A Comprehensive Guide to Erectile Dysfunction Treatments: From Medications to Lifestyle Changes

According to a recent poll, more than 40% of Canadian men and women describe their sex life as “bad.”

There is obviously a range of different reasons for this. Some Canadians aren’t having sex as often as they might like. Others don’t have any chemistry in the bedroom with their partners.

And then, there are those Canadian men and women who aren’t satisfied with their sex lives due to erectile dysfunction. ED can be a big problem for many people.

Is ED ruining your sex life? If so, you may be wondering about What the latest treatment for erectile dysfunction is. Finding the best erectile dysfunction treatment might be able to put the spark back in your sexual relationship with your partner.

More research is being done on erectile dysfunction all the time, and it’s leading to more erectile dysfunction treatment options emerging on a regular basis. Learn more about ED treatments as a whole below so that you’re able to locate the best treatment for erectile dysfunction.

Can Erectile Dysfunction Be Cured?

If you suspect you might have erectile dysfunction, the first thing you may worry about is whether or not it can be cured. Many men are concerned that they’re going to have to live with ED for the rest of their lives and deal with the consequences.

You’ll be happy to hear that, more often than not, you’ll be able to find an erectile dysfunction treatment that will work for you. It might not always make your ED go away completely, but it should enable you to maintain a healthy sex life without worrying about being able to get and keep erections in the bedroom.

Erectile dysfunction can be caused by any number of things. Everything from heart disease and high blood pressure to diabetes and depression can lead to erectile dysfunction. To reverse the symptoms of erectile dysfunction, you’ll need to figure out what’s causing it and find the best erectile dysfunction treatment for your specific situation.

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What Are the Ways Erectile Dysfunction Can Be Treated?

Believe it or not, the very first erectile dysfunction diagnoses date all the way back to the 8th century. In Ancient Rome, doctors would treat ED by suggesting that men wear talismans with rooster genitalia on them to boost their sexual performances.

Since then, doctors have come up with more effective ways to treat erectile dysfunction and reverse its symptoms. It sometimes seems as though there is a new treatment for erectile dysfunction coming out every other month.

Some of these treatments for erectile dysfunction will work better than others when you try them. It’s why you should be aware of all the erectile dysfunction treatment options you’ll have. Discover more about some of the best treatments for erectile dysfunction below.

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Oral Medications

The most common way that many Canadian men treat erectile dysfunction is by taking oral medications. They can be extremely effective when it comes to helping men achieve long-lasting erections so that they have sexual intercourse with their partners.

Four of the most often-used oral medications for erectile dysfunction are:

• Viagra (Sildenafil)
• Adcirca or Cialis (Tadalafil)
• Levitra or Staxyn (Vardenafil)
• Stendra (Avanafil)

Each of these medications will work in a similar way. They’ll help enhance the way in which nitric oxide works in the body. Nitric oxide is a chemical that relaxes the muscles in and around the penis.

When this happens, you should be able to increase your chances of getting an erection when you’re sexually stimulated. Blood flow will increase to your penis, and it’ll result in an erection in many cases.

It’s worth noting that taking oral medications for erectile dysfunction isn’t going to guarantee that you’ll get an erection every time you attempt to have sex. If you’re suffering from another underlying medical condition or if you aren’t sexually stimulated, you might still struggle to get erections while using oral medications.

You will also need to be careful about taking oral medications for erectile dysfunction if you take certain other medications. If, for example, you’ve been prescribed nitrate drugs that are used to treat chest pain, it wouldn’t be a good idea to use oral medications for erectile dysfunction.

Natural Options

Would you like to try to treat erectile dysfunction without having to take oral medications every time you would like to have sex? There might be some natural options that you can try to get your ED under control.

In the past, studies have shown that there are many foods and beverages that you might want to work into your diet to fight back against erectile dysfunction. Some possible options include:

• Chicken
• Turkey
• Watermelon
• Almonds
• Salmon
• Coffee
• Fortified milk
• Blueberries
• Olive oil
• Peaches

Some small studies have also suggested that men who have erectile dysfunction might be able to benefit from massage therapy. It may be worth putting it to the test.

If nothing else, massage therapy may be able to help eliminate some of the stress and anxiety that so often comes along with erectile dysfunction. It might put you into a better frame of mind the next time you try to have sex and allow you to get an erection without having to turn to oral medications.

Surgeries

Suppose you try using oral medications and some of the natural approaches to treating erectile dysfunction and don’t get great results. In that case, you might need to get more aggressive when it comes to reversing the symptoms of erectile dysfunction. There are different types of surgeries that you can use to try and get relief from ED.

There are, for example, penile injections that you can get to treat ED. A few of the most popular forms of penile injection therapy are:

• Papaverine
• Phentolamine
• Alprostadil
• Prostaglandin

You will, of course, want to speak with a male reproductive doctor if you decide that you would like to go in this direction. They’ll be able to assess your ED and tell you which penile injection therapy might work best.

You can also try other surgical procedures like:

• Stem cell therapy
• Red light therapy
• Shockwave therapy
• Testosterone replacement therapy

You may even want to go as far as to have a penile implant inserted into your penis. This is a relatively new erectile dysfunction treatment that can be used when you’ve exhausted many of your other options.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

You might be under the impression that erectile dysfunction is strictly a physical health problem. But there can also be a mental component to it in many cases.

It isn’t uncommon at all for men to suffer from ED due to things like stress, guilt, depression, low self-esteem, and other mental health problems. If you believe this might be your issue, cognitive behavioural therapy could be the solution to it.

