Peyronie’s Plaque

Peyronie's disease plaque or scar

There is much confusion and lack of information concerning Peyronie’s disease, especially the elusive Peyronie's plaque or scar .

It is truly amazing that for a male health problem that according to some surveys affects up to nine percent of the adult population, practically no man ever hears about this problem until the day he is given the diagnosis of Peyronie's disease.  It is no wonder that no one has ever heard of a Peyronies plaque until he has one.  It is this shock – that a “mystery” condition that comes out of the blue, a condition for which there is no known cause and no known Peyronie's cure can suddenly wreck a man’s life – that contributes to the lack of information about Peyronies.  While feeling totally confused and shocked upon first hearing about the Peyronie’s plaque or scar that accompanies it, prevents a man from asking all the standard questions and retaining the information he is told when he receives this diagnosis.

With such bad news pouring into his ears, and so many questions rolling around in this brain, it is no wonder that a man can leave his doctors office and not remember much of what he is told  about Peyronies.

In addition to this shock of learning he has Peyronies, most medical doctors do not like to manage cases of Peyronie’s disease, and therefore do a bad job of it, further adding to the common situation in which a man will not understand the basics of this problem – like the Peyronies plaque.

We all know Peyronies disease is called the “doctor’s nightmare” because of the problems associated with dealing with men who have this problem.  With no known cause or cure, the doctor comes off looking like a dummy for not having more clear information or help for his newly diagnosed Peyronies patient.  Adding to the negative atmosphere for the doctor in dealing with a Peyronies patient, the doctor also knows there will be hard feelings that will arise later when the PD patient develops additional penile curvature, reduced sexual performance, and frequent marital problems.  All of this happens while the doctor can only stand by as his Peyronies patient deteriorates over time. The doctor is often held responsible for these problems since he did not offer any help to his patient.  None of this is fair, but this is how it happens.   For these reasons many doctors try to get a man out of the office as quickly as possible, and often without sufficient time to ask questions or adequate explanations to prepare a man for the future.

In this atmosphere of minimum time and minimum information, the shocked Peyronies patient does not understand or recall basic facts about Peyronie’s disease.  For example, the fundamental problem of PD pivots around the presence of one or more masses of fibrous material located within the covering of the substance of the penile shaft, called a Peyronies plaque or scar. Many times a man who has had PD for many years will no absolutely nothing about his  Peyronie's plaque.

Peyronies Plaque is elusive

Another common situation exists in which the doctor cannot find a Peyronie's plaque, and neither can the man who owns it.  Each week I receive several emails asking me, “Since my doctor examined me and could not find anything, and I cannot see a scar, do you think I really have Peyronie’s disease?”

The fat is, there is never an EXTERNAL scar or plaque in Peyronie’s disease; it is always an internal mass that conveniently is known as a scar, but is not a scar in the usual sense.  PD “scars” or plaques are quite variable.  Some men have an obvious scar and others cannot find one if their life depended on it.   Ultimately, it is there and you should try as many different tactics as you can to find your scar(s) because having a good knowledge of your scar situation will help your treatment effort.  Hint:  Try to think in terms of your scar being much larger than you have previously imagined, so mentally expand the size of the scar that you are looking for.  Meaning, if you were looking for a “pea” before, start looking for a “postage stamp” or a “thumb nail” size structure.  This information should change your methods and what you can detect when trying to locate your Peyronies plaque.

A Peyronie’s plaque or scar can be quiet variable; some men have an obvious plaque and others cannot find one if their life depended on it.   Often, when a scar is not found, but there is still pain and bending or any kind of recent penile distortion, a diagnosis of PD is still made.  This is so, because it is the Peyronies plaque or scar that is causing the pain or bending is either:

1. So small – it cannot be found

2. So very soft – it blends into the other tissue and cannot be detected

3. So deep – it cannot be reached easily, especially during erection

4. So large and flat – that the edges are not determined, almost like something that is so close to you that you do not see it because you are looking far away

5.  The doctor’s lack of ability, experience or concern when he does the examination – that he simply misses what is actually there if he was better at this kind of thing – yes, I know, it is difficult to imagine but it is true.

Usually, when a scar is NEVER found it is because of a combination of two or more of these factors – deep and small, or soft, large and flat, or deep, soft and doctor error, and so on.

I often suggest that men try this:  forget about finding a “scar.”  Just try to find something – anything – within the mass of erectile tissue that does not feel like the other tissue pf the shaft.  Find something that is unlike the rest of the tissue.  When you find it, mark its location with a marker pen of something that will stay on the tissue for a day or two.  Go back each day to that area and re-think what you are feeling.  You are trying to determine if it becomes easier to make sense of it.  It could be that you have an unreasonable expectation of what a “scar” should feel like, and you are missing what is really rather obvious.  Really, how could you know what a Peyronie's plaque feels like if you have never had to do this before?  It is a common problem.

