WHAT IS PEYRONIE'S DISEASE?

Peyronie's disease consists of hard, fibrous tissue, called plaques, developing within the penile shaft. The plaques are hard, thickened and stiff areas, actually a kind of internal scarring. In this fibroid tissue also calcium compounds can accumulate, making the plaques even harder.

The Peyronie's disease is also called cavernositis, and also sometimes plastic induration. There is probably a chronic inflammation process that leads to this scarring.

The thickened area has less blood flow than normal penile tissue, and do not fill with blood and swell as the normal spongy areas in the inside of the penis. Therefore the penis swells more at the opposite side, and gets a curvature towards the side containing the plaques when erected.

If the plaques are found at several places, more complex deformations will develop. The abnormal bending, twisting or swelling within the penis, often also lead to painful erections.

Any man from the age of 18 and upwards can develop Peyronie's disease. The average age of men suffering from Peyronie`s disease is 50.

THE SYMPTOMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONDITION

The three main characteristics of cavernositis are:

- One or more small hard lumps underneath the skin, or a continuous hard, stiff and thickened area.

- Abnormal bent or crooked penis when erect. All penises have some curvature, but by this disease, the penile bend increases, and one may get a very curved penis. The penis may be bent as a banana or in an angular fashion. The penile bending is most often up, but may be down, to the left side, to right or sloping.

-The bending is usually to the same side as that of the hard thickened area when the penis is erected.

-The hard areas in the erected penis may look like bumps, making the penis irregular.

- Sometimes the penis bends greatly enough to make sexual intercourse difficult, or impossible.

- Pain during erections caused by the pressure from the hard areas in the penis, or from the stretched skin at the opposite side of the penis.

- One may not notice the bend immediately, as it tends to develop over one to three months and later than the hardness and stiffness of the indurations.

- The plastic induration may progress and cause impotence. Sometimes the Peyroni's disease will clear up by itself, but this may take several years.

THE CAUSES OF PEYRONIE