Extracorporeal shockwave therapy is where short pulses of focussed, very low intensity shock waves are directed at the penis. During shockwave therapy, a wand-like device is placed near different areas of your penis for around 15-30 minutes. It is a painless treatment that causes minor damage to the tissue surrounding your penis, so that during the healing process, new blood vessels are formed and this is believed to increase the blood flow to the penis.
This may result in an improved ability to get and maintain an erection, especially in men with mild or moderate erection problems.
Shockwave therapy requires several sessions, but it can be repeated if necessary.
This is not an approved therapy for erectile dysfunction as more research is required to be done into its effectiveness, as well as any side-effects and complications of this treatment before it can be approved for use in patients. Therefore, it is unlikely to be recommended by doctors as a treatment for erectile dysfunction at this time.
