Finding a surgeon for your Peyronie’s surgery
There are those times when Peyronie’s disease surgery must be done. If you sincerely feel you have faithfully and honestly used all possible drug and non-drug options to avoid Peyronie’s surgery, and they have all been unsuccessful, and now you cannot continue with the pain and limited sexual ability that started with Peyronie’s disease, then you should carefully consider penis surgery.
From my experience in talking and emailing to many hundreds of men each year since 2002, I have only occasionally found men who are happy with the results of their Peyronie’s surgery. Am I saying that most Peyronie’s operations are failures? Not necessarily. All I can say is that of those men to whom I speak, the great majority are not pleased with their results to restore the penile curvature of Peyronie’s disease.
When I get to speak to someone who has good things to say about his Peyronie’s surgeon and the results of the operation, I always make it a point to ask a lot of questions about the surgeon’s name and location, his credentials, and the interpersonal issues and insights that develop while working with the surgeon.
Here is some advice in helping you select a Peyronie’s surgeon, or any surgeon, because it all comes down to the same traits and characteristics that make someone a good surgeon:
1. Do your research. While many physicians can claim to do surgery, or be someone who specializes in being a Peyronie’s doctor, you should only consider using a doctor who is a board certified surgeon in the area of specialty you need the care. You definitely do not want to have surgery performed by someone who comes to you randomly, without experience in working with Peyronie’s disease. The need to have experience and site-specific and disease-specific training cannot be emphasized too much. After all, it is your penis that is going to be cut on, and you want the best you can find holding the knife above you.
2. There is no need to rush into anything. Plan on spending at least six months doing your research. No need to rush into anything. The more time you spend the fewer mistakes you will likely make when you must decide. If it takes you a full year to collect information, all the better you will feel and all the better your results will occur.
3. Your doctor should be a Board Certified Urologist with a sub-specialty in genitourinary surgery, or a Board Certified Urologist with a sub-specialty in surgery that does exclusively genitourinary surgeries. For example, a surgeon might be a board certified urologist with a subspecialty in genitourinary surgery, but might also further specialize in operating only on male patients. Whether this surgeon might do male urogenital surgery on the elderly (geriatrics) or male children (pediatrics) only makes his experience more valuable.
4. Generally, using a plastic surgeon is not a good idea. While a plastic surgeon might be skillful in facial work, and have a good technique and a good hand for
doing the fine details around the face, that does not mean these skills will carry over into removal of the PD scar material. If your primary Peyronie’s or genitourinary surgeon wants to use a plastic surgeon for one particular phase of the PD surgery, and that primary surgeon will stay at the operating table the entire time, that is fine. It all comes down to training and experience in the area of the penis, especially removal of the PD scar.
5. Your surgeon should have vast experience with Peyronie’s disease, having performed at least 25 prior surgeries of the specific type you need – usually the Nesbit plication, or others. The larger this number, compared to others, the more likely you should consider this doctor. Someone who has done 10 Nesbit surgeries does not know as much as someone who has done over 100. You want someone who has seen it all, done it all, knows what to do in all circumstances, and will not be surprised while you are under the knife – or later.
6. While this might seem to be a small and superficial consideration, I suggest you employ a surgeon with a meticulous office and very neat appearance, and a clean non-cluttered desk –you want someone who is really meticulous and highly motivated for fine detail work to be doing your Peyronie’s surgery for you. You want a neat-freak, someone who is “anal” doing this kind of work, cutting into your one and only manhood.
7. Good eye contact and warm personality – two reasons: not only will this be what he/she will be like when you are under his/her knife, but how you will be treated in discussions and after surgery care – not ignored or forgotten. You want someone who will be open and friendly and a good communicator before surgery, because these are great doctor skills after the surgery when you need it the most.
8. If you have a friend that is a nurse in area, ask her to ask around for you about the surgeon you are thinking about using. I worked for orthopedic surgeon who was the rave of the hospital and all the nurses who worked in that hospital brought their kids for broken bones and for their husband’s bad backs. Nurses are more likely to know, and talk about, the bad stuff and the good stuff concerning doctors in your area. It is a high recommendation when you know that nurses like work of the doctor you want to use.
