Peyronie’s plaque or scar
Peyronie’s plaque or scar central issue
The central issue of Peyronie’s disease is the infamous Peyronie’s plaque, also called a scar. Peyronie’s disease typically occurs in men between 40 and 65 years of age, although a range of 16 to 80 years is documented; some experts say it can occur at any age. From personal communication with a particular man, I was told that his own Peyronie’s disease was started after a dog bite to the groin – at the age of 10. Nonetheless, it is most important to recognize that all clinical signs and symptoms of Peyronie’s disease originate from the effects of the plaque upon the internal tissue layers (tunica albuginea) of the penis.
A developing Peyronie’s plaque appears in response to either micro-trauma to the small blood vessels from a single injury of great force, or multiple injuries of a small force. While there is strong evidence that genetic factors and drug factors also influence the start of PD, it is trauma that is usually considered to be the most likely cause of the Peyronies plaque or scar.
A Peyronie’s plaque on the cellular level initially consists of fibrin threads deposited in a massive network throughout an area of injury within the tunica albuginea of the penis. Peyronie’s plaques, or scars, later combine the dense threads of fibrin connective tissue with reduced and fragmented elastic connective tissue fibers, as well as excessive amounts of type III collagen material, which happens to be specially inclined to excessive scar development. In about one-third of chronic cases of Peyronie’s disease, calcification of the plaque can occur over time. For more technical information about the Peyronies disease plaque.
The curvature of the Peyronies penis is due to the fact that scar tissue does not stretch as easily or as fully as healthy normal tissue. The normal tunica albuginea is composed of elastin fibers and collagen, although the site of scar tissue from Peyronie’s disease is composed mostly of collagen. This difference in composition of these two tissues is what causes a bent penis to develop during erection.
Eventually as one or more Peyronie’s plaques develop into a mass of hardened tissue in the delicate tunica albuginea, it results in variable pain and penile distortion that most often takes the form of a bend or curve; sexual function is often reduced as a result of direct or indirect affects of Peyronie’s disease, also. The penile curvature of Peyronie’s disease is caused by the dense inelastic scar, or plaque, material that shortens the involved side of the tunica albuginea layer that covers the corpora cavernosa of the penis. In approximately one third of patients, the scarring involves either the top or bottom portion of the penis shaft, occasionally both. The lateral sides of the penis can also be affected by Peyronie’s plaque development, if that area experiences injury.
Peyronie’s plaque not easy to find sometimes
In some men the Peyronies plaque is easily found on manual examination, in others it is found with difficulty, and in some men no Peyronies plaque is ever located. It can be frustrating to have a wicked penis distortion, and still not be able to locate the Peyronie’s plaque.
To locate the plaque or scar material a light and inquisitive touch is most effective. Do not be heavy-handed, or press down into the deeper layers to find the Peyronie’s plaque material, because it is found just below the surface of the skin. And, oh yes, you will never directly see the plaque or scar, since it is not on the surface of the skin, but below. Make peace with the Peyronie’s plaque and do not hate it, just determine how to assist your body to remove it.
To learn about using Alternative Medicine to increase your ability to heal and repair the Peyronie’s plaque, a good place to start is the PDI website, Peyronie’s disease treatment introduction.
Peyronie’s disease treatment to bring back lost length and girth
Here is a very brief but informative email exchange about Peyronie’s disease treatment I had just today with a man who I know has a fairly advanced case of PD.
From: XXXXX, XXXXXXXX [mailto:XXXXXXX@XXXX]
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 10:52 AM
To: herazy@sbcglobal.net
Subject: QUESTION
Hi Dr. Herazy,
I have noticed decrease in length and girth. Can this be brought back to original size? Can the remedies you recommend help change this back?
What do you suggest in terms of remedies or therapies? I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
XXXXXXXXX
Greetings XXXXXX,
Men note partial or complete recovery from lost dimensions when using:
1. General Peyronies treatment from the PDI when applied in an aggressive and faithful way often brings back a good part of lost dimensions, sometimes complete.
2. PDI Gentle Manual Penis Stretching Technique© video. This is a very direct way to stretch the Peyronies plaque material and reduce the contraction that causes lost length especially.
