Common question about Peyronie’s treatment

Every now and then someone emails a question to me about an herbal Peyronie’s disease treatment (ginkgo biloba, echinacea), a micronutrient (coenzyme Q, EPA), or an old home remedy (garlic, castor oil, olive oil) that might be used as a Peyronie’s disease cure.  Along a similar line, I am sometimes asked if I know anything about a legendary Peyronie’s treatment known as Thacker’s formula, what I would think about using the treatment, and why does this treatment not appear in the PDI lineup of therapies?

In order for any therapy or procedure to be included in the PDI lineup of 14 potential Peyronie’s treatments, it has to have either been applied specifically in treatment of PD in a series of scientific studies and proven at least 50% effective in several trials (even though it might have done poorly in others), or it must have demonstrated good success and acceptance within the scientific community for treatment of other unrelated health problems (acupuncture and homeopathy).  With this simple criterion we establish some level of scientific credibility for those therapies in our PDI lineup, and further increase the possible effectiveness of therapy when several of these are united in a synergistic program of care.

There are probably some really good Peyronie’s disease treatment ideas that that could be actually very effective.  But who among us wants to waste his time, effort, energy, money, and most importantly, his opportunity to get over his Peyronie’s disease by experimenting with theories that have absolutely no proven ability to influence the body to promote healing? I did not want to waste my time on theories of questionable merit, when I knew there were many available that had already achieved some level of success.  This last group seemed to be a better place to look for answers, than chasing unproven ideas.

Edgar Cayce’s castor oil pack might indeed be an effective Peyronies’ disease treatment, but for one reason or another it has not been subjected to even minimal scrutiny for PD.  The goal of recovering from Peyronies is too great to use an untried treatment, when there are so many others of higher credibility and logic to work with.

PDI was started on the basis of using treatments of some level of known and proven merit, and uses this standard today to determine what additions will be recommended and used in future therapy plans.  Rumors, stories, and speculation you read about on a Peyronie’s forum is not enough.  Alternative Medicine employs early science to see through the maze of superstition and learn the truth of what may or may not work to regain health.  These are the principles used to formulate the current Peyronie’s disease treatment strategies you have learned about.  We are already working on the outer rim of established medical practice, but we must be careful to not go too far away from common sense and valuable scientific information that will help us achieve our health goals.

Usually, my suggestion for someone who wants to use such a new Peyronie’s treatment is to do it in combination with several other known and better proven therapies already in the PDI lineup.  This way there is back-up treatment, and the total effort will create a therapeutic synergy.  Never is it suggested to use only the one therapy of any type, proven or unproven.

So, if you are just adding in an extra type of therapy because you read about it on a Peyronie’s forum, I say, all the more power to your curiosity and sense of adventure, but please do not have that constitute the majority of what you do for yourself.

Try not to become so desperate that you grab at straws. There is a lot of good information about sensible Peyronie’s disease treatment I can offer if you need help with your rehabilitation program.