Thacker's formula and other Peyronie’s disease treatment questions
Perhaps a few times a month someone emails a question to me about Thacker's formula. This legendary Peyronie’s treatment – called Thacker’s formula because of the Dr. Thacker who is said to have created it – contains a specific ratio of Castor oil, DMSO and apple cider vinegar. Although I know the exact proportions to make this Peyronie's treatment I will not disclose this information here because I can not provide in this space all the details for correct use that are necessary to use it correctly and safely.
Along a similar line, I am sometimes asked if I know anything about using various things like herbs for herbal Peyronie’s disease treatment (ginkgo biloba, echinacea), a micronutrient (Coenzyme Q, EPA), or some type of old home remedy (garlic, Castor oil, olive oil) that might be used as a Peyronie’s disease cure. They want to know what I would think about using the Thacker's formula or other treatment, and why don't any of these types of treatment 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 could be actually very effective. But who among us wants to spend his time, effort, 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.
Thacker's formula does not meet Peyronie's treatment guidelines
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 are 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 Peyronie's Disease Institute 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 use it exclusively as the treatment you provide for yourself.
While there is no reason to believe there is any potential harm in using Thacker's formula correctly, and perhaps great therapeutic benefit, at this time I cannot endorse the use of Thacker's formula because it is essentially untested and unproven in any meaningful way. There is a lot of good information about sensible Peyronie’s disease treatment, with reasonably good results in research testing, that should be used in a broad based rehabilitation program.
Does Peyronie’s disease comes after use of local injections of alprostadil for erectile dysfunction??
How do you treat it?
Greetings Dr. Abosayed,
This is an important topic for readers who wish to know more about Peyronie’s disease causes and treatment options.
For those not familiar with the prescription drug alprostadil, allow me to briefly explain. Alprostadil is used to treat erectile dysfunction as an injectable directly into the penis shaft (80% effective) or as a suppository that is placed in the urethral opening at the tip of the penis (30% effective). In the injectable form alprostadil is known as Caverject, Edex, and Prostin VR, and in the suppository form it is known as “MUSE” (Medicated Urethral System for Erection). Alprostadil works by expanding or dilating blood vessels throughout the body. By placing the drug as close to the penis as possible via injection or suppository the affect will be greatest within the penis, reducing potential danger of raising blood pressure or causing heart or brain blood vessel damage.
The injectable form is not to be used more often than three times a week. Given the average size of the penis, and that a man would tend to use the same hand to inject himself, and that the instructions for injection is to use an area in the mid-shaft region, it is very likely that a very small area of a man’s penis is repeatedly injected with alprostadil over time. These multiple injections delivered by a layperson can be assumed to be deep enough to pierce and lacerate the delicate tunica albuginea of penis shaft numerous times, causing repeated injury and an inflammatory response that can easily lead to the development of Peyronie’s disease. My records contain hundreds of communications with men whose Peyronie’s disease could have only been started in this way given the absence of any other form of trauma or drug use, and even the absence of genetic predisposition.
To be clear, my commentary is not that the drug alprostadil is necessarily the causal agent for the Peyronie’s disease, but more so the traumatic mechanism of frequent and repeated injections into and lacerations of the tunica albuginea by the hypodermic needle is the offending agent. If sterile water, or no drug at all, were so abusively delivered in this way I hold that Peyronie’s disease would occur in a high percent of cases.
Self-treatment of Peyronie’s disease with Alternative Medicine is used to support and enhance the natural tendency of the body to correct this problem as occurs in up tp 50% of men whose Peyronie’s disease is self-limited within 12-18 months of onset. The details of this treatment process are found throughout the Peyronie’s Disease Institute website. TRH