Men's Diseases and Conditions

Testing the Blood Flow in the Penile Arteries

When a man becomes sexually excited, blood flows to the penis and is absorbed by the spongy tissue there.  This engorges the penis and makes it erect.  The more blood flowing into the penis, the longer and harder it becomes.  Most men don’t actually get the maximum amount of blood flow during an erection, so their penis isn’t quite as long or as hard as it could be.  Male enhancement pills can increase circulation so a man can reach his maximum length, but if there is any damage to the arteries in the penis, even this powerful pill may not be able to help.  How can you find out if damaged arteries are behind your erection difficulties?

There are a few different tests your doctor can perform.  One thing that can be done is a Doppler ultrasound.  This will allow him to check the blood pressure of the penile arteries.  If the penile blood pressure index is too low, it’s possible you may have penile vascular disease.  If that’s the case, your doctor may suggest one of several different courses of action.

plethysmographyAnother test that can be done is a, which is a graph of the pulse volume in the penile arteries.  While is an older test, it is still sometimes performed.  Another test is done with a small injected vasodilator.  This determines the diameter of the arteries and can show if they are intact or not.  If the blood flow is shown to be less than about 25 millilitres per second, it indicates damage to the blood vessels.  Unfortunately, this test is not always conclusive since patients who suffer from psychological sexual difficulties may, due to stress, cause abnormal results.  Your doctor might decide to do an MRI as a way of checking for a venous leak or arterial/venous disease.

While male enhancement pills can increase the blood flow to your erection, making it harder, if you have damaged veins and arteries, you may need medical assistant to repair the problem and give you a normal sex life.  However, enhancement pills can overcome a lot of sexual issues naturally, allowing you to avoid prescription medication that comes with a number of side effects.

Peter

Author: Peter

Peter is an experienced author specializing in men's health issues. He started Totalpenishealth.com in 2007 and is dedicated to continue to grow the website to become a recognized resource for men worldwide.