The medical world is ever evolving, new technology and fresh minds are always finding new ways to find, diagnose and treat many problems.

Impotence (otherwise known as erectile dysfunction) is one issue that has had a huge amount of successful treatments created over the years. The reason why so many treatments have been created to combat impotence is because of the many factors that cause it in the first instance. To gain an erection takes many sequences of events, it only takes one of these events to be blocked for impotence to occur.

Before treatments can be given, medical experts have to diagnose the problem as erectile dysfunction, to do this they can use one of the following methods.

Monitoring erections

A man normally has around 6 erections during a night of sleep, most of these occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. These erections are involuntary and the male having these erections is not aware of them, if a man does not have erections during sleep it is likely they are suffering from impotence from physical issues rather than psychological.

Medical History

By looking through a persons medical history experts can see if any diseases, physical problems or a persons lifestyle may have caused impotence to occur. It may even be a case of prescription drugs the patient is taking that has caused erectile dysfunction to become an issue.

Physical Examination

A Doctor can carry out a physical examination that may give them an insight into what may be affecting a patients erection issues.

• By touching the penis and finding it is not sensitive may be a symptom of problems with the nervous system.
• Abnormal breast enlargement may be the result of a hormonal imbalance which may cause low testosterone and serve a secondary issue with a mans libido
• Decreased pulses in the wrists and ankles which can show a circulatory problem, this may mean blood is not flowing to the penis well enough to gain an erection

Interviews and Questionnaires

Using interviews and questionnaires, psychotherapists may be able to find psychological reasons why a patient has become impotent. Sometimes the psychosocial examination may include interviewing a patients partner to see what their own sexual expectations are and how this may be affecting the patient.

Key facts to remember about impotence

• Impotence is the difficulty to gain and/or maintain an erection long enough for sexual activity
• Impotence affects more than ten million men in the United States alone
• An estimated 150 million men suffer with erectile dysfunction world wide
• A large quantity of men who suffer with impotence do not seek medical attention and suffer in silence
• Impotence affects men of all ages but the risk of becoming impotent grows as a male gets older
• In most cases impotence can be overcome by seeking medical help

Do you suffer with impotence

As you can see there are many different ways to find out why someone is suffering with erectile dysfunction. If you suffer with impotence then dont just sit there being quiet, everyday holds the perfect opportunity to seek help by visiting a medical expert.