How impotence was treated before different Viagra types?

Before the release of extremely effective PDE-5 inhibitors (learn more about PDE-5), the treatment of erectile dysfunction wasn’t drastically different, although the shares of treatment approaches of methods was different. Given the fact that erectile dysfunction is never considered as a standalone issue, frequently caused by other diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular system diseases, metabolism disorders and etc., the treatment started from establishing the core reasons behind the issues.

One of the specific methods of treatment prescribed only on an individual basis was the treatment with local negative pressure. A medicinal device producing negative pressure was used to stimulate erection sufficient for a sexual intercourse. This method was painless and was frequently appointed to be carried out at home. But not everyone was suitable to use such a device, there are a long list of contraindications and significant risks associated with wrong or long-term use of the method (up to crucial tissue damages and even loss of sexual function)

Another treatment method implied injecting meds directly into the penis before intercourse (intracavernous injection). This method enabled persistent erections; though this method is damaging tissues and promoting tissue sclerosis in a long run, plus its use is complicated physically, requiring certain skills and precision, and what is also important – psychologically, as introducing the drug in the penis on a constant basis is tough.

The analogues in terms of scope of action are intraurethral suppositories – they are administered 20 minutes prior to sexual intimacy in the urethra. Normally, an erection is provided for around an hour. The main drawbacks of the method is the inconvenience and high cost of drugs. At the same time, the efficiency is usually high, although its frequent use may also lead to serious consequences.

In extreme cases, surgical treatment was conducted – joint replacement and rapid recovery of blood flow to the cavernous bodies of the penis.

Natural drug therapy was prescribed in a large number of cases: depending on the causes of the violations natural preparations enhancing overall tone of the body and activating blood circulation in the blood vessels of the penis were prescribed, in particular ginseng, Siberian ginseng, golden root, antler preparations and many more.

In the presence of concomitant diseases of the genital organs simultaneous treatment at the urologist was prescribed. If the causes of erectile dysfunction were covered in other pathologies, treatment began with their correction, so just like now treating ED issues oftentimes had nothing to do with manipulations with male genitalia. The treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular pathologies, as well as diseases of male gonads have nothing to do with injections or any other approaches.

In most cases, erectile dysfunction is transient and treatable, and one of the most important parts was to establish the cause and follow the recommendations of individual doctors. Erectile dysfunction, in contrast to many other diseases and disorders, has a specific feature: sometimes it disappears by itself, which often happens with major lifestyle adjustments. Although such spontaneous recovery is generally characteristic of short-term erection problems, not lasting longer than three years.