So you have just found out that you have a Peyronie’s disease and the doctors told you that there is no cure.
Panic ensues.
Relax… there may not be a cure but there is certainly a lot you can do to help yourself out. Either with doctors help or in the privacy of your own home. There are certain treatments that have shown very positive results, especially when combined!
The world is not over… not yet. Read this guide to proven natural treatments for Peyronie’s disease so you can act as soon as possible.
Ok, now that we got this out of the way we can start. I know just how confusing it can be, browsing the internet for days, going through a lot of conflicting and outdated information, not knowing what to buy, what works and what is a waste of your money and time.
So here is what I’m going to do… In this post I will go through all currently available literature on supplements and other natural treatments for Peyronie’s disease to find out what works and what doesn’t. And by “works” I mean it has been proven by science not only anecdotal reports on some forums.
Natural Treatments for Peyronie’s Disease
So what are the most popular supplements and which have enough research behind them? Most popular supplements for treating Peyronie’s naturally are Coenzyme Q10, L-Arginine, Acetyl-L-Carnitine, Vitamin E and Omega 3. But do they actually help? Are they enough?
While supplements are shown to be somewhat effective, they are usually used in combination with other methods for the best effect. So natural treatment must include more than just supplements!
Use you best judgement and consult with doctor before starting a home treatment!
Let’s start with less effective and work our way up to most effective natural treatments:
7. Vitamin E
What is it?
Vitamin E was for a long time one of the most used supplements regarding to Peyronie’s disease. Maybe it still is. But is there a good reason for that? In the body, it acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals. It also helps to widen blood vessels and keep blood from clotting so this might be another way of being benefitial for treatment of Peyronie’s.
Does it work?
But unfortunately the research does not approve wide usage of this vitamin. »Despite studies showing no significant improvement it remains the most common nonsurgical therapy because of its safety, availability, and low cost.«
However in this study group A took vitamin E along with other medications, and group B did not.
- A = vitamin E + verapamil (injection + iontophoresis) + blueberries + propolis + topical diclofenac
- B = verapamil (injection + iontophoresis) + blueberries + propolis + topical diclofenac
Results were in favour of vitamin E group. In the vitamin E group the effective plaque size reduction was -50.2% whereas in the control group the reduction was -35.8%. Also mean curvature decrease was -12.25° in group A and -6.73° group B. (study)
So it looks like it is beneficial to add vitamin E along with other prescription medications, but it wont do much on its own.
6. L-Arginine
What is it?
It is essential amino acid and one of the building blocks of proteins in the body. It is most known for his role as a precursor of nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide is most known for being vasodilator – it relaxes arterial walls and dilates the blood vessels thus improving the flow of blood. Improved blood flow is thought to be helpful in treatment of Peyronie’s.
Does it work?
There was an animal study done with some positive results. When L-arginine, pentoxifylline, or sildenafil was given individually in the drinking water to rats with a Peyronie’s disease like plaque each treatment resulted in a 80-95% reduction in both plaque size and in the collagen/fibroblast ratio. (study)
However you can not just project that onto human beings. But L-arginine is generaly regarded as safe and has many other health benefits – helping prevent cardiovascular disease and reducing cognitive decline. Nitric oxide is also very important for erections! Besides testosterone it is the nitric oxide that enables erections to happen!
Looks promising enough. Ill add it to the stack.
5. Coenzyme Q10
What is it?
I guess everybody heard of Coenzyme Q10, but not everybody knows what it is. Q10 is found naturally within all of the cells of the human body. It aids mitochondria during energy production (mitochondria serve as cell’s power generators). It has also a role as an antioxidant, protecting the cells from harmful free radicals. As an antioxidant it occurs naturally in some foods such as liver, kidney, whole grains, oily fish and peanuts.
Does it work?
There are several diseases associated with low CQ10, one of them is also Peyronies. Let’s check studies that supports its use. Here is one of them: »In patients with early chronic PD, CoQ(10) therapy leads to plaque size and penile curvature reduction and improves EF.« (study)
Alright, results are positive. It seems it deserves its place in our supplements stack.
4. Acetyl-L-Carnitine
What is it?
Like CQ10 it is also found natturaly in your body. It is an amino acid. It also helps the body with energy production and functions as an antioxidant. The body can convert L-carnitine to acetyl-L-carnitine. L-carnitin is found mostly in animal meats with beef being one of the richest natural sources of carnitine. For treating Peyronie’s it is usually taken ad supplement of Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Does it work?
In the study they actualy compared Tamoxifen (which wasone of the most popular medications for Peyronies at that time, also described in the last part, under »oral treatments«), with supplement acetyl-L-carnitine for the effectivenes in treating Peyronie’s disease. Results are quite surprising.
»These results suggest that acetyl-L-carnitine is significantly more effective and safe than tamoxifen in the therapy of acute and early chronic Peyronie’s disease.« (study)
– 92% of the acetyl-L-carnitine group had reduced pain and the average curvature was reduced from 15.9º to 8.4º
– With tamoxifen, there was no significant reduction of curvature.
