Can prostate cancer affect a man's erection?

Hi vsg,

There is a section of the treatments database that talks about the surgery involved for prostate cancer. It states that the medical community has made strides in the surgery that result in sparing the nerves that control erection. "Nerve-Sparing Techniques. Surgical procedures have been refined over the years, and many operations for localized low-grade prostate cancer now spare the nerves that control erection." You can read the entire section here.

There is also a great sharepost written by Christopher Lukas called "Is there life after impotence." Christopher explains that "any impotence after treatment of this kind in this area of the body is a physiological problem, not a mental or emotional one."

Hopefully this information will give you something to help ask the questions of your doctor to best manage your care. Please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing!

Vicki M

Hello...

I don't believe prostate cancer itself can cause problem's with a man's erection (maybe if the cancer is very advanced), but most of the treatments have a strong possibility of at least some erectile difficulties occuring.

I have this kind of cancer in my family history, so I've looked into it.  I currently do a set of different exercises to strengthen my erections, some to strengthen the pc muscles and pelvic floor, others to improve the blood flow to the penis, and others to naturally increase testosterone levels...in combination, these have strengthened my erections very much.

I believe that these "erection exercises" can help a man regain erectile function faster after the surgery, but no promises...I wrote about them in my blog yesterday (amongst information on regular use of Viagra to improve blood flow to the genitals after surgery):

The use of Viagra to treat Erectile Dysfunction after a Radical Prostatectomy