9. Go to the internet to Google your surgeon professional work history with your state board of medical review to see if any disciplinary actions have been taken against this doctor. This is important because it will give you a strong indictor about the skill and ability he/she possesses. If your doctor has been sued three times for malpractice, and there are two others who have never been sued, the decision becomes much easier to make.
However, it is always best to avoid any surgery, especially Peyronie’s surgery, if at all possible. That is what the Peyronie’s Disease Institute is all about. Helping you to naturally treat Peyronie’s disease by helping your body to heal and repair so you can eliminate the scar and avoid getting cut on in the first place. Look at a few of the testimonials about our Alternative Medicine treatment for Peyronies.
I just had the surgery for Peyronie’s Disease and I’m worried it might be a failure. It’s only been a few weeks and a few days ago the doctor said I should start encouraging erections even though the skin is still healing. The stitches have all dissipated, it’s just the soft skin around the head that’s taking its time…
After seeming to have been straightened out, recently the cueve is back, except now I’m a little shorter…
The doctor used a graft after removing the scar tissue. I hope I haven’t just gone through the worst pain of my life with this Peyronie’s disease surgery for nothing. This was supposed to save my marriage… I have “worked on it” to try to straighten it out a couple times in a few days but now I think I’m going to continue doing this at least a few times a day… I was thinking I could make a device to hold the penis “the other way” to help with the curve as this seems to help when I do this by hand…but I can’t go walking around with my hands in my pants! 🙂 ok, well I just ofund your article, and I don’t know how many surgeries my doc has done but he’s a really nice guy…is neat, etc…
Not that I think I could take this surgeries pain again, like yellow jackets breeding and stinging in a circle around my penis, but could I have another surgery by a “better” doctor to help? or Should I go back to the shots? I had mahybe six shots before but maybe now they could help? I’m freaking out a little..
Can I have an MRI done to see what’s wrong? or is that too much a waste of money to the insurance company?
rats..
Greetings Matt,
It is certainly not a good sign that you notice the return of your penis curvature so soon after your surgery. Only time and sufficient healing will tell the true degree of success/failure of your recent surgery. And in regard to your observation about penile shortening after Peyronie’s disease surgery: Penis shortening is an almost guaranteed outcome — the real question is not, “Will this surgery shorten me?” but “How much will this surgery shorten me?” Usually there is about 1 1/2 inches to 2 1/2 inches of lost penile length, and even some lost girth.
Selecting a surgeon for any kind of operation should be done with a cold, objective and deliberate determination. You should care less if he is a “neat” guy. What does that have to do with it? How good are his or her hands? How long has he or she been doing this kind of surgery? How many surgeries does he or she do on an average week? How many times in his or her life has he or she been successfully sued for malpractice, and is there any blemish on his or her professional records? You want the best hands and brain doing your surgery.
More surgery and more shots will result in more scar tissue. Period. That is the way the body works. You cannot stop that process; you can minimize it, but it cannot be stopped. Since you have Peyronie’s disease you already know for a fact that your body has a tendency to make excessive scar tissue in the tunica albuginea of the penis — that is a fact. If you undergo repeated injections or additional surgery what do you think is going to happen down there? Yes, yes, the surgeon will play that process down all the way until you believe that it will not happen. But when you get a return of more scarring after the surgery, that same surgeon will explain that it is a natural process and in spite of his or her best efforts, that your Peyronie’s disease is coming back. And so long as the surgery was done correctly there will be no claim for malpractice because scarring is a natural and normal process after this kind of surgery.
You need to get examined by an MD who does not like to do Peyronie’s disease surgery to see what that doctor thinks about your situation. You also need to spend some time investigating non-drug and non-surgical approaches to Peyronie’s disease treatment. Staying away from surgery for as long as possible is an admirable goal; any good MD will encourage you to avoid the knife if you possibly can do so. Cutting usually leads to more cutting, especially with Peyronie’s disease. Be conservative. TRH