Prostate Cancer Causes Sexual Dysfunction
Prostate cancer causes particular symptoms like urinary frequency, urinary retention, or a decrease in the amount and force of urination. This is because the prostate tumor is interfering with the closest organs which are the urethra and the bladder. However, there is an additional symptom which causes men a great deal of shame and frustration. That humiliating symptom is sexual dysfunction, or the in ability to get or maintain an erection.
After the prostate cancer has been diagnosed and a man is undergoing treatment, sexual dysfunction may get even worse. There are two components that result in sexual dysfunction, an emotional component and a physical component. The loss of the desire to have sexual relations sometimes comes during the treatment process because both partners are worried about the larger matter of beating the cancer. Stress, anxiety and depression are common results of a diagnosis of cancer, and these feelings can compound the physical symptoms and make the sexual dysfunction even worse. Although the treatment can be successful, and eradicate the cancer or put it into remission, sexual performance can still be a problem. Specific treatments affect the penis and the testicles in different ways. Sexual dysfunction is a common side effect of most forms of treatment.
Some treatments, like chemotherapy and radiation therapy, only affect sexual functions temporarily. Other treatments, like surgery, can permanently affect a man’s body and make sexual intercourse almost impossible.
A treatment like radical prostatectomy, the complete removal of the prostate and the seminal vesicles, can affect sexual performance because of the incidental removal of the neuromuscular nerve bundles during the operation. The neuromuscular bundle is in an area near the prostate gland and the tumor may have spread into it and need to be removed. The muscles help control the bladder and without them the patient may experience incontinence (the uncontrolled release of urine). But the most important side effect from a radical prostatectomy is that the nerve that controls penile erection can be damaged or removed and no longer functions. This means a man will not be able to get an erection. There is a new procedure called a nerve-sparing prostatectomy which allows the patient to keep those nerves, if possible, so that he can achieve erection after the operation.
Hormone therapy can affect a man’s sex life by impacting his desire for sex and his ability to perform sexually. When the hormone treatment is in drug form, the effects will stop when the drugs are no longer taken. However, if the treatment involves surgery, the effects are permanent. The surgical procedure is called orchiectomy, where the testicles are removed from the scrotum in order to control the production of testosterone. Most men who undergo this procedure experience disinterest in sex and impotence (the inability to get or maintain an erection). Some men choose to get prosthetic silicone sacks put in their scrotum to simulate testicles, but this is only a cosmetic procedure and cannot make an erection occur.
Other treatments like radiation and chemotherapy adversely effect a man’s ability to get an erection, but these side effects are temporary and after the term of treatment has ended, the man will gradually regain the ability to get an erection.
In surgical cases where the nerve controlling penile erection has been spared, or when only the testicles have been removed, men can sometimes still get an erection with the help of drugs like Viagra or Caverject. There is also a procedure called penile implantation. Penile prosthetics are available to men who cannot achieve an erection with drugs, and the doctor has determined their situation is permanent. Men can choose a hydraulic, inflatable prosthesis which allows a man to pump up the implant and to achieve an erection whenever he chooses.
Related Articles