3. The Erektor external penile support device when used with some regularity during intercourse. See the link at http://peyronies-disease-help.com/impotence-erectiledysfunction-erektor.html
Regards,
Theodore Herazy, DC, LAc
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Peyronie’s disease plaque fibrin patterns
Peyronie’s plaque is the heart of the problem
Peyronie’s disease is an abnormal collection of fibrous pathological tissue in the deep tissue layers within the substance of the tunica albuginea and the Peyronies plaque; it is also characterized by excessive deposition of collagen within that same plaque material. Even thought the cause of Peyronie’s disease remains unknown, direct injury or repeated small trauma is most often thought to be the two most likely inciting events eventually resulting in Peyronie’s disease.
Materials and Methods
To understand the onset and cause of the Peyronie’s disease plaque or scar tissue that is always present in every case of PD, it is necessary to follow a simple approach that examines for the presence of collagen, elastic fiber, and fibrin content within the PD plaque material and evaluate its distribution.
Peyronies plaque or scar tissue specimens were taken from 33 Peyronie’s disease patient volunteers, and control penile tissue samples and nodular tissue samples were taken from eight patients with Dupuytren’s contracture (a related and similar problem of the hand). These samples were analyzed to determine collagen staining characteristics, and patterns of elastic tissue distribution. In addition, plaque tissue from another 19 Peyronie’s disease patients, control tissue and nodular tissue from Dupuytren’s disease were also analyzed for fibrin in these same samples.
Results
Abnormally stained collagen was found in 32 of 33 plaque specimens (97%), disrupted elastic fibers in 31 of 33 plaque specimens (94%), and abnormal fibrin deposits were also found in plaque tissue from 18 of 19 patients (95%). None of these abnormalities were located in normal or scared tunica from control patients.
Conclusions
These findings of fibrin deposits in Peyronie’s plaque tissue is consistent with the concept that repetitive injury and disruption of the small blood vessels and capillaries of the area results in fibrin deposition in the tissue space and has served to provide insights into the pathophysiology of Peyronie’s disease.
Peyronie’s Plaque
Peyronie’s disease plaque or scar
There is much confusion and lack of information concerning Peyronie’s disease, especially the elusive Peyronie’s plaque or scar .
It is truly amazing that for a male health problem that according to some surveys affects up to nine percent of the adult population, practically no man ever hears about this problem until the day he is given the diagnosis of Peyronie’s disease. It is no wonder that no one has ever heard of a Peyronies plaque until he has one. It is this shock – that a “mystery” condition that comes out of the blue, a condition for which there is no known cause and no known Peyronie’s cure can suddenly wreck a man’s life – that contributes to the lack of information about Peyronies. While feeling totally confused and shocked upon first hearing about the Peyronie’s plaque or scar that accompanies it, prevents a man from asking all the standard questions and retaining the information he is told when he receives this diagnosis.
With such bad news pouring into his ears, and so many questions rolling around in this brain, it is no wonder that a man can leave his doctors office and not remember much of what he is told about Peyronies.
In addition to this shock of learning he has Peyronies, most medical doctors do not like to manage cases of Peyronie’s disease, and therefore do a bad job of it, further adding to the common situation in which a man will not understand the basics of this problem – like the Peyronies plaque.
We all know Peyronies disease is called the “doctor’s nightmare” because of the problems associated with dealing with men who have this problem. With no known cause or cure, the doctor comes off looking like a dummy for not having more clear information or help for his newly diagnosed Peyronies patient. Adding to the negative atmosphere for the doctor in dealing with a Peyronies patient, the doctor also knows there will be hard feelings that will arise later when the PD patient develops additional penile curvature, reduced sexual performance, and frequent marital problems. All of this happens while the doctor can only stand by as his Peyronies patient deteriorates over time. The doctor is often held responsible for these problems since he did not offer any help to his patient. None of this is fair, but this is how it happens. For these reasons many doctors try to get a man out of the office as quickly as possible, and often without sufficient time to ask questions or adequate explanations to prepare a man for the future.
