Would £3,000 you spend to give your love life a boost?
That’s what Beefy Botham did to prevent impotence — but experts aren’t convinced
Cricketing legend ian Botham’s bold announcement last week, that he’s had treatment to prevent erectile dysfunction, will have piqued interest among some of the several millions of British men estimated to suffer from it.
erectile dysfunction (eD) — the technical name term for impotence, where a man can’t achieve or maintain an erection — affects 60 per cent of men over the age of 60. Botham hit 60 this year and at the weekend he admitted to having a new type of ‘shockwave’ treatment to keep his love life robust.
Linear shockwave therapy is designed to treat erectile dysfunction caused by poor blood supply which typically occurs as a result of furred-up arteries due to ageing, or factors such as an unhealthy lifestyle, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and raised cholesterol.
the new treatment involves ‘low acoustic’ sound waves, similar to those used in technology to break up gallstones or kidney stones — however, rather than destroying a stone, they’re used to encourage the growth of new blood vessels in erectile tissue.
Botham had a branded form of the treatment known as ‘Vigore’, which is given as one course of four treatments (each 20 minutes long) usually once a week for four weeks.
Botham, who is now an ambassador for Vigore, said he was happy to recommend it: ‘i’m not afraid to tell my mates over 40, or anyone with heart or blood pressure problems, about the benefits of Vigore to future proof their sex lives.’
Vigore ‘can wind the clock back on your sex life,’ he said. ‘it’s simple, painless and a quick course of treatments that is clinically proven to work in most cases and it does so without the nasty side-effects you can get with conventional pills.’
While it may be painless, at £3,000, it is not cheap.
What’s surprising is that Botham has since said he doesn’t actually have erectile dysfunction, but was using it as a preventive measure because he didn’t want to be worrying about it in ten years.
So should all men of a certain age be thinking hard about having the treatment, too?
Linear shockwave therapy is currently only available privately in the Uk. it’s previously been used for treating sports injuries by encouraging the growth of new blood vessels supplying damaged tissue, explains Dr Sherif el Wakil, a cosmetic doctor specialising in ‘non-surgical sexual rejuvenation’ who treated Botham.
‘But the version of the treatment for sport injuries was more focused and involved treating one area — now we use more sophisticated technology and give multiple shocks to the entire length of the penis, encouraging the growth of new blood vessels,’ says Dr Wakil. ‘We are trying to wind back the clock and rejuvenate the tissue, increasing blood flow to the penis.’
Dr WakiL adds that the treatment doesn’t work as a preventative treatment — as Botham suggests — in that it won’t stop younger men without erectile dysfunction getting it later on, but he says it may help older men with an existing problem and prevent it getting worse.
He says the treatment is most useful for erectile dysfunction caused by a problem with the blood supply to the penis, although it can also be useful for men who’ve had prostate surgery and suffered nerve damage as it can promote blood flow.
‘i have men of all ages come to see me about shockwave treatment — one was 82. Obviously the treatment can’t give these men back the type of erections they had in their 20s because tissues and blood flow have aged. But what it might do is restore enough blood supply for drugs like Viagra to work for them again.
‘there are also lots of men who don’t want to be taking erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra every time they want to have sex and prefer to have a treatment like this, as well as those for whom drugs don’t work.’ He says it won’t help men whose problems have been caused by low testosterone as they need hormone therapy.
‘this is a good treatment for vascular eD; there are no reported side-effects, it’s painless and can be done in four 20 minute sessions — and patients go straight into work afterwards.’
as to how long the effects of shockwave therapy last, Dr Wakil says studies show 91.7 per cent of men say it still works after 12 months — but admits the trial data isn’t there to prove it lasts any longer than that at the moment.
However, critics point out that neither is there any evidence that it is safe in the long term. and not all experts are convinced by the therapy.
Professor Mike kirby, of the Prostate centre in London, an expert on prostate problems, says the treatment is ‘very low down’ on the list of treatments he would recommend for men suffering with erectile dysfunction.
‘i don’t think the evidence is there on its effectiveness yet. there’s some evidence that it works, but i’d only consider it for someone if lifestyle advice, drug treatments and injections into the penis fail,’ says Professor kirby, who is visiting professor to the Faculty of Health and Human Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire.
Dr David edwards, a gP in chipping norton and past president of the British Society for Sexual Medicine, says although linear shock wave therapy is an exciting treatment for erectile dysfunction caused by blood supply problems, evidence is needed on its long-term effectiveness and safety before it’s likely to become available on the nHS.
‘i’d say it’s very important men are medically assessed before having treatment to check for other causes,’ says Dr edwards. ‘it’s a golden opportunity to diagnose underlying causes such as hormone problems, heart disease and diabetes — the latter can cause impotence because it damages nerve supply and blood supply to the penis.
‘Furthermore the studies that have been done are very small — most involving only about 50 people — so the evidence isn’t as robust as it is for drugs such as Viagra, which increase blood supply to the penis,’ he adds.
‘these drugs increase blood flow by inhibiting an enzyme and are the second most studied drug in the world after the contraceptive pill, so there’s lots of high-quality evidence that they work and that they’re safe.’
Dr edwards adds that Viagratype drugs are also now very cheap — generic versions of Viagra cost just 30p, compared to £8 a tablet when the pills first came onto the market in the nineties, and are now more widely prescribed.
‘Drugs don’t work for everyone, but there are other treatments that can be prescribed including injections into the penis to increase blood flow or using a vacuum pump — the latter consists of a clear plastic tube that’s placed over the penis and is connected to a pump, which creates a vacuum to draw blood into the penis.’
SHOckWaVe treatment may be useful to men for whom medication doesn’t work however, but it’s expensive,’ says Dr edwards.
‘Some men might prefer a one-off treatment like this — but the trouble is we don’t know how long the effects will last at the moment.
‘My own view is that if a man wants to prevent erectile dysfunction, the best way may be following lifestyle advice to reduce blood pressure, weight and cholesterol and take more exercise.
‘But failing that, a low daily dose of drugs like Viagra may work as a preventative measure — some gPs will prescribe it in this way on private prescription.’
Dr geoff Hackett, a sexual medicine specialist at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, says erectile dysfunction becomes ‘almost inevitable as you get older’ and agrees there should be more emphasis on prevention.
‘Viagra only works for 70 per cent of men who use it and 50 per cent of diabetics so the concept of prevention is an important one.
‘the number of people affected is set to increase even more as the population ages and these men and their partners still want a sex life.’