Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ES)

I am a sixty-four year old white male living in the United Kingdom, six foot tall, twelve and a half stone in weight and I consider myself to be in good health. I am not on any medication; I exercise regularly, sleep well, eat healthily and had a good sex-life with my partner. At the end of March 2013 I was diagnosed with Peyronie’s Disease. I have been offered a course of ESWT (Extracorporeal shock wave therapy). My question: This procedure ESWT, how effective is it in treating Peyronie’s Disease, is it too early to do this procedure as it is only been six/seven months since the disease first started and how safe is the ESWT procedure? Many thanks for all the information the association has published, it has helped me enormously to come to terms with the disease.

There are now 3 published, well performed, placebo-controlled trials examining the benefits of ESWT for Peyronie’s, none of them have shown any benefit with respect to penile deformity, although some have suggested quicker reduction of pain. Realize though, that pain will typically resolve on its own. There

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Is it possible for iontophoresis to soften or even change any calcification that may be present in the plaque?

I have not seen any beneficial effects of iontophoresis with verapamil and/or dexamethasone in improving plaque calcification in my experience or in the published. Therefore, in my patients who present with substantial plaque calcification iontophoresis is not recommended and in fact, there is no known non-surgical treatment

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What is your view of electromotive drug administration? There is a report of a small control group with reported positive effects in the treatment of PD.

Electromotive drug administration (EMDA) has been reported to have benefit when used for Peyronie’s disease in several publications. It appears that the best combination of drugs as reported by DiStasi is when verapamil (10 mg) and dexamethasone (4 mg) are used 3-4 times per week for at

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I am in physical therapy and want to do ultrasound for treatment of Peyronie’s. What is the protocol, I have forgotten since school how many w/cm2 and what intensity to use. Also, do you use pulse or continuous ultrasound?

Various forms of external energy have been used to treat PD in non-randomized trials including topical ultrasound and lasers. The mechanism is unknown, but it has been suggested that ultrasound and laser treatment may enhance tissue healing. I am not familiar with any studies which have demonstrated

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What do you think of the treatment where the plaque is broken down similar to kidney stones, with shock waves?

I recommend that you examine the topic section within this website on the use of shockwaves, and previous answers to questions on this subject. Basically at this point there is no evidence that the use of shockwaves for Peyronie’s disease is an effective therapy. Several patients have

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Besides a urologist manually checking the penis for scarring or nodules for possible Peyronie’s disease, what other procedures (such as ultrasound) are more valid at determining if one does in fact have this disease? How accurate is checking for this disease manually?

Whenever a test has been ordered the physician (and the patient) should ask themselves how the results of the test will alter the plan of treatment. If the answer is “not much” then the test is probably not indicated. Over history, numerous imaging studies have been employed

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I have been considering ESWT treatment for Peyronie’s disease but I would like to know about the percentage of successful treatment. I don’t have a lot of pain with the erection but I have the curvature? I also take Viagra because of inadequate blood flow. Does the ESWT increase blood flow or does it just correct the curvature?

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is a therapy where shock waves are aimed at tissue or structures to disrupt them. It has been used in many conditions although it has been used most frequently for the fragmentation of stones inside the body, such as gallstones and kidney

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