In this atmosphere of minimum time and minimum information, the shocked Peyronies patient does not understand or recall basic facts about Peyronie’s disease. For example, the fundamental problem of PD pivots around the presence of one or more masses of fibrous material located within the covering of the substance of the penile shaft, called a Peyronies plaque or scar. Many times a man who has had PD for many years will no absolutely nothing about his Peyronie’s plaque.
Peyronies Plaque is elusive
Another common situation exists in which the doctor cannot find a Peyronie’s plaque, and neither can the man who owns it. Each week I receive several emails asking me, “Since my doctor examined me and could not find anything, and I cannot see a scar, do you think I really have Peyronie’s disease?”
The fat is, there is never an EXTERNAL scar or plaque in Peyronie’s disease; it is always an internal mass that conveniently is known as a scar, but is not a scar in the usual sense. PD “scars” or plaques are quite variable. Some men have an obvious scar and others cannot find one if their life depended on it. Ultimately, it is there and you should try as many different tactics as you can to find your scar(s) because having a good knowledge of your scar situation will help your treatment effort. Hint: Try to think in terms of your scar being much larger than you have previously imagined, so mentally expand the size of the scar that you are looking for. Meaning, if you were looking for a “pea” before, start looking for a “postage stamp” or a “thumb nail” size structure. This information should change your methods and what you can detect when trying to locate your Peyronies plaque.
A Peyronie’s plaque or scar can be quiet variable; some men have an obvious plaque and others cannot find one if their life depended on it. Often, when a scar is not found, but there is still pain and bending or any kind of recent penile distortion, a diagnosis of PD is still made. This is so, because it is the Peyronies plaque or scar that is causing the pain or bending is either:
1. So small – it cannot be found
2. So very soft – it blends into the other tissue and cannot be detected
3. So deep – it cannot be reached easily
4. So large and flat – that the edges are not determined, almost like something that is so close to you that you do not see it because you are looking far away
5. The doctor’s lack of ability, experience or concern when he does the examination – that he simply misses what is actually there if he was better at this kind of thing – yes, I know, it is difficult to imagine but it is true.
Usually, when a scar is NEVER found it is because of a combination of two or more of these factors – deep and small, or soft, large and flat, or deep, soft and doctor error, and so on.
I often suggest that men try this: forget about finding a “scar.” Just try to find something – anything – within the mass of erectile tissue that does not feel like the other tissue pf the shaft. Find something that is unlike the rest of the tissue. When you find it, mark its location with a marker pen of something that will stay on the tissue for a day or two. Go back each day to that area and re-think what you are feeling. You are trying to determine if it becomes easier to make sense of it. It could be that you have an unreasonable expectation of what a “scar” should feel like, and you are missing what is really rather obvious. Really, how could you know what a Peyronie’s plaque feels like if you have never had to do this before? It is a common problem.
Let me know your experiences and problems in locating your Peyronie’s plaque. Take this chance to tell others your experiences and problems with this elusive tissue.
Cause of Peyronie’s disease
How Peyronie’s disease starts
As anyone who has the problem knows, the cause of Peyronie’s disease is not well understood. However, any research topics that shed light on this basic question are of great interest to men who have Peyronie’s disease.
Perhaps a good question to start with is, what causes the erect penis to bend in a case of Peyronie’s disease? The answer lies in the function of the corpora cavernosa functions in the mechanism to produce an erection. There are actually two corpora cavernosa, laying side by side like two cigar shaped, paired balloon-like chambers that must be filled with blood to create an erection. Their connective tissue wall, the tunica albuginea, offers resistance and rigidity when it is stretched to its maximum. The tunica is elastic to a point, but unlike the thin and flexible wall of a balloon, the tunica albuginea is interlaced with strong connective tissue fibers. These strong fibers do not allow for much expansion, and eventually determine the shape of the erect penis because of their structural rigidity.
