Erection Problems: Beyond ED

Why should I go to the doctor if my erection is painful or lasts too long?

The problem with erections is that it's supposed to be for most men mostly a sexual response. The blood flows in, more than the blood flows out, chambers fill up, you get an erection. If the erection lasts too long the blood in there is not changing, it starts to become old and it can become very, very painful and it becomes a true emergency. So an erection that does not fade away after a couple of hours or if it becomes painful you need to go to the emergency room. Now, guys aren't going to want to do that. They're not going to want to walk in with this great erection, to say, I have this horrible erection, it's been here for six hours. But the longer they wait, the more likely of having permanent problems.

What are the permanent problems?

Permanent problems would be, inability to ever get an erection again. Or severe scarring. Cutting off the blood supply, you get scarring, irritation, inflammation, and that continues long after the priapism has resolved. Plus if you wait too long and we have to become aggressive with interventions, sticking needles in, that leads to scarring and leaking as well internally. If you have a persistent erection that does not resolve when it should, if it becomes painful, that becomes an emergency and should be seen. And if you delay, if you think it might go away, 3 or 4 or 5 hours later and it doesn't, then you're increasing your risk of having a permanent erection disorder.