In both groups, the plaque size was reduced – by 23% with tamoxifen and by 44% with ALC.
Another one to include in the Peyronie’s stack!
3. Penis Vacuum Pump
What is it?
Yes.. just like the one from the Austin Powers movies. Believe it or not is is actually routinely used in the treatment of Peyronie’s.
Does it work?
This study concluded that “vacuum therapy can improve or stabilize the curvature of PD, is safe to use in all stages of the disease, and might reduce the number of patients going on to surgery.”
I have personally NOT tried them as I have read some scary forum posts that improper use actually caused more harm than good. One forum user said “Having read the forum it seems more people are getting injured than not. Even those following the proper protocol.”
They can even damage a healthy penis let alone the one with Peyronie’s.
While it can be helpful and efficient it can also be dangerous.
2. Penis Straightening Device – Extender
What is it?
Unfortunately supplements probably will not be sufficient on their own. They should be combined with penis straightening device.
How it works: They are generally used for 2 purposes – penis enlargements and curvature correction.
Benefits over surgery:
- It is almost risk free
- The device is really cheap compared to surgery
Does it work?
and scientifically proven to be effective.
»…device indicate that significant (10-45 degrees) improvement in curvatures are achievable« (study)
And also almost every other study I found shows “increased penile length and reduction of penile curvature”.
It is generally required to wear it for at least 3-4 months. Realistically you should expect to gain about one inch in length and improve your curve in few months of consistent use.
I realise that this is easier said than done. I’ve been there. That’s why I now use this german device which you can comfortably wear during sleep!
1. Optimizing Male Hormones (DHT and testosterone)
What is it?
In my experience one of the most important steps in natural treatment of Peyronie’s. We should try to treat the disease at it’s source not merely remove the symptoms. Suboptimal male hormones are one of the reasons for Peyronie’s disease.
Does it work?
I have written extensively about it in my guide on how to fix a curved penis – check it here. See the chapter about DHT optimization.
BONUS READ:
Omega 3: I guess everybody knows what omega 3 is. It is the fatty acid we usually get as fish oil supplements. The two most potent omega-3 fatty acids are known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). It’s health benefits ranges from improving mental health to helping with cardiovascular diseases and everything in between.
But can it help with Peyronie’s disease? A prospective, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study was done to assess the efectivenes of omega 3 for treatment for early stage Peyronie’s. It came to the conclusion that the data did not support a beneficial effect of omega-3 supplementation. (study) So the science says no.
But general health is one of the most important aspects of treating Peyronie’s and that is one reason why you should include omega 3.
Serrapeptase: Serrapeptase is a proteolytic enzyme, which means that it breaks down protein into smaller components. Serrapeptase is a very powerful anti-fibrotic enzyme. It is said it can help many health conditions that are the result of abnormal thickening or scarring of fibrous connective tissue.
Theoretically it could work, but there are no studies done with this substance so I can not put it in the »it works« stack just yet.
Is it enough to treat Peyronie’s with only natural treatments?
Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the case. But many studies showed the best outcomes are usually the ones that combine the supplements, extenders and prescription treatment. With this in mind I will go through some prescription oral medications to see how far science has come in treatment of this debilitating disease.
According to this report from 2013 (report) the only scientifically sensible oral medication appear to be pentoxifylline and possibly the phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors. Pentoxifylline was shown to have significant effect on reducing penile curvature and plaque volume. However by the end of the year 2013 there was new drug released. Xiaflex (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) is now the first FDA-approved medicine to treat men with Peyronie’s disease.
The other less effective options that are commonly used in treatment of Peyronies are Potassium para-aminobenzoate (Potaba®) which has no significant reduction of pain or pre-existing curvature. Colchicine with Mixed results and Further studies needed. And Tamoxifen – effect not significant.
According to urologists, another beneficial thing to improve in Peyronie’s is blood flow to the penis. So we also have PDE5 inhibitors. This is a technical name for products like Cialis, Levitra and Viagra. Animal studies have shown some promise: »long-term continuous administration of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors counteracts the development of a PD-like fibrotic plaque in a rat model«.
But again there are also some cases where use of such medications actually CAUSED Peyronie’s disease so be smart about the use if not necessary.
Since PDE5 inhibitors could be potentially dangerous you might consider improving your erection quality and blood flow naturally. You can get some additional information in this post about natural male enhancement in the section about improving libido and erection quality.
Erections and blood flow are necessary because they supply the penile tissues with fresh oxygenated blood, to prevent fibrosis and collagenous deposits.
Conclusion
Short TL;DR for those that didnt read the whole post.
Supplements that seem to have positive results in Peyronie’s disease home treatment:
– Coenzyme Q10, Acetyl-L-Carnitine, L-Arginine
Those devices seems to have positive results in Peyronie’s disease home treatment:
– Pump, penis extedner (or Peyronie’s devices)
– Optimizing male hormones
Again…just a friendly reminder – It is recommended that you combine natural treatment with doctors treatment for best results.
Now over to you… do you have any other methods that worked for you or are backed by science? Let us know in the comments bellow.