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Penis health: Identify and prevent problems

Penis health involves more than erections. Find out what affects penis health, the most common penis problems and strategies to promote penis health.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Penis health is an important part of men's health — and it goes beyond your ability to get and keep an erection, ejaculate and reproduce. Penis problems can indicate an underlying health condition. In addition, ongoing health issues affecting your penis can impact other areas of your life, causing stress or relationship problems and harming your self-confidence. Know the signs and symptoms of penis problems and what you can do to protect your penis health.

What affects penis health?

Various factors can affect penis health — some modifiable and some not. For example:

  • Unprotected sex. You may contract a sexually transmitted infection if you have unprotected sex.
  • Aggressive or acrobatic sex or masturbation. If your penis is bent suddenly or forcefully while erect, the trauma may cause a penis fracture.
  • Heart disease and diabetes. Restricted blood flow caused by diabetes and atherosclerosis — hardening of the arteries — can cause erectile dysfunction.
  • Certain medications and treatments. Certain medications and treatments may affect your penis health. For example, prolonged use of antibiotics increases your risk of a yeast infection. Surgical removal of the prostate gland (radical prostatectomy) and surrounding tissue as treatment for prostate cancer may cause urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
  • Smoking. Smoking doubles your risk of erectile dysfunction.
  • Hormone levels. Hormone imbalances, such as testosterone deficiency or too much of the hormone prolactin, can cause erectile dysfunction.
  • Psychological problems. Depression can cause a loss of libido. Likewise, if you experience an erection problem, you may be concerned that it'll happen again and develop anxiety or depression. This can compound the problem and lead to impotence. Trauma — such as child abuse, relationship difficulties and body image issues — and guilt can lead to pain associated with sex.
  • Neurological conditions. Stroke, spinal cord and back injuries, multiple sclerosis and dementia can affect the transfer of nerve impulses from the brain to the penis, causing erectile dysfunction.
  • Getting older. Testosterone levels decline normally as you age. This may lead to a decrease in sexual interest, a need for more stimulation to achieve and maintain an erection, a less forceful ejaculation and a need for more time before you can achieve another erection after ejaculation.
  • Piercings. A penis piercing can cause skin infections and prolonged erections.

What are the most common penis problems?

Conditions that may affect your penis include:

  • Erection or ejaculation problems. These might include erectile dysfunction, the inability to get and keep an erection firm enough for sex, or priapism, a persistent and usually painful erection that isn't caused by sexual stimulation or arousal. Other concerns may include anejaculation — the inability to ejaculate — premature ejaculation, delayed ejaculation, painful ejaculation and retrograde ejaculation, when semen enters the bladder instead of emerging through the penis during orgasm.
  • Sexually transmitted infections. Various sexually transmitted infections can affect the penis, including genital warts, gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and genital herpes. Common signs and symptoms may include painful urination, penis discharge, and sores or blisters on the penis or in the genital area.
  • Problems with the foreskin. A condition known as phimosis occurs when the foreskin on an uncircumcised man can't be retracted from the penis head. Paraphimosis occurs when the foreskin can't be returned to its normal position after being retracted.
  • Other diseases and conditions. A yeast infection may cause a reddish rash and white patches on the penis.  Inflammation of the head of the penis (balanitis) may cause pain and a foul discharge. Peyronie's disease, a chronic condition that involves the development of abnormal scar tissue in tissues inside the penis, may result in bent or painful erections. Penis cancer — which may begin as a blister on the foreskin, head or shaft of the penis and then become a wart-like growth that discharges watery pus — is also a rare possibility.
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MY01461 Jan. 19, 2011

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