Let me know your experiences and problems in locating your Peyronie’s plaque. Take this chance to tell others your experiences and problems with this elusive tissue.

Ladies Peyronies Forum – Women only!

Peyronie's Disease Forum for Women Serves Useful Purpose

Women need a Peyronie's forum for their special needs and issues.

While no one can doubt that the man who has Peyronies suffers in many ways with this problem, the women who love and live with these men suffer greatly in their own way.  Every woman touched by Peyronie's disease suffers not less because hers' is an indirect involvement, but perhaps more because of the acute frustration and helplessness of being unable to do anything to comfort her man during his times of distress.

Many of the emails I receive each day come from the women who are just as confused, frustrated, and angry about all the same issues that each man experiences in trying to deal with PD – with a few added issues.

Just as the man who first learns he has Peyronies, the woman must also attempt to grasp the answers to the basic questions that commonly arise at this time:

  1. This condition I have never heard of before – Peyronie’s disease – just what is it, and what do we do to get rid of it?
  2. Is it life threatening?
  3. What do you mean, there is no known cause or Peyronies cure?
  4. In the early part of the 21st century, when even cancers are being cured, how is it possible that science has no help for this problem?
  5. Could it be that we have talked to a doctor who is lazy or incompetent: should we talk to someone else?
  6. Would we get better answers, and help, if we spent more money and went to a higher level specialist?
  7. How could this problem affect up to 9% of the male population, but I have never heard of it before?
  8. What do you mean, you do not know if it is going to get better or worse?

On and on the questions pour out, trying to make sense of a terrible situation.  But there are other questions that a woman must naturally ask in the privacy of her own self:

  1. I am sorry that he got injured during intercourse.  He knows I did not do it on purpose.  I feel so guilty when I see him suffering.  Is he holding all this against me?
  2. What about my sexual needs; what am I going to do now?
  3. I didn’t do anything wrong, why am I suffering too?
  4. Why is he being so quiet and secretive about this; why won’t he talk to me about this problem?  Doesn’t he realize It is affecting me, too?
  5. What is going on with him?  He is getting so moody and irritable that I am afraid to talk to him sometimes.
  6. I feel like there is a brick wall around him, and he is a hundred miles away.  Why won’t he talk to me?

Of course, there are all the sexual problems and sexual discussions that are so unique between couples.  These too, are a part of the problems associated with Peyronie’s disease treatment– sometimes minor and manageable, and sometimes so major that a couple can not sustain themselves together.  In these cases where I counsel couples, I find that most all of the time each couple has a problem communicating on a much deeper level necessary to truly understand each other to the degree needed in this time of special need.

Throughout all this time, during discussion and lack of discussion, the woman suffers in her own unique way.  There are no easy answers to any of this, but it is necessary that a woman be able to communicate with someone, express her fears and her needs, and learn she is not alone.  This section of the Peyronie’s Disease Treatment forum blog is intended for this purpose.

Please feel free to ask questions, post comments and replies to each other, so you may feel this is a place of understanding and comfort for you.

Peyronie’s disease treatment with vacuum pump (VED)

Vacuum Erection Device (VED) and Peyronie's Disease

Every now and then I am asked about the use of a VED,  vacuum pump or Vacuum Erection Device to treat the curved penis of Peyronie’s disease.  Many men are encouraged about a VED because their medical doctor has suggested it, or they have read something written on the Internet saying that it is a good Peyronie’s disease treatment.  Some of the more outlandish ads even say a VED is a Peyronie’s cure. A Vacuum Erection Device is a clear plastic cylinder chamber that is open at one end, and is placed over the penis and held tightly against the skin of the lower abdomen.  At the other end of the VED is a simple air pump that removes the air inside the cylinder once the penis is inside it. The air is removed from the chamber so that the bent penis is affected by the negative atmospheric pressure inside.  As a result, the negative pressure causes more blood than normal to enter the penis and an unusually large erection develops. This grater than average enlargement is said to be able to stretch the deeper tissue of the penis and reduce the penis curvature. The effect is temporary, but impressive.  A VED will give you an erection larger than you have ever had before, although it will not last more than a few hours outside the chamber, and any tissue changes that the stretching produces are equally temporary. The effects of reduced atmospheric pressure on tissue can be demonstrated by the "love kiss" or "hickey" that is created by placing the mouth over an area of skin (classically the neck), and forcefully sucking the tissue for just a short while.  Within seconds the blood vessels of the area are so dilated –  and often ruptured –  that a bruised mark is left in the area that will last for several days.  The Vacuum Erection Device does something similar to the entire penis.  It dilates all the tissue, allows more blood to enter the penis for as long as it is held in place, and it can also result in ruptured blood vessels and injury to the delicate tunica albuginea.  This kind of tissue reaction can be a catastrophe for someone who already has Peyronies.

