When sexual intercourse “hurts” him: what are the causes and possible remedies

Sexual intercourse can also be painful for men. At the origin there is always an organic disorder that must be investigated and treated. This happens when the subject suffers for example from phimosis. A pathology that causes severe pain during erectionand caused by the narrowing of the foreskin, that is the flap of skin that covers the glans penis, preventing it from sliding – explains Alessandro Palmieri, associate professor of urology at the Federico II University of Naples and president of the Italian Society of Andrology (Sia) -. The defect is corrected by performing circumcision or by plasticizing the foreskin.

Lichen and balanitis

If sexual intercourse hurts, it could be genital lichen, an inflammatory skin disease that manifests itself with whitish lesions at the glans penis and foreskin, which tend not to retract anymore. Often underestimated, the symptoms are relieved with ointments or circumcision in the most severe stages Palmieri continues. Balanitis, a common inflammation of the extremity of the penis, mainly due to sexually transmitted bacterial or fungal infections (and favored by poor hygiene) or to forms of allergy or intolerance to detergent products, also affects the quality of sexual life. Another cause of male sexual pain can be Peyronie’s disease, characterized by the presence of fibrous tissue nodules on palpation of the penis, which worsen its elasticity to the point that the penis curves rather than expands upon erection. It concerns five percent of the cases seen by specialists, an underestimated figure because there is so much submerged: action is taken with shock waves.

Erectile dysfunction

Sexual malaise can also have to do with painful ejaculation. A very common ailment from puberty to age 50, due to phenomena of inflammation of the prostate that have nothing to do with the other affections of the prostate of the elderly – points out the specialist -. In this case it is generally prescribed an anti-inflammatory or shock wave treatment. Diabetes, hypertension and prostate cancer seriously affect sexual activity.

Diabetes, hypertension and prostate cancer

The three most frequent causes of erectile dysfunction

, which affects about 15 percent of fifties, 30 of sixty-year-olds and almost half of the over-70s, specifies Palmieri. Long-lasting diabetes and hypertension – she explains – ruin the nervous and vascular systems. If the blood struggles to get to the penis, the organ cannot fill and cannot stiffen from an erection. The same drugs used to control blood pressure help reduce erectile potency. The solution? Oral therapies, in water-soluble pills or thin films, with no contraindications for heart patients, the expert replies. As for the risk of impotence following prostate cancer operations, today, thanks to robotic surgery, the problem affects only a limited number of patients.

Prolonged use of drugs, alcohol and anabolics

Another problem is the prolonged use of drugs that impairs nerve functions damaging, in addition to the sense organs, also the sexual stimulation of the penis stresses Palmieri. Alcohol does the same thing, albeit in a more subdued way. And anabolic steroids, which circulate on the black market and on the internet, used to build muscle and increase physical endurance, cause testicular and prostate atrophy with consequent problems of sexual impotence closes the andrologist.