New-age treatment corrects disorder’s root cause

Like a lot of young college students, Davis* spent his early 20s burning the candle at both ends. He didn’t have much of a choice. Forced to pay for school himself, Davis chose to work his way through college instead of leaning on student loans.

“I had a part-time job working about 30 hours a week at a shoe store, and I was taking a full load of classes,” Davis explains. “As you might guess, I didn’t get much sleep back then. But when you’re young, you don’t necessarily need a lot of sleep. Or so I thought.”

Davis maintained his hectic pace without issue for about two years. Then, about midway through his junior year, he began to feel sluggish. When the problem persisted, he visited a doctor who told him the cause of his fatigue wasn’t his schedule, it was low testosterone.

“The doctor told me to exercise more and eat better and that would probably take care of it,” Davis says. “And it did – for a while. A couple years later, I had the same problem again. This time, the doctor put me on a testosterone booster.

“I’ve been taking that ever since, and for 25 years, all through my marriage, I never had another problem. Then about a year or two after my divorce, another problem developed. It wasn’t fatigue. It was erectile dysfunction.”

Erectile dysfunction, or ED is the inability to develop and maintain an erection, which is a condition far more common than many realize. In fact, studies show that some form of erectile dysfunction affects more than half of all men during their lifetime.

The likelihood of a dysfunctional episode is even greater among men suffering from hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Smoking and the heavy consumption of alcohol and/or drugs (illicit or prescription) can also cause erectile dysfunction.

Another cause of erectile dysfunction is low testosterone. When Davis first experienced it, he naturally thought that was the cause of his struggle. He soon learned the problem was not a lack of testosterone but a lack of sufficient blood flow to the penis.

“For the past several years, I’ve been seeing a different doctor, and when I went to see him for this, he told me the blood vessels in my penis were clogged,” Davis recalls. “That was the bad news. The good news was he had something that could fix it.”

The cause of Davis’ erectile dysfunction is one that doctors have treated most often with oral medications such as VIAGRA®, CIALIS® and LEVITRA®, all of which can deliver the desired results. So, too, can some surgical procedures.

But there is now a far more promising, nonsurgical, drug-free treatment for erectile dysfunction preferred by many doctors, including Davis’ doctor, David S. Zamikoff, DC, of Natural Healing Arts Medical Center in Bradenton.

Root Cause

The treatment is called GAINSWave® therapy, and it has become the choice of many doctors, because unlike medications, it addresses the root cause of erectile dysfunction, or ED, which is often a lack of proper blood flow to the penis.

“Of the millions of men who struggle to achieve a natural erectile response, approximately 80 percent do so because of poor circulatory issues in which the tiny capillaries in the penis and urogenital area are impaired,” Dr. Zamikoff educates.

“The likelihood of that kind of impairment increases dramatically as men age and plaque builds up in the blood vessels, but oral medications cannot remove the plaque or open those compromised blood vessels to allow for a more regular flow of blood to the penis.

“The one treatment that can do all that and much more is GAINSWave therapy, which is based on the same technology that’s used to break up kidney stones, meaning it uses sound wave technology to do the job.”

Referred to clinically as extracorporeal shock wave therapy, or ESWT, GAINSWave uses rapid pulses of high-frequency acoustic sound waves to break up the plaque and calcium that have built up inside old or damaged blood vessels.

The result is an increase in blood flow through the existing, rejuvenated blood vessels, the creation of new blood vessels and the creation of new nerve tissue that improves sensitivity in the penis, which then improves the quality of the erection.

“It’s the newest and most promising treatment yet for ED,” Dr. Zamikoff says of the FDA-approved GAINSWave procedure, which has been used as a treatment option in Europe for more than 15 years and was approved for use in the United States in 2015.

GAINSWave can also be used to treat Peyronie’s disease, which is what occurs when scar tissue builds up in the penis and causes an abnormal bend or curvature that can impede urination and/or ejaculation.

“By making certain adjustments to the machine’s settings, we can treat fibrous tissue the same way we treat blood vessels and break down the scar tissue that may be causing the irregular shape,” Dr. Zamikoff states. “The result is a straighter, pain-free erection.”

Using a handheld device, GAINSWave treatments are performed in the doctor’s office, where a treatment lasts about 30 minutes. A full course of therapy generally consists of six sessions performed twice a week over the course of three weeks.

“The response in many cases is almost immediate,” Dr. Zamikoff enthuses. “In fact, most patients begin to experience a noticeable difference in the quality of their erections as well as an improvement in sexual performance after just one treatment.

“Another advantage we’ve found is that there are no side effects associated with this treatment. Nor is there any downtime for the patient. Once the procedure is over, the patient can walk out of the office and return to normal activities.”

Remarkable Results

The success rate associated with the GAINSWave technology is exceptional. One study in Europe discovered that the benefits of a 12-treatment course of GAINSWave therapy can last for as long as two years.

Dr. Zamikoff says that more than a year of continuous benefits is the norm for most patients. He also notes that while it’s not necessary, some patients choose to return for once-a-month “maintenance treatments” to ensure sustained benefits.

“This really is the wave of the future for ED treatment because for someone who is young without any medical problems, the success rate is nearly 100 percent,” Dr. Zamikoff adds. “And overall, the success rate is about 75 percent.”

Davis is among those who reported positive results. He says that after just four treatments, he and his girlfriend of about a year both noticed a significant difference in the strength and length of his erections as well as his ability to maintain them.

“Now, I have no trouble getting an erection at all,” Davis reports. “I’m even waking up with an erection every morning. It had been a while since that happened, so I’m doing really well for a 69-year-old guy.

“And that’s all thanks to Dr. Zamikoff. I’ve been with him now for almost 10 years, and I pretty much go to him for all my medical problems because he stays current on all the latest technology.

“That is why I so highly recommend him. He’s on top of everything, he has a great staff that helps him, and everyone there is very nice and professional. You won’t go wrong with Dr. Zamikoff and the staff at Natural Healing Arts. I can promise you that.” ■

© FHCN article by Roy Cummings

Graphic courtesy of GAINSWave

*Patient’s name changed at his request