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Penis health: Identify and prevent problems

What conditions affect penis health and function?

Problems related to sexual function, sexuality activity and penis health include:

  • Erectile dysfunction, the inability to get and keep an erection firm enough for sex
  • Ejaculation problems, including the inability to ejaculate, premature ejaculation, delayed ejaculation, painful ejaculation, reduced ejaculation or retrograde ejaculation, when semen enters the bladder instead of emerging through the penis
  • Anorgasmia, the inability to achieve an orgasm despite adequate stimulation
  • Decreased libido, a reduced desire for sex
  • Sexually transmitted infections — including genital warts, gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and genital herpes — that can cause painful urination, penis discharge, and sores or blisters on the penis or in the genital area
  • Yeast infection, which can cause inflammation of the head of the penis (balanitis), a reddish rash, white patches on the penis, itching or burning, and a white discharge
  • Peyronie's disease, a chronic condition that involves the development of abnormal scar tissue inside the penis, often resulting in bent or painful erections
  • Penile fracture, rupture during an erection of the fibrous, tubelike tissue in the penis, usually caused by an erect penis forcefully striking the female pelvis during sex
  • Priapism, a persistent and usually painful erection that isn't caused by sexual stimulation or arousal
  • Phimosis, a condition in which the foreskin of an uncircumcised penis can't be retracted from the penis head, causing painful urination and erections
  • Paraphimosis, a condition in which the foreskin can't be returned to its normal position after being retracted, causing painful swelling of the penis and impaired blood flow
  • Penile cancer, which may begin as a blister on the foreskin, head or shaft of the penis and then become a wartlike growth that discharges watery pus

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