Verapamil Peyronie's Treatment
Verapamil Peyronie's treatments have shown some promising success rate. The intimate nature of the treatment and the potentially high treatment cost does keep some men away from trying Verapamil injections for Peyronie's disease.
In this article, I will explain what Verapamil injection treatment involves, the benefits, risk and treatment results with references to scientific studies as applicable.
What Is Verapamil?
Verapamil is calcium channel blocker. It blocks calcium and hence relaxes and widens the blood vessels so the heart does not have to pump as hard. Verapamil is approved (by FDA) to treat high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat.
Verapamil is available as tablets, gel / cream and injections. Verapamil injections and Verapamil gel (topical Verapamil) have been used to treat Peyronie's patients.
How Does Verapamil Peyronie's Treatment Work?
Verapamil injections for Peyronie's may prevent scar formation and increase breakdown of collagen in the existing scar tissues.
Only professional healthcare workers (ideally a doctor) should perform Verapamil Peyronie's treatments. The Verapamil is injected directly into the penis plaque. Small needle is used to inject the Verapamil into number of locations on the penis (multiple puncture technique).
The Verapamil injections for Peyronie's are done every 2 weeks for up to maximum 6 months at a time.
More than one treatment cycle may be needed but adequate time must pass before starting another round of Peyronie's Verapamil injection treatment.
What Are The Benefits Of Verapamil Injection?
Verapamil shots deliver the medication directly to the plaque, hence less affect on the rest of your body.
What Are The Downsides
Of Verapamil Injections For Peyronie's?
Many Peyronie's patients find injection treatments difficult experience. Some find them stressful, others embarrassing and / or painful.
Verapamil Peyronie's treatment is also expensive treatment option. There are generics versions available that help getting the medication cost down, but you still need professional appointments. This means the treatment cost can run into thousands of dollars.
If you are considering Verapamil Peyronie's treatment, then you might want to start by checking if your public healthcare, or health insurance provider, covers some or all of the cost involved.
What Are The Verapamil Side Effects?
Side effects form Verapamil injections are generally considered mild but possible side effects include nausea, headache, lightheadedness, bruising and temporary soreness or pain in the treated area.
Is There Any Health
Risk Involved In Verapamil Peyronie's Treatment?
There is always some level of risk involved when injecting any drug into your body. First, there is a risk of infection, but Verapamil should be injected slowly to reduce the chance of complications.
In rare cases, Verapamil injections can cause hypotension, slow the heart rate or damage the liver. It is therefore advised to give Verapamil shots under continuous electrocardiographic and blood pressure monitoring. This is why only professional healthcare workers (ideally a doctor) should perform Verapamil injections.
Verapamil is not recommended for men with low blood pressure or slow heart rate, while caution is advised when used for elderly patients.
The Results Of Using Verapamil Injection For Peyronie's
There are indications that Verapamil injections may reduce penile curvature, soften the plaque and improve erectile function. There are some studies that support the Peyronie's Verapamil success rate stories, but like with any other Peyronie's treatment, Verapamil may work for some Peyronie's patients but not all.
The feedback on Peyronie's Forums show very mixed opinions where Verapamil injections are concerned.
Dr. Levine, one of the best known Peyronie's specialists in the world today, has used Verapamil injections with good success in the past (50-60% of men have had at least 10 degree measured reduction of curvature).
Scientific Support For Verapamil Peyronie's Treatment
This Verapamil injection study from 1997 evaluated the response to the treatment through subjective and objective measurements and concluded quite promising Peyronie's Verapamil success rate:
“Verapamil injection therapy resulted in a reduction of pain in 97% of the patients, an improvement in sexual function in 72%, a reduction of deformity in 86%, an improvement in distal rigidity in 93% and an objective reduction of curvature in 54%. Further studies are required to determine the effectiveness of this nontoxic, inexpensive, nonsurgical approach to Peyronie's disease” (J Urol. 1997
)
Another Verapamil injection study, this one from 2002 concluded:
“The multicenter international experience with intralesional verapamil injection suggests that the majority of men with PD that receive treatment demonstrate durable reduction in pain, decrease in curvature, and improved sexual function” ( International Journal of Impotence Research
They go as far as stating that:
“Thus, intralesional verapamil treatment should be considered a first-line treatment in the great majority of patients presenting with PD”
While this study conducted between January 2009 to December 2012 concluded that ILVI (intralesional Verapamil injection):
“lead to a potentially clinically meaningful and statistically significant percent reduction in penile curvature deformity” (ICSM 2015
There are also studies available that show promising result of using Verapamil injections in conjunction with other Peyronie's treatments, like with Acetyl-L-Carnitine (oral Peyronie's treatment) or Traction Device.
The above studies indicate promising Peyronie's Verapamil success rate but it is important to bear in mind the scientific limitation when performing Peyronie's studies.
Like the review of Peyronie's injection studies published in 2007 points out, the four Verapamil injections studies they found all showed positive results.
They then evaluated them using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine criteria, which ranks studies from strongest strength of evidence (level 1) to weakest (level 5). Of the Verapamil Peyronie's treatment studies evaluated, only one was level 2, the remaining three were all of level 4 quality (European Urology 2007 ).
Since then this study evaluated the effect of Verapamil compared to Pentoxifylline in Peyronie's disease. Their conclusion was that:
“there was no significant difference between two groups using verapamil or pentoxifylline, but there was a significant improvement in combination therapy group. Due to our results we propose that combination therapy can improve results and should be considered as a choice in treatment of Peyronie's disease” (Glob J Health Sci. 2014 Sept
My Personal Experience
And Opinion Of Using Peyronie's Verapamil Injections
I do not have personal experience of using Verapamil shots for my Peyronie's disease.
I must admit I'm not sure if I would try Verapamil Peyronie's treatment or not. I like the idea of delivering the medication directly to the plaque and I like the potential promising Peyronie's Verapamil success rate.
On the other hand, I can imagine this form of treatment to be somewhat uncomfortable experience, i.e. regular invasion into your very personal space. The negative feedback on some on-line forums from men with Peyronie's is also rather off-putting. However, you should take those statements with caution, because their situations might differ from yours.
Then there is the cost. Verapamil injection treatment is an expensive treatment option, i.e. if your public healthcare or health insurance does not cover / participate in the cost involved.
Nevertheless, I do like the idea of fighting the Peyronie's disease from as many directions as possible and as soon as possible. And I do trust Dr. Levine judgment.
Dr. Levine, one of the best-known Peyronie's specialists in the world today, recommends Three Approach Nonsurgical Treatments for his patients that include the use of Pentoxifylline and L-Arginine in conjunction with Verapamil injections and the use of penis traction device.
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