PEYRONIE'S DISEASE and RUSSIAN ROULETTE

Standard medical care of PD often is to do nothing for the first year or so. The medical thinking is this: “In half of cases the PD goes away on its own. If it doesn’t go away, we can always do surgery.”  For the half of the PD cases that do not go away, the scar and problem either stay the same or get a lot worse. If the PD results in an "acceptable" level of pain, an "acceptable" degree of penile distortion, or an "acceptable" level of sexual impairment, the outcome of PD is said to be "satisfactory" and the wait-and-see strategy is said to have been successful for that individual.

Do you know who judges what is an "acceptable" outcome for YOUR penis?  Well, it is not you. That determination is made for you, ahead of time, by someone else.  Your doctor is only hoping that you will eventually develop a certain "acceptable" level of a penile problem. If you get only as bad as he or she hoped, then your doctor's opinion will be that everything worked out pretty well for you − even if you don't think so. Can you believe that?  Did you know this is how the wait-and-see strategy is justified? 

You should find out early in your care if it is your doctor's opinion that a 5-10-20° bend in your penis is a "satisfactory" outcome, and is not worth the trouble of perhaps taking some enzymes and other supplements. You should find out if it is your doctor's opinion that not being able to have intercourse normally − as you have done previously − for the rest of your life is a "satisfactory" outcome, and is not worth the trouble of perhaps doing some exercises and using DMSO with copper and vitamin E.  You should find out early if it is your doctor's opinion that a dull ache and throb (maybe even a sharp pain) in your private parts every time you happen to get an erection is a "satisfactory" outcome, and is not worth the effort of perhaps following a nutritional program of MSM, vitamins E and C, Japanese herbs and maybe some carnitine. Carefully read those medical websites that discuss PD treatment options.  You will find how common is the opinion that so long as the penis is not terribly distorted and extremely painful, then everything is "acceptable".  

If you have PD you should know that the medical profession has a very low standard by which to judge what is an "acceptable" level of pain and distortion for YOUR penis, and what is an "acceptable" level of sexual impairment in YOUR bedroom.  Using these standards by which to judge the health and well-being of YOUR penis, the medical profession has determined that this wait-and-see treatment approach makes sense to them.  But, does it make sense to YOU?  A man with PD should know his doctor is willing to take a chance like this with YOUR penis, when there are many reasonable conservative treatment options -- even if they are currently unproven.  PDI thinks this wait-and-see approach is a poor gamble and a bad strategy. 
 
The watch-wait-and-do-nothing strategy for PD must sound good only to the surgeon. To PDI it sounds like playing Russian Roulette with very bad odds. In Russian Roulette there is one bullet in a six-cylinder gun; that’s a one out of six chance of losing. In the wait-and-see approach, half of the cases clear up spontaneously; that’s a one out of two chance of losing. Or to put it another way, that’s like playing Russian Roulette with three bullets in a six-cylinder gun. No thanks.

 
Of course, if the PD worsens so that pain and/or distortion are intolerable, or intercourse is impossible, or impotency results, then surgery can always to taken as a possible solution.

Most would agree that it is better to do all that you can for your PD, as soon as you can, using as many of the safe and scientifically grounded options that are known to have some limited success in helping the PD scar heal. If after following an aggressive alternative medical program, such as is presented on this website, there is less than complete repair and healing -- as can happen -- then surgery can still be used.  Yes, you are taking a chance that the currently unproven alternative therapies PDI advocates might not work for you, but the down-side is minimal for the most part.  We leave it to the reader to decide which is the greater risk: ignoring the problem, or exploring an  uncharted treatment area. For further discussion, click on Heads You Win, Tails You Don’t Lose.