Thus, in a very real and fundamental way, Peyronies disease is a disorder of the tunica albuginea. By producing dense and rigid areas of the tunica, called Peyronie’s plaque or scars, Peyronie’s disease interferes with the full expansion of the tunica. Plaques are either regions of reversible inflammation in early phases of Peyronies, or permanent scars later if the inflammation is severe and continues too long. Much like a piece of tape placed on the wall of a balloon, the plaque or scar causes uneven filling and expansion of the tunica, and this causes bending of the column of the corpora cavernosa.
A basic question is, what causes these plaques to begin? Microscopic and chemical studies show that plaques represent an early stage of the wound healing process when the tunica is injured. Whatever starts Peyronie’s disease, the problem seems to the inappropriately increase of the normally healthful and proper process of wound repair. Actually, wound healing may not be the appropriate term in all situations.
Most likely cause of Peyronie’s disease
One cause of Peyronies disease is obvious and direct trauma to the erect penis. This trauma can range from sudden and unexpected angulation during sex, to am actual rupture of the corpora cavernosa. However, the fact is, many men with Peyronies do not recall any such traumatic occurrences.
Over time, all sexually active men will experience some degree of wear and tear on vulnerable areas of the soft tissue erection mechanism. Both the structural arrangement of the corpora and the inherent elasticity of its connective tissues counteract the strong mechanical stresses created by strong sexual activity. But when men reach their mid-fifties, fundamental connective tissue elasticity throughout the body, and the penis, is on the decline. And so, it just so happens that the average for appearance of Peyronies disease is fifty-four.
Peyronies plaques most often appear along the top surface of the penis. It is this region where the two corpora meet side by side, along the upper edge of the “inflatable I-beam” created during an erection that is most vulnerable to stress induced delamination. Another word for a layer is a lamina; when layers are disrupted or separated, it is called delamination.
Autopsy studies in the mid-1990s on men have shown the earliest microscopic changes thought to be early Peyronies disease changes are actually a common finding. It seems that while many men develop these changes, they will evolve into Peyronies plaques only for a small percentage of cases.
So what causes the process of normal wear and tear to develop abnormally into the destructive process of wound healing that is called Peyronie’s disease? There are no clear answers to this question. However, Peyronies disease is more common in diabetics, as well as men who have gout. These are two conditions that can have an adverse affect on normal connective tissue healing. It is also more common in the presence of Dupuytren’s contractures. These scars of the fascial covering of the finger tendons in the palm of the hand are thought to be inherited, and may reflect an abnormal tendency toward scar formation in other areas.
Thus, we see that much is still to be learned about Peyronie’s disease, but as these microscopic tissue clues are unraveled, the mystery of this problem will be advanced, as well as Peyronie’s disease treatment.
Peyronie’s disease plaque and fibrin
Tissue changes of Peyronie’s disease are unique
In a November 2005 abstract account, Kenneth D. Somers and Dawn M. Dawson, of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia, and Department of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, reported on their findings concerning the tissue changes that occur in Peyronie’s disease.
To begin this explanation, they remind us Peyronie’s disease is actually a pathological fibrosis, or a situation in which there is excess fibrin tissue located in a small area to the degree that it becomes a problem for the body. In the case of Peyronie’s disease, this fibrosis also is associated with an excessive deposit of collagen in the same area of the fibrin plaque or scar that results in a curved penis.
Although the cause of Peyronie’s disease remains unknown, they tell us, injury or trauma has long been thought to be the inciting event. To determine if this is true, they looked at the cellular structure of the Peyronie’s disease plaque or scar to get an insight into the cause of this condition.
Materials and methods they used
Small samples of plaque tissue was taken from 33 patients with Peyronie’s disease, and control tissue and nodular tissue was taken from the penis of eight patients with Dupuytren’s contracture; both groups of tissue were analyzed for collagen staining, as well as fibrin and elastic fiber structure and distribution.
Their results
As a result of this study they found abnormally stained collagen in 97% of the samples, disrupted elastic fibers in 94% and excess fibrin deposition in 95% of the samples. These same findings were not found in the normal scared tunica albuginea of control patients who did not have Peyronie’s disease. The presence of abnormal fibrin accumulation in Peyronies plaque tissue was detected in a special chemical analysis, while this abnormal fibrin was not found in skin tissue samples from the same patients.
