What is Peyronie’s disease?
Peyronie’s disease is a condition where scar-tissue forms a plaque in your penis. This affects the shape of it, making your penis very curved. It’s not well understood what causes it. Having this condition can be painful and it can make having sex difficult. It can also affect your mental health. In this article, I’ll talk about the possible causes, symptoms, and treatments for Peyronie’s disease.
What causes Peyronie’s disease?
It’s not really clear how Peyronie’s disease happens. Some potential causes are:
- an injury to the penis during sex that doesn’t heal properly
- genetics
- conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure might increase your risk
Peyronie’s disease can happen at any age, but it most commonly starts in your 50s or 60s.
Smoking and drinking may also increase your risk. It’s best to cut down on smoking and drinking if you can, to avoid associated sexual health problems such as erectile dysfunction.
What are the Peyronie’s disease symptoms?
Peyronie’s disease is a healing disorder, resulting in scar tissue forming a hard lump (plaque) in your penis. This can lead to your penis becoming bent or curved when erect. Your penis may also be curved when not erect (flaccid).
Peyronie’s disease has two phases, an acute phase and a stable phase.
In the acute phase, the plaque in your penis grows. You might have:
- pain in your penis
- difficulty having sex
- erectile dysfunction
If the symptoms make you stressed, Peyronie’s disease can affect your mental health. Anxiety and depression often affect people with Peyronie’s disease.
The acute phase can last up to 18 months. In the stable phase the plaque stops growing and you will have less pain.
What is the best cure for Peyronie’s disease?
There are a few different types of treatments for Peyronie’s disease, but more research is needed to see which one is most effective. There’s also no treatment that will make your penis go back to the way it was before you had Peyronie’s disease.
The treatment you receive will depend on your symptoms, such as how curved your penis is or if you have erectile dysfunction.
Non-surgical Peyronie’s disease treatments
You might be given medication to reducing scarring. A medicine called potassium aminobenzoate, taken orally, is approved for use in the UK for Peyronie’s disease. You can also have injections of drugs to break up scar tissue in your penis.
Non- drug treatment that you can have include:
- devices that stretch your penis
- extracorporeal shock wave therapy, which is a procedure using soundwaves to target the plaque in your penis
Surgical Peyronie’s disease treatments
If Peyronie’s disease has gone on for some time and your penis is very curved, you might need to have surgery. It’s best to wait until you have reached the stable phase of the disease before having surgery.
Surgery aims to straighten your penis. This can be done in the following ways.
- Surgery that takes out tissue from the opposite side of the plaque. This straightens but also shortens the penis.
- Surgery to fold the opposite side of the plaque. This straightens and shortens the penis.
- Surgery to remove the plaque and replace with a graft. Or, a prosthetic can be inserted.
Your doctor should talk about the risks of surgery with you. For example, your penis may become shorter. Erectile dysfunction is also a possible complication.
If Peyronie’s disease is affecting your mental health, you can also be referred for counselling.
Can Peyronie’s disease heal itself?
It’s best to not leave Peyronie’s disease untreated, as this can make your symptoms worse. In some cases, Peyronie’s disease may get better on its own. If your penis is not that curved or your sex life is not affected, you may not need treatment. But if you have any symptoms, you should consider visiting a GP, who can advise you about treatment.
Many people don’t go to see a GP for Peyronie’s disease because of embarrassment, but it’s important to not feel embarrassed about seeing a doctor.
Bupa offer a Men’s Sexual Function Plan to support men with symptoms, that are having a negative impact on their sex life (including erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation). Discover more.
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Sources Sources
- Peyronie’s disease. Patient. patient.info, last update November 2022
- Peyronie Disease. MSD Manuals. msdmanuals.com, revised August 2023
- Ziegelmann MJ, Bajic P, Levine LA. Peyronie's disease: Contemporary evaluation and management. Int J Urol. 2020 Jun;27(6):504-516. doi: 10.1111/iju.14230
- Erectile dysfunction. Patient. patient.info, last updated March 2022
- Reddy AG, Dai MC, Song JJ, Pierce HM, Patel SR, Lipshultz LI. Peyronie's Disease: An Outcomes-Based Guide to Non-Surgical and Novel Treatment Modalities. Res Rep Urol. 2023 Feb 2;15:55-67. doi: 10.2147/RRU.S278796
- Potassium aminobenzoate. British National Formulary. bnf.nice.org.uk, accessed August 2024
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