Diagnosing Erectile Dysfunction: Mens Sexual Health
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Diagnosing erectile dysfunction
If you've been having difficulty getting or sustaining erections, talk about it with your doctor. Such a conversation is never easy, but thanks in part to greater publicity about this problem and its treatment, many obstacles have been toppled.
You may recall the TV commercials that showed self-assured men going to the doctor's office to discuss the problem and emerging relieved after having taken this important step. What's misleading is that such commercials leave the impression that there's not much to discuss — all you need is a prescription and your erections will come back. In reality, your doctor must diagnose the cause of your erectile dysfunction in order to recommend an effective treatment.
While therapy usually does involve medication, erectile dysfunction is sometimes a symptom of an underlying condition that requires its own treatment. Also, medication is more effective for some causes of erectile dysfunction than for others. For instance, if you've had prostate surgery, pills probably won't work as well as other treatments. And if a psychological condition is significantly involved, you may benefit from counseling with a mental health professional trained in sex therapy (see "Resources").
Table 3: Diagnosing the problem | |
| Possible cause of erectile dysfunction | What the doctor does |
| Vascular (circulatory system) | Takes your blood pressure and listens to your heart. Checks pulse in groin and feet. Checks your abdomen for aortic aneurysm. |
| Neurological (nervous system) | Tests reflexes of your knees and ankles, as well as anus. Checks for sensation in your legs and feet. |
| Hormonal (endocrine system) | Assesses testicular size and breast development. Checks your thyroid gland. |
| Local (reproductive system) | Examines your penis for Peyronie's disease. Checks your prostate. |
| Psychological (stress, anxiety, emotional) | Assesses the history of the problem, especially whether it started suddenly and if nocturnal erections are affected. |
| Last updated: | September 05, 2008 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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