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Why Use Vacuum Therapy?

About 43% of men with erectile dysfunction over 50 years old chose to use vacuum therapy to treat their Impotence. Many choose vacuum therapy because they take blood pressure medications or nitrates, which can be contraindicated with the leading PDE5 inhibitors (Viagra, Cialis, etc.). Others chose vacuum therapy because oral medications are ineffective after prostate surgery, the nerves ending to the prostate are in a state of shock or injury

Some people use Erection Pumps in conjunction with oral medications, because vacuum pumps can be used to get an erection regardless of arousal. Vacuum therapy can be used as an exercise to prevent atrophy in the penis. Men typically have 3-5 nocturnal erections every night. If a person has ED, these natural erections do not occur. This can result in the penis shrinking in both length and circumference. Vacuum therapy allows for men to stretch the penis to maintain length and size.

Many men choose vacuum erection devices because of its high success rate. Oral medication is effective 60-70% of the time when there is no nerve damage present. Pellet suppositories are successful 50% of the time. Penis injections are successful 75% of the time, but they can be painful and it’s difficult to determine dosage levels. Vacuum therapy, on the other hand, has a success rate of over 90%.

Vacuum erection devices also have the benefit of being a non-invasive solution. About 40-50% of prosectemy recover and can achieve natural erections. Penile implants permanently remove a man’s ability to have a natural erection. Injections can cause fibrosis or scar tissue build-up, which can cause curvature or bending of the penis termed priaprism. Vacuum therapy circumvents both of these problems.

There are some risks to vacuum therapy. Some of these risks include potential pain, bruising, numbness or a cold sensation in the penis. Some men find the tension band irritating and may prevent ejaculation.

Vitality Medical provides the leading erection pumps--Osbon, Encore and Pos-T-Vac. These products are FDA approved, well respected and have been used by thousands of people. Osbon products feature reusable Timm Osbon Tension Rings that don’t interfere with ejaculation and great customer support. Some prefer the advantage of the Postvac Hex Rings because of their extended life. Encore manufactures an Oversized Cylinder for their ED Pumps to accommodate larger size men. There may be alternative products at lower costs but the erection pumps sold by Vitality Medical are for medical purposes designed to treat erectile dysfunction. In addition most insurance companies will provide some type of reimbursement for the RX models when there has been a diagnosis of organic impotence.

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Sources

Flagg, Marianne. “Vacuum Devices of Erection Problems” 26 Jul 2004.

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WebMD - Erectile Dysfunction: Prostate Cancer
eMedicine - Prostate Cancer: Radical Perineal Prostatectomy
Mayo Clinic - Erectile Dysfunction overview
Urology Group Virginia - Another Erectile Dysfunction overview
eMedicineHealth - Impotence/Erectile Dysfunction Introduction