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Had Lower Back Surgery. No Prolonged Erection. What Could Be The Cause?

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Posted on Thu, 16 May 2013
Question: Have been married forty years to same woman. Our marraige is good and we love each other very much. two months ago i had lower back surgery and lately while i am able to get an erection iam not able to sustain it during intercourse.It is very frustrating to me and i am not sure what to do?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (1 hour later)
Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
Can you please elaborate by what you meant by "not able to sustain it during intercourse"
Is it that you ejaculate early and then you loose the erection?
or Is it that you loose the erection without ejaculation?
Have you ever ejaculated in the recent past - with sex/masturbation?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks and regards,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy
Psychiatrist and Sexologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Srikanth Reddy (29 minutes later)
No Doctor I do not ejaculate prematurely I just loose the erection while engaged in intercourse. My uneducated guesses were 1)still have some pain due to back surgery that causes diminished erection2)Maybe a medication i am currently taking has something to do with it.My wife doesn't panic or put me down she says i may need more time for my back to heal.For me it just frustrates me.
have have been able to ejaculate with limited success in intercourse and masturbation but thats even difficult because my penis doesn't stay firm.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (1 hour later)
Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for giving further details about your problem.
Maintaining an erection is a function of parasympathetic nervous system. This functioning can get impaired due to three most common reasons which are
1) Any type of pain anywhere in the body
2) Trauma and local inflamation of nervous system around your vertebral column.
3) Psychological reasons.
4) Side-effect of medications.

You have stated that its been only 2 months since you have had your surgery and I personally feel that your wife is right in stating that you should give it some time.
Pain is an of set for sex and especially any pain in the lower back will increase the erectile problems. Secondly any inflamation around your operative site will further reduce the sexual strength and drugs are also a major compounding factor.
What you should do:
1) Wait for 1-2 months to resume your routine sexual activity.
2) Ask your neurosurgeon to change your pain medication to a different class as they may be leading to sexual problems.
3) You can use Sildenafil available in the strength of 50 mg as required before the sex, but you should consult a psychiatrist before starting them as they require a few investigations before starting the drug.
4) Try to lead a stress less life. you are lucky to have a good wife.
5) Do regular exercise and have a good diet.
If the problem doesn't resolve then you shold consult a psychiatrist who can help you with sensate focus therapy. Also consider meeting your neurosurgeon who would like to consider any surgical cause for your sexual dysfunction.
My bet is to wait a couple of weeks.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you can close the discussion and rate the answer accordingly.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy

Wish you good health,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Srikanth Reddy

Psychiatrist

Practicing since :2007

Answered : 2770 Questions

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Had Lower Back Surgery. No Prolonged Erection. What Could Be The Cause?

Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
Can you please elaborate by what you meant by "not able to sustain it during intercourse"
Is it that you ejaculate early and then you loose the erection?
or Is it that you loose the erection without ejaculation?
Have you ever ejaculated in the recent past - with sex/masturbation?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks and regards,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy
Psychiatrist and Sexologist