Monday, September 10, 2012

Priapism



Priapism
The case where a man experiences a prolonged and painful erection that lasts for maybe a few hours to a few days is called priapism. This is a condition that is not related to any sexual activity or thought. What happens is that blood flows into the penis, but does not drain as normal. With little room to circulate, the blood becomes stagnant, acidic and loses oxygen where red blood cells become stiff.

Priapism can occur to anyone; even to new born babies. Priapism was named after the Greek god of fertility, Priapus where he was always projected well endowed and perpetually erect in statues and pictures.

Priapism usually occurs with an obvious cause of either some medications or certain medical conditions. There are two types of medications that cause priapism; increasing the recommended number of penile injections to treat some types of impotence or anti-depressants. The medical conditions that start priapism are those that cause the blood to thicken or where red blood cells lose flexibility and mobility like in sickle-cell anemia and leukemia. Even any trauma to the genital area or spinal cord may lead to priapism. Carbon monoxide poisoning, bites of black widow spiders and illicit drug use of marijuana and cocaine usually leads to priapism too.

There are basically two types of priapism; low-flow and high-flow priapism. With low flow priapism, blood gets trapped in erection chambers of men who are otherwise healthy. It also affects men with leukemia, sickle-cell disease and malaria. High flow priapism is a rare condition and is less painful. A ruptured artery from any injury to the penis or perineum may cause this condition as blood in the penis is prevented from circulating as normal.

It is always better to seek treatment for priapism; as soon as possible. This is because if left untreated, the erection can go on for four to six hours where the penis may get scarred if not treated early. This in turn leads to impotence. The treatment for priapism usually involves the draining of the penis by placing a needle in the side of the penis. Sometimes medications that act on blood vessels are injected to shrink blood vessels; which in turn decreases the blood flow to the penis. Those having sickle-cell anemia and priapism are usually treated with blood transfusion.

When meeting the doctor, it is important that you inform him or her of the length of time since having the erection and how long your usual erections last. You should be honest in disclosing legal and illegal medications that have been taken as marijuana and cocaine are linked with priapism. With this information, and a physical examination to determine the cause of priapism, the doctor can advise the necessary medication to treat priapism.

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