VED can cause Peyronie's disease

In my time communicating with men who have Peyronie’s disease, I have found a surprisingly large percent of them who state their initial injury that resulted in their Peyronies can be traced back to use of a VED.  These are the men who started out simply wanting to increase their penile dimensions, and injured themselves to the point that Peyronie’s disease developed.  While there are a few men who say a VED helps them, there are many more who say it does not. The danger with a penile vacuum pump is in the overuse or abuse of such a device.  The theory behind the therapeutic use of the VED is to slowly and gently stretch the scar tissue and soften it.  That does not appear to happen, because the normal tissue does indeed stretch, but the Peyronie’s disease plaque tissue does not.  As a result a man finds that he has a temporarily larger penis that is less able to reach a normal full erection – and it still has the same Peyronie’s disease plaque or scar, and/or curve, he had before. When a man uses a VED he will either overuse the device, taking the very real risk of injuring the penile tissue even more, or he will temporarily enlarge the penis but injure the vascular mechanism so that his erection is not as rigid as before.  What he winds up with is a large soft penis that is rather ineffective in intercourse.  You definitely can create an artificial erection with a pump, but there are often damaging consequences to a VED that causes men to quickly stop using it once they see all the drawbacks. Many people ask for my advice about a “penis pump.”   Here is the basic problem with the VED:   You and I have both definitely proven that we have penile tissue that is susceptible to injury and when injured (and even when not injured), we can develop an excess scar reaction.  If you injure the penis by over-stretching, as is easy to do since there is no way to know at what point is the point of over-stretching, you will create more Peyronies plaque material.   Most men will probably over use the VED just because they get excited when they see the results the device can produce temporarily.  If you are prone to Peyronie’s disease anyway, this kind of tissue stretching can be a disaster.  The only way you can safely use a VED is to not over use it; the problem is there is no way to know what is over use and abuse until it is too late. From my experience with countless men, my opinion is that it is simply better to avoid the temptation and pass on the Vacuum Erection Device.  It can cause a lot more problems than the small and temporary change in Peyronie’s disease is worth. Send along your questions concerning Peyronie’s treatment under the “Ask Dr. Herazy…” heading, or reply to this particular article in the space below.

Peyronie’s desease

Peyronie's disease misspelled commonly – Peyronie's desease

Peyronies disease is commonly misspelled as Peyronie's desease. There is so much basic information that people lack concerning this problem that even the name is confusing to some. Other than Peyronies desease, the most common way I find people referring to this problem is to shorten the name and avoid the apostrophe and just call it peyronies, without even capitalizing the first letter, and peyronie, by dropping the final letter altogether.

Just as a basic review, it is important to know that Peyronie's disease is most well known for the Peyronie's plaque or deposit of fibrous tissue (also called a scar) that develops within the deeper layers of tissue of the penis.  This fibrous material often, but not always, will cause a Peyronie's curved penis and pain in the penis.

This Peyronie’s plaque or scar material itself is benign, meaning it is always non-cancerous. It is a common fear among men when first learning they have Peyronies desease to wonder if it could develop later to become something more serious.  This is not the case.  You can rest assured that Peyronie’s disease will not develop or progress into a worse or life-threatening condition – Peyronie’s disease is bad enough.  It does not need any help to make a person’s life miserable all on its own.

Peyronie's disease typically occurs in men around their mid-50s, however,  even teenagers can develop it.  The cause of Peyronie's disease and its natural progression or development are not well understood because the course of the disease is so variable.  In my experience while researching Peyronie’s desease and in discussion with hundred’s of men every years concerning all aspects of this problem, it is rare to find two cases that share a remotely similar history or course; each case is unique in small and large ways.  This great variability is what makes this condition so difficult to diagnose, treat, and live with.  While many researchers believe the Peyronie’s plaque often develops in response to some type of trauma, either minor or significant, that results in localized bleeding within the internal tissue of the penis.

Sexual problems associated with Peyronie’s desease can also be variable, since there are such physical and emotional differences among couples, to say nothing of the variability of sociological factors that also can disrupt a couple's physical and a stressful emotional relationship. The goal of Alternative Medicine Peyronie’s treatment is to keep a man and woman who deal with this problem as happy and whole as possible.   Peyronie's disease surely affects all the people whose life it enters, even if you happen to spell it Peyronie’s desease.