Their conclusions
Their conclusions from this study is that the fibrin deposits in Peyronies plaque tissue is consistent with the theory that repeated minor injury or single major injury to the tunica albuginea results in fibrin being deposited in the tissue spaces at the site of trauma to start this condition.
Peyronie’s treatment concept
Peyronie’s Disease Institute has taken the position that it is this excess fibrin deposit within the excess collagen formation that can be safely and easily removed by the use of a battery of systemic enzymes that are specific for foreign fibrin protein in the body. When combined with other known methods to increase the healing response of the immune system against Peyronie’s disease plaque, it is possible to reverse the abnormal tissue found in the tunica albuginea and therefore eliminate the cause of pain and penile curvature associated with Peyronie’s disease.
Peyronie’s treatment and rVita.com
Finding a Peyronie’s cure
Peyronie’s Disease Institute (PDI) approaches the problem of Peyronies treatment from an entirely different direction than traditional medical therapy.
While current traditional thinking is that there is no known medical Peyronie’s cure, they readily admit that the body does heal and repair PD in about 50% of the cases within the first 12-18 months after onset. Their position seems to be that while the body can cure this problem – that particular kind of healing does not count. Their self-serving thinking is that so long as a drug or medical procedure is not available for an MD to administer, then “there is no cure.” The current standard of medical care continues to be wrapped up in drug and surgical treatment for PD, completely ignoring the fact that half of the men can cure their own problem. The PDI position is that the use of multiple therapies when used in combination will often develop a healing synergy to correct the loathed Peyronie’s plaque.
Many years ago when I developed my own PD problem at the age of 56, I was confronted with the pressing need to do something to assist and stimulate my own immune response to my body could heal this unwelcome development. With my background in Alternative Medicine I knew there were always options to assist the healing ability of the body. I studied and reviewed various medical research articles about the subject of Peyronie’s disease and with the three MDs I was working with at that time, we developed the basic Alternative Medicine treatment protocol that is now found on our website for all to share.
Over the years I have continued the study of Peyronie’s disease, resulting in several significant improvements in the basic treatment strategy that is now used by many hundreds of men around the world. Recently, this ongoing study has brought me to a most interesting and helpful Alternative Medicine website, rVita.com For those men who spend hours looking up various health and healing topics I encourage you to visit this website to broaden your investigation for a better way to seek health and healing.
The rVita.com website is a hub of natural healing information that brings together various Alternative Medicine disciplines like acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, naturopathy, homeopathy, herbology, detoxification, meditation, yoga practices, hypnosis, etc. The emphasis is to educate website readers how they can use this information to increase their body’s ability to recover from chronic disease and reduced vitality. In addition, this is well-researched information since many of the authors and contributors are MDs who take a conservative and natural approach wellness. You will find additional information at rVita.com about many of the various therapies that are used in Peyronie’s disease treatment.
While they do not have a lot of specific information yet about Peyronie’s disease treatment, you can review and research a wealth of information about individual therapies you see featured on the PDI website.
I encourage all of my blog readers to spend some time getting educated and enlightened at the visit rVita.com soon.
Peyronie’s Disease Plaque, Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, and Blood Supply
Different way to look at Peyronie’s disease and blood supply
Peyronie’s disease is all about the Peyronies plaque, because the Peyronie’s plaque causes all the problems we normally associate with this condition. To back this idea up, and to show you are doing something that is potentially dangerous to your Peyronie’s disease by using erection enhancing drugs, let’s review some interesting research that took place about 15 years ago.
First, some background. According to two Peyronies disease researchers, Drs. J. A. Lopez and J. P. Jarrow, from the Department of Urology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, most of the erectile dysfunction that is associated with Peyronies disease is probably not due to reduced blood supply coming into the penis. Hence, taking Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, or any erection producing drugs, is often not effective and when it is it could be dangerous when someone with PD takes any erection producing drug.
Let’s get through the technical material first and then I will put it all together as it relates to using these drugs because you have Peyronies.
In the study done by Lopez and Jarrow, they did a penile vascular (blood flow) evaluation; they tested the penis arteries (to determine blood flow coming into the penis), and they tested the penis veins (to determine the blood flow leaving the penis).
