issues between loving partners, please review “Peyronie’s Disease and Sex” at Peyronie’s Disease and Sex. Since this topic is so large and complex, referring to the more detailed information of this book would be most helpful to couples who are experiencing sex problems as a result of the Peyronie's curved penis.

Peyronie's Disease Institute

Monthly Archives: January 2009