The Armor Men's Health Show

Bonus Episode: Long Lost Length: Should I Blame Long Covid For My Short Penis?

• Dr. Sandeep Mistry and Donna Lee

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In this segment, Dr. Mistry and Donna Lee answer a question that's on the minds of many listeners: Is "Covid Penis" shrinkage really a thing? Despite anecdotal claims that Covid-19 infections shorten penile length, it is more likely that the seriousness of the illness--not the type of illness--is to blame. Dr. Mistry explains that any long-term or debilitating illness can cause ED if it 1) prevents you from achieving erections for an extended period of time or 2) diverts nutrients/energy away from non-essential bodily functions (like sex/reproduction). When your body fights very hard to stay alive, it can enter a cachetic state where only the most vital survival needs are met. As a result, ED symptoms may be an unanticipated side effect of any serious bout with illness. Because erections help maintain penile length, any time you're not "using it" for an extended period of time, you could be "losing it." To combat this, there are penile traction devices which stretch the penis to prevent shrinkage. Dr. Mistry particularly likes the Restore RX penile traction device. Other treatment options include the use of a vacuum erection device, taking daily Tadalifil or Cialis to promote erections, and/or using the supplement Arterosil to improve blood flow. These interventions, when combined with an anti-inflammatory diet and a healthy lifestyle, can go a long way toward restoring your lost length!

Voted top Men's Health Podcast, Sex Therapy Podcast, and Prostate Cancer Podcast by FeedSpot

Dr. Mistry is a board-certified urologist and has been treating patients in the Austin and Greater Williamson County area since he started his private practice in 2007.

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Email: Armormenshealth@gmail.com
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Speaker 1:

<silence>

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to the Armor Men's Health Hour with Dr. Mystery and Donna Lee.

Speaker 3:

Hello and welcome to the Armor Men's Health Hour. I'm Dr. Mystery , your host here with my co-host, the Incredibly Refreshed Looking Donna Lee . What did

Speaker 4:

I do to deserve that? Well , am I looking especially cute

Speaker 3:

Today? It's a fresh day. <laugh>.

Speaker 4:

Is it a fresh

Speaker 3:

Day? It's a fresh day. I'm a board certified urologist. This is a men's health show. We talk about a number of health topics , uh, a lot of which center on urologic topics from the nipples to the knees. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> , but have lots of different topics that we've covered in the past that range from , um, sleep and cardiovascular issues to peripheral vascular disease and foot issues and orthopedic issues and all sorts of things. We love delivering this show. Uh, the show is sponsored and brought to you by the urology practice that I started in 2007 N A u Urology Specialist. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4:

<affirmative>. You didn't have quite as many gray hairs back then.

Speaker 3:

I did not. I was a young man back then. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , it's been 15 years since we started that practice. Decidedly puts me in mid-career. Ooh ,

Speaker 4:

That's true. I didn't think about that. Are you gonna have a midlife crisis?

Speaker 3:

I've already done that. Okay. <laugh> , thank you very much. <laugh> ,

Speaker 4:

See it in

Speaker 3:

The parking lot? That's correct. <laugh>. <laugh> . And so we see patients , uh, in our clinic. We have four physicians. We have five mid-level providers. We have two pelvic floor physical therapists. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and an incredible desire to take excellent care of you

Speaker 4:

And lots of amazing staff members.

Speaker 3:

Lots of amazing stuff .

Speaker 4:

We found some good ones.

Speaker 3:

Where are our offices? How can people find us?

Speaker 4:

You can find us in Round Rock, north Austin. South Austin and Dripping Springs, Texas. Did you know they wanna rename that to Pound town ?

Speaker 3:

Pound town ? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> . There's a , after Dr . Pound,

Speaker 4:

Dr . Pound, there's an actual pound town in Dripping Springs. So just a little fun fact there for you . Our phone number's (512) 238-0762 and our website is armor men's health.com. You can send your questions and we'll answer them anonymously to armor men's health@gmail.com. So

Speaker 3:

Your questions are really what drive us , uh, on this show. Donna, you have a question for us? We

Speaker 4:

Do. It's very short and sweet and I've heard this and I didn't think it was a thing. And then my husband also wants to know is C O V I D penis, but they use a different word , um, a real thing. So ,

Speaker 3:

Uh