They tested 95 consecutive men who came to them for evaluation or treatment of Peyronie’s disease; of these 95 men, 19 were potent (able to become erect) and 76 were impotent (not able to become erect). They also did the very same kind of penile vascular (blood flow) evaluation on 100 consecutive impotent men who did not have Peyronie’s disease so they could compare the condition of their blood vessels as it relates to erections and erectile dysfunction.
Potent men with Peyronie’s disease
After testing the 19 potent men who had Peyronie’s disease, they found only one (5%) of the 19 potent patients had abnormal arterial blood flow coming into the penis, and none (95%) had evidence of abnormal venous blood supply leaving the penis.
Impotent men with Peyronie’s disease
After testing the 76 impotent men who had Peyronie’s disease, they found that 27 men (36%) had abnormal arterial blood flow coming into the penis, and 44 men (59%) had evidence of abnormal venous blood supply leaving the penis.
Potent and Impotent men who did not have Peyronie’s disease
There was no significant difference in historical risk factors for impotence between the impotent men with or without Peyronie’s disease and the control population of impotent patients.
After testing the 100 men who did not have Peyronie’s disease they found they had about the same percent of abnormal arterial blood flow coming into the penis. However, they found these same men had significantly less (16%) abnormal venous blood supply leaving the penis.
So the big difference was that the impotent men (59%) with Peyronie’s disease had a whole lot more abnormal venous blood supply leaving the penis, than the impotent men (16%) who did not have Peyronie’s disease.
This means that although men with Peyronie’s disease may suffer some impotence due to artery blood flow problems, the research proves that the primary and overwhelming cause of impotence in men with Peyronie’s disease is abnormal venous blood supply leaving the penis.
So you ask, “What could be wrong with my venous blood flow leaving my penis?” Answer: your Peyronie’s plaque.
Peyronie’s plaque causes impotency
It is the Peyronie’s plaque that causes the veins of the penis to not close properly. Click here to understand a bit about Peyronie’s disease and erection.
There are special valves within the veins of the penis that close off at special times, to trap the blood inside the penis – to create an erection. If the veins do not trap the blood, no erection. The presence of the plaque or scar material is the problem that causes the valves of the veins to not trap blood, hence a poor or absent erection. Yes, there are surely many emotional reasons a man with Peyronies will develop impotency, but this vein problem is by far the primary physical reason for this erection problem that we all are interested in.
Imagine that you want to close a door to trap warm or cold air inside a room. You try to close the door, but you cannot because there is something causing the door to not close all the way – perhaps the door is warped, or maybe there is something lying across the doorway like a doorstop and the door will not seal the room shut. If the door cannot be closed fully, it will be difficult or impossible to close the door, and you cannot trap the air in that room. It is the same in Peyronie’s disease. If the valves of the veins cannot be closed fully, it will be difficult or impossible to close them, and you cannot trap the blood to create the erection.
The presence of one or more Peyronie’s disease plaques or scars can and will cause physical interference with the normal closing of the valves inside the penis veins and one or more areas of the penis stay soft, preventing intercourse. It is as simple as that.
So your medical doctor, hearing that you are having a problem with impotence along with your Peyronie’s disease says to you, “Do not fear. I have my magic prescription pad here. I will happily write a prescription for Viagra, Cialis, or Levitra and you will get an erection that will amaze and delight the woman you love, and amaze all your family, friends and neighbors. Please pay the nurse at the front desk as you leave.”
Elsewhere I will write more about the potential dangers of erection producing drugs like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra in relation specifically to Peyronies. For this discussion it is sufficient to state that Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra only bring more blood into the penis. The do not and cannot help you to trap it there to create an erection. This is why they may or may not work for you, and in fact, could potentially make your Peyronie’s disease worse.
For more information about the safe and effective treatment of Peyronie’s disease with Alternative Medicine, go to the Peyronie’s Disease Institute website.
