Low-intensity sound waves have been known to increase blood flow to the heart by stimulating blood vessel growth. The researchers suspect that these waves may increase blood flow to the penis.
In one study, participants were given extracorporeal shock therapy in a much less intense than in the treatment of kidney stones. The average age of men in this study was 61 years old. Participants underwent 12 shock treatments for nine weeks. One month after the last treatment, the participants started taking the erectile dysfunction drug.
The results showed that the patients continue to experience improvement up to 2 months after treatment is stopped and nearly 30 percent of them regain their sexual function without the need to use drugs. This therapy is still considered safe because of men reporting no pain or other disorders during treatment.
In an article published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, October 18, 2011, investigators reported that eight men could achieve normal sexual function. On average, patients begin to see benefits after three weeks of treatment.
"For many men, this means the difference between being able and unable to penetrate into the vagina," said researcher Ilan Gruenwald, director of neuro-urology unit at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel as quoted by LiveScience, Tuesday (11/02/2011)
These findings suggest that therapeutic sound waves can be used to treat patients with erectile dysfunction who do not respond to conventional therapy. Nevertheless, this research is still considered small because it only involved 29 men and the result could have been caused by the placebo effect.
The researchers suggest to conduct further studies to validate these findings. Some experts still doubt this method and its application in a real medical treatment.
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