Peyronie’s treatment

Peyronie's disease treatment in detail

Since mid-2002, I have been deeply and continually involved in Peyronie's disease treatment – initially for myself, and then later for other men who have PD. All the details of my successful effort to heal my own case of Peyronie's disease using Alternative Medicine are revealed in my first book, “Peyronies' Disease Handbook."

The most popular single topic of any email question I receive from around the world concerns Peyronies treatment, naturally.  More than wanting to know about the chemistry or the physiology of Peyronie’s disease, or how to locate the Peyronie’s plaque, or names of doctors in different parts of the world, or anything else about PD, people want to know what must be done to successfully treat this terrible problem.

Many details about Peyronie’s disease treatment are found on the PDI website, in “Peyronies' Disease Handbook," and in nearly 100 issues of the Peyronies Disease Institute Newsletter.  Some days I answer more than a dozen emails from men and women who have countless questions about PD treatment.  I offer the best information I possibly can to each person. Yet, no matter how many times I present this information in a variety of formats, there remains one aspect of Peyronies treatment that many people just do not seem to understand.

Perhaps it is my fault for not stating this treatment information plainly enough, or not presenting it often enough.  Yet, somehow I feel responsible I have not found the best way to present this basic aspect of Peyronie’s disease treatment so everyone will understand this topic as well as I do.   If this is so, if all this is my fault, here is yet another attempt to make this important point about Peyronies treatment perfectly clear.

Peyronie’s disease treatment critical point

Regardless of how a person attempts to increase their immune response to eliminate the nasty Peyronie’s plaque, it is not as important how you start treatment, as it is how you progress and eventually finish your Peyronies treatment.   There are many ways to rationalize and calculate how you will go about treating your PD problem.  There are many good ways to help your body eliminate the Peyronie's scar and restore penis health.  That is the reason I have assembled three different size sample treatment plans. I have repeatedly said that these three plans can be increased or decreased in an effort to help your body heal your Peyronies.

Each day several men begin their Peyronie’s treatment with PDI in a wide variety of formats. Some of these are ultimately successful and some are ultimately unsuccessful, not because of the plan they put together at the beginning of their care, but their ability to modify, organize and apply the necessary changes to their Peyronie’s treatment plan if they do not get the kind of results they are looking for with the plan they start with.

Peyronie's treatment is like a football game

Let’s say that you are a football coach, and you have a big game coming up.  As part of your job, you rationalize and calculate how you will beat the opposing team.  You know the strengths and weaknesses of the men on your own team, and you do the best you can to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the men on the other team.  You keep in mind the weather conditions, the time of day, home team advantages, and countless statistics to eventually develop a winning strategy.  Eventually, you devise a plan to win.  The day of the big game arrives and you put your plan into action.  After a few minutes into the game you see that you have made some mistakes because none of what you planned is happening, because apparently you did not figure things out correctly.

You can do one of two basic things:

  1. You continue with the plan you started with.  You follow the basic plan that you started with because you tell yourself that your plan made sense to you before, and it should eventually work out.  You tell yourself, you must have patience with your plan.  You remind yourself that if you continue to follow your starting strategy things will sooner or later come together, your plan will begin to work, and you will eventually win.  Besides that, you do not know what else to do, so you struggle forward.
  2. You change your plan after giving it a reasonable time to work.  You eventually keep those parts of your starting strategy that seem to be working, while you change other parts of the plan that are not.  You improvise where you can, make minor and major changes if you are able, and look around for options that you might not ever have considered before.  You try different things until something works.   It is not pretty, it is not what you planned, but you take every advantage you can find during each moment of the game. Besides that, you do not know what else to do because continuing with a loosing plan does not make sense to you.

You see, my PD Warrior, Peyronie’s treatment should not be not static, although some people approach it that way.  Just because you start with one idea, one plan, does not mean you must continue with it if it does not seem to be working after a reasonable length of time.

If you start with one idea, and it seems to be working, fine, continue with it.  But if it is not working, change it.  How?  I don’t know.  But if you let me ask you a few questions and tell me about what you are doing, I know I can offer you some ideas you have never considered.  Sometimes these changes make a small difference in the progression of Peyronies treatment, and sometimes they make a huge difference.

Now, I hope this little discussion makes a difference in your effort to increase your ability to heal and repair your Peyronie’s disease.

Please comment and ask questions here if there is more that you would like to know about successful Peyronies treatment.