Peyronie’s Disease Time to Heal
Healing Peyronie’s disease requires special patience
Making progress and wanting to see improvement with Peyronie’s disease is on every man’s mind as soon as he starts his treatment plan. To understand how this works, you really need to understand Peyronie’s disease treatment philosophy. Allow me to share a metaphor that describes what I think about this ”progress” issue.
Suppose you wake up one morning and your house is really cold — it’s 50 degrees inside. You quickly turn on the heat. Ten minutes later you notice that your house doesn’t feel any warmer. You check the thermostat again, and son of a gun, it still shows 50 degrees.
Two things are happening at this early stage of heating your home: First, you are trying to remember what the temperature felt like ten minutes earlier, and realistically you cannot do it. This is difficult because you are not trained or experienced in that kind of thing, and your body is not built – neither you nor I have a nerve system – that can detect any kind of small incremental change in temperature that would possibly take place in three minutes. Second, the thermostat on your wall is not sensitive enough to pick up such a small temperature rise that would take place in ten minutes. A scientific thermostat could pick up a fractional rise in temperature, but your standard home thermostat is not built to detect these small changes.
But, you know the furnace is on; you hear the furnace and you see the drapes moving, so you know that something is going on. You know things are going on even though you cannot detect change at this early stage. Further, you realize you are being impatient because you are uncomfortable. When you stop to consider what needs to be done to raise the temperature 15-20 degrees in order for you to be comfortable again, you realize you just have not given the furnace enough time to do the job.
Well, how much time do you have to give that furnace to do the job? A good question. The amount of time to raise the temperature one degree will be not only different from house to house, but also different from day to day in the same house. If it is really windy outside one day, or below zero one day, or if it is nighttime as compared to daytime, or if you left the back door open, all of these things make a difference in how long it will take to warm up your house. No two houses are the same, after all. So, who can predict? Does that mean you turn off the thermostat after ten minutes because the house is still cold and you are impatient? No, you just hunker down and try to be patient while things slowly and gradually happen around you.
The real problem is not that the furnace is not working, or that the house is not actually warming up ever so slightly, the real problem, my friend, is that you do not possess a good way to measure the progress you are hoping you are making from minute to minute. The problem with the reality of life is that the colder it is, the more important it is to heat up the house, the more impatient we get with that furnace, even if it is doing as good a job as it can do.
Getting back to PD, what you need to do is to accurately determine and document the size, shape, density and surface quality of your scar tissue. That can be a real challenge to do well. I examine people all day long, and I still sometimes have a difficult time grading and evaluating the condition of your Peyronie’s plaque or scars. Read the section from my book, “Peyronie’s Disease Handbook” that describes in detail how to monitor the small changes in your scar and curvature as you undergo your therapy plan. It is vital that you do this. The correct way to monitor the progress is via the condition of your Peyronie’s plaque, not your curved penis.
Believe me, I fully understand your impatience and urgency in wanting to get your sex life back to normal. When I was treating my own PD, it was a constant struggle to not expect too much too soon.
I am always concerned that the men I work with do not allow themselves enough time to respond to their therapy programs. Many men tell me they will wait to judge their progress after the first 30 days of care. In most cases this time horizon is way too short to be fair to anyone. When someone tells me they will give it until the end of their first supply of therapy products, I know I am dealing with someone who is not being realistic with himself or his situation.
In my work with Peyronie’s disease, I came to an interesting and logical theory about how this whole problem gets started for a lot of men. You know that trauma, a large or small injury directly to the male organ, is the usual way that Peyronie’s disease is said to get started. That makes sense, except that a lot of men swear up and down that they do not recall any injury happening.
What I think very often happens is this: A man injures himself, but there is so much time that passes between the injury and the time that he first notices any change down there that he does not put the two events together. It is because of the length of time between one thing and the other thing, that the two events are never connected. Almost like having sex and then nine months later, a baby comes out. If this is true, what this should say to you is that it takes time for the scar to develop and it will take an even longer time for the scar to heal, if it is going to.
How about another metaphor? It takes a second to break a bone, and 6-8 weeks for it to heal. I hope you get the point.
Be patient with yourself. Try to keep in mind the immense job you have undertaken and the true complexity of what you are attempting to do. Stay focused to your success.