How Long Does Erectile Dysfunction Last After Prostate Surgery?

Undoubtedly, Erectile Dysfunction (ED)  is a major postoperative complication of prostate surgery, as says the National Institutes of Health Science, India.

While about 85% of men are affected with erectile dysfunction after prostate surgery, also called prostatectomy, the regaining ability for erectile function is variable.

Your erectile dysfunction may last for three months or even three years!

Perhaps, how long does your erectile dysfunction last after prostate surgery depends on how long the nerve cells in your cavernous nerve (the one supplying nerves to your penis) take to regenerate.

Why so?

How else can the time vary?

Are there ways to regain erectile functions faster? 

If so, what are they?

Yeah! A lot of questions are likely to pop up in your mind now. 

Let us unfold them, one after the other!

How Can Prostate Surgery Lead To Erectile Dysfunction? – Nerve be the main victim!

Prostate surgery is an invasive treatment process that requires your doctor to make an incision or cut in your lower abdominal area to reach out to the prostate gland and remove the abnormal tissues or the whole prostate if needed!

During this process, the surgeons have to go through the bundles of nerves necessary for your erection, whose nerve fibers are extremely delicate. Although your healthcare providers ensure extra effort and care to avoid cutting or damaging the nerve cells, it’s at odds. 

That is how you may experience erectile dysfunction, i.e., loss of ejaculation ability after prostate surgery. In fact, erectile dysfunction follows the surgery immediately. But, alas, the recovery from erectile dysfunction is too slow, mostly.

Factors Determining How Long Does Erectile Dysfunction Last After Prostate Surgery?

Yes. How long your erectile dysfunction lasts after prostate surgery depends on certain factors, and they are as follows.

Preoperative Potency Status

Whether you were potent enough to ejaculate before your prostate surgery and how well it is, of course, the first determining factor for your post-surgical erectile dysfunction to last!

Are you at an age where your erectile functioning is declining, and are you about to undergo prostate surgery now? I‘m sorry, but with your declining pre-operative potency status, recovery from ED is likely to be slower.   

The Extent of Nerve Damage

The second determining factor for the time taken to recover from erectile dysfunction after prostate surgery is how much the dorsal penile nerve is affected during the procedure. A slight crush or tension, or a thin cut, inevitably takes lesser time to heal and regenerate than a deeper blow!

Preexistence of Other Diseases

Do you have any preexisting comorbid health conditions, such as diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease?  Are you obese? Do you have high blood pressure or cholesterol? If yes, your recovery from erectile dysfunction after prostate surgery may take longer than those; without such health abnormality.

Lifestyle Factors

Disclaimer! Alcoholism is one of the most vulnerable lifestyle habits against erectile dysfunction, and so is smoking! Both can act as catalysts in your loos of erection ability, and they do escalate your erectile dysfunction span after prostate surgery.

Likewise, factors like physical inactivity can also determine how long ED may last after your prostate surgery. It deteriorates the blood circulation in your body, and to be precise herein, your penis.    

Use of Certain Medications

How long erectile dysfunction last after prostate surgery also depends on whether you take daily medications and what kind of medications you take. Use of medications to keep your blood pressure in check, the anti-hypertensive agents, can slow down your recovery from ED after prostate surgery.

How Long Does Erectile Dysfunction Usually Last After Prostatectomy: What Do Experts Say?

Medical experts state that nearly 40 to 50% of the patients may return to pre-treatment erectile ability within a year from the time of prostate surgery and consequent erectile dysfunction, and about 30 to 60% may require around two years for the same!

As per a study by the National Institutes of Health, India, patients can’t get nocturnal erections in the first month after their prostate surgery, no matter which treatment they opt for. The estimated recovery from ED starts around 12 months from the time of prostate surgery.

Besides, recovery from erectile dysfunction after prostate surgery is a gradual process. Even if you can get an erection via oral treatments or physical therapies, recovery may lag in other pelvic functioning.

What Are The Ways To Regain Erectile Functions And Get Erection After Prostate Surgery?

Doctors recommend various treatment methods to speed up your dorsal penile nerve regeneration process so that you can recover from ED. The different methods are –

• Oral medications, like Viagra or Levitra,
• Caverject Injection Therapy,
• Penile Traction Device,
• Pelvic muscle floor training or exercise,
• Vibration Therapy,
• Linear Compression or Shock-Wave Therapy,
• Penis Pumps,
• Intraurethral Pellet,
• Dietary Supplements, be it salmon per day or green leafy vegetables,
• Lifestyle modifications, such as quitting smoking or drinking, and
• Penile Rehab, i.e., a comprehensive program to speed up your erectile functioning recovery via all of the above.

Takeaway:

How Long Does Erectile Dysfunction Last After Prostate Surgery – An Ambiguous Matter!

Your case may vary depending on the above-mentioned factors, and your task is to keep consulting your doctor and undertaking therapies and treatments to speed up the process of ED recovery.

I hope the article served its purpose. If you have more queries about prostate surgery and following erectile dysfunction, feel free to write to us at www.heathfinder.in or [email protected]. You shall come back with your solution soon.

Till then, stay stress-free, and don’t lose hope!