Peyronie’s Disease: What It Is and Its Symptoms

Peyronie’s disease appears with advancing age. It causes curvature of the penis and pain during erection, and depending on the degree of curvature it can make intercourse physiologically impossible. In this article you will find answers to the questions asked most often: “What is Peyronie’s disease?”, “What are the symptoms of Peyronie’s?”, “How is Peyronie’s treated?”

What Is Peyronie’s Disease?

Historically explained through cultural and social myths, Peyronie’s disease was once classified as a type of erection problem. The first medical records of it date from the 1300s, but the condition was defined in 1743 by the French surgeon François de la Peyronie.

Put briefly, Peyronie’s disease is a condition characterised by the formation of hard plaques within the elastic sheath surrounding the tubes inside the penis that produce erection, leading to curvature of the penis. Depending on what causes the plaque to form, the disease may progress slowly or quickly. The hard plaques can be felt through the skin of the penis and are easily identified on physical examination.

What Are the Symptoms of Peyronie’s Disease?

Symptoms include hard tissue felt beneath the skin of the penis, angulation of the penis, erection problems, shortening of penile length as a result of the curvature, and pain.

Symptoms vary with the course of the disease. In some patients plaque formation completes over the course of years; in others the penis curves rapidly. As the plaques in the sheath — which should move in synchrony with the tubes during erection — calcify, the sheath loses elasticity and men may experience painful erections.

As with all male sexual function disorders, women are affected by the consequences of Peyronie’s disease too. It causes pain during intercourse for both partners, and if treatment is delayed, intercourse can become physiologically impossible.

What Causes Peyronie’s Disease?

The causes of Peyronie’s are not fully understood, but several risk factors are known to trigger it.

• Peyronie’s is thought to be linked to trauma to the penis. An accident, injury during athletic activity, or strain during intercourse can damage penile tissue. If scar tissue then forms irregularly during healing, the process of curvature may begin.
• Men with a family history of Peyronie’s disease may be at increased risk of penile curvature.
• Men with connective tissue disorders are accepted to be at higher risk of developing Peyronie’s disease.
• Age is among the most important risk factors. The condition becomes markedly more common in men over 55.

What Do Peyronie’s Patients Complain Of?

The complaints reported most often by men with Peyronie’s disease are:

• Pain during erection
• Inability to have intercourse
• Erection problems
• Performance anxiety caused by the appearance of the penis
• Breakdowns in intimate relationships

How Is Peyronie’s Treated? Does It Resolve on Its Own?

Peyronie’s disease does not resolve on its own. Treatment is planned individually. The severity of the complaints, whether the curvature is still progressing, whether erectile function has declined, and whether the patient is in the acute or chronic phase of the disease can all change the course of treatment.

Medication may be recommended in the acute phase. However, because medication does not cure the condition definitively and its effect is limited, the advantages of surgical treatment increase. For patients with pronounced curvature who are in the chronic phase in particular, surgery is accepted as the only option.

During Peyronie’s surgery the plaques that reduce the elasticity of the sheath and cause the curvature are removed. Grafts with properties similar to the sheath tissue are sutured in their place, restoring the function of the sheath and correcting the curvature of the erect penis. Different surgical techniques may also be used. Which technique is applied varies according to the symptoms the patient experiences, the type of disease, and where the scar tissue is located.

Penile curvature — a correctable deformity, like penile shortness or reduced girth — may be present from birth or appear with advancing age. It is important to know that congenital penile curvature and Peyronie’s disease are not the same thing. Both can cause the penis to curve and can prevent intercourse. Once urology and andrology specialists have established the cause of the curvature, surgical treatment can correct both congenital curvature and Peyronie’s disease.