No Awareness of Penile Implant Surgery
Penile implant surgery has been around for over 40 years, yet very few doctors and patients are well aware of it. A patient activist considers why this may be the case.
In the video that follows, Paul Nelson, founder of Frank Talk, an online forum focused on erectile dysfunction, points to the lack of what he calls 'authentic' discussion about sex. He points to pornography as raising false expectations of what sex realistically is. He points to a generally prudish general culture that stigmatizes open, objective discussion of sexuality. These factors, associated as they are with perhaps outdated notions of the benefits and risks of penile implant surgery, arguably reinforce a general climate that keeps reliable, good information and general awareness about penile prostheses from getting to urologists, general doctors, diabetes educators, patients and others who need it.
For example, the risk of an infection of a penile implant -- in experienced hands, in otherwise healthy patients -- is less than one percent. Do doctors know that this is today's reality? Do they understand the difference between semi-rigid and inflatable penile prostheses? That in experienced hands this is generally a quick, outpatient procedure?
Paul reports that the number one complaint of penile implant patients is that they took too long to get one.
Click below to hear the interview.
