At Uroshock, we firmly believe that the highest priority is safety. While shockwave therapy has proven to be very safe for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, we also know that it’s not for everyone! Men with certain medical conditions should avoid therapy with Gainswave, shockwaves, or radial wave therapy. Any man who has been told by their personal healthcare provider to avoid these forms of treatment should listen to their advice. Always consult with your personal physician before making important health related decisions.
There is evidence that some forms of shockwaves, and radial waves work by promoting the release of growth factors. With this in mind, an area that has pathology such as infection, or malignancy should not be treated with any form of wave therapy.
Every form of treatment has certain risks, although in general, wave therapy has a nearly impeccable safety history when performing meta-analysis of published studies. We highly recommend that the following types of patients avoid wave therapy.
- Patients who have bleeding disorders. The mechanism of action of radial or shockwaves is to create micro-trauma. Patients with any type of platelet dysfunction or coagulopathy would be at risk for excessive bleeding. We recommend that any patient with a known disorder, or who has a history of excessive bleeding, avoid these forms of treatment.
- Patients who are on blood-thinners. Never stop medication without consulting with your healthcare provider! Patients who do take such medication should avoid wave therapy because of the risk of excessive bleeding.
- Patients who have a known infection of the penis or genitalia should not undergo wave therapy. Since wave therapy promotes growth, there would be a risk of advancement of inflammation if a patient were to undergo wave therapy while actively infected. Once an infection was adequately treated, the patient could then undergo wave therapy.
- Any man that has a malignancy in the vicinity of treatment should not undergo wave therapy. There would be a theoretical risk of advancement of cancer promoted by regenerative processes.
- Patients who have an implant in the vicinity of treatment should avoid shockwave therapy. Specifically patients who have undergone previous implantation of a Urolift should avoid wave therapy because of a risk of dislodgement of the device. Patients who have a penile prosthesis are obviously not suitable candidates for wave therapy.
While treatment is strictly contraindicated in the above group of men, it is also less likely to be successful in another group of men. Men who have had sexual dysfunction for many years are realistically unlikely to have as good of an outcome as men who have just recently developed ED.
The patients who are the most likely to benefit from wave therapy are those who are already responding to pde5-inhibitors like Viagra or Cialis. Many of those patients will find that they are able to rid themselves of having to take medications. Similarly, patients who had previously responded to pills, but are now finding that the pills are less efficacious will find that they are more responsive to Viagra after they undergo wave therapy.
Men who are still able to get erections, but feel that they are not as hard as they used to be, or find themselves with less confidence than they used to have are particularly great candidates for wave therapy. They are likely to respond strongly and require less treatments than men who have had long standing ED.
The obvious advantage of owning your own Uroshock device is that you can retreat yourself anytime you feel that you need a touchup in the future.