CBT is a form of talk therapy that can help you get to the bottom of the psychological factors that might be causing erectile dysfunction. You won’t be able to fix your ED overnight by using CBT. But you should be able to learn certain skills that will help you begin to think in a whole new way.

This can, in turn, be a highly effective way to treat ED for a longer stretch of time. By changing the way you think, you can build healthier habits and alleviate many of the feelings that might be limiting your sexual performance in the bedroom.

Vacuum Devices

A lot of erectile dysfunction treatments are going to come with side effects that might make you feel like getting these treatments isn’t worth it. Some of the oral medications, for instance, can really take a toll on your body and force you to deal with everything from headaches to dizzy spells.

If you would like to skip all the different side effects that can impact those going through ED treatment, you might want to give thought to trying out one of the new vacuum devices that can help you get erections.

More specifically, you may want to put a penis pump to the test. A penis pump can help you get an erection without having to take any oral medications. It can also be used in conjunction with other ED treatments to get the best possible results.

What Is the Latest Treatment for Erectile Dysfunction?

Each of the erectile dysfunction treatments that we just laid out might work wonders for you. But there isn’t anything particularly new about these treatments. Many of them have been around for years.

So, what is the latest treatment for erectile dysfunction? Well, there are some newer oral medications that are just starting to hit the scene. Medications like Helleva (lodenafil), Zydena (Udenafil), and Mvix (Mirodenafil) might be worth looking into if you have had ED for a long-time.

There are also over-the-counter sex aids that are starting to pop up. You may want to consider trying penile sleeves, penile extenders, or even an external prosthetic phallus to combat ED.

It also might be possible for you to have a penile transplant done at some point. The first-ever penile transplant was completed a few years ago and was successful. This could be a new treatment for erectile dysfunction that more people start using soon.

Remember not to use any ED medication without consulting your doctor first. There might be severe side effects for you based on your physical health.

What Is the Fastest Way to Treat Erectile Dysfunction?

Although there are quite a few new erectile dysfunction treatments that are beginning to emerge, the fastest way to treat ED is still by using oral medications. These medications can help you achieve erections within about 30 minutes in most cases. They’ll also help you continue to enjoy their effects for several hours, with some even working for up to 36 hours.

The hope is also that many of the newer oral medications that are being created to treat ED will work even faster than this. They could potentially help you overcome your ED within a matter of just a few minutes.

Can Erectile Dysfunction Be Treated With Lifestyle Changes?

All of the different erectile dysfunction treatments listed here should work to some degree. But at the end of the day, the best way to get ED to go away and stay away for good might be by making some changes to your lifestyle.

These lifestyle changes might work better than any ED treatment can. Here are the types of lifestyle changes we’re talking about.

Stop Smoking

Canadians are smoking a whole lot less than they used to. Only about 10% of Canadians still smoke, which is down dramatically from even just a few years ago.

If you still smoke, this could be one of the things to blame for your erectile dysfunction. If you’re able to kick this habit to the curb, it could very well result in many of your ED symptoms clearing up on their own.

Abstain From Alcohol

A recent Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) study found that Canadians should limit drinking to no more than two alcoholic beverages per week. Drinking any more than that could put your health at risk.

You can prevent lots of different health problems by cutting alcohol out of your life. This includes erectile dysfunction. You might be able to put your ED in the past by abstaining from alcohol or, at the very least, limiting your alcohol intake.

Get More Exercise

In recent years, researchers have found that more than 80% of Canadian adults aren’t getting enough exercise regularly. If you fall into this category, increasing the amount of exercise you get might make you a healthier person and stop health conditions like erectile dysfunction in their tracks.

If you don’t exercise enough, you run the risk of being heavier than you should be. This alone could contribute to your ED in a major way and make it almost impossible to put your ED behind you.

When Do You Need to See a Doctor for Erectile Dysfunction?

Have you tried all lifestyle changes you can think of to treat erectile dysfunction and come up empty time and time again? If you have, it might be time to call on a doctor to help treat you.

You can ask a doctor about erectile dysfunction medication and treatments and see what they have to say. They’ll be able to recommend the best erectile dysfunction treatment based on your current health condition and tell you what they believe might be the problem that’s causing ED in the first place.

Would you like to get more tips on taking better care of your health? Find them by reading through more articles published on our website.

References:

• “41% of Canadians aren’t happy with their love or sex life: poll,” Global News, https://globalnews.ca/news/6341446/canadians-love-sex-life/
• “Erectile Dysfunction: A Review of Historical Treatments With a Focus on the Development of the Inflatable Penile Prosthesis,” National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5675239/
• “25 Foods That Might Help You Stay Erect,” Men’s Health, https://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/a19546161/foods-that-help-penis-perform-better/
• “First-Ever Penis and Scrotum Transplant Makes History at Johns Hopkins,” John Hopkins Medicine, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/first-ever-penis-and-scrotum-transplant-makes-history-at-johns-hopkins
• “Current Smoking Prevalence,” University of Waterloo, https://uwaterloo.ca/tobacco-use-canada/adult-tobacco-use/smoking-canada/current-smoking-prevalence
• “Health Canada Recommends Limiting Alcohol to Just 2 Drinks Per Week,” The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/18/canada-alcohol-drinks-guidelines-health
• “Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Across Occupational Classifications in Canadian Adults,” Statistics Canada, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2020009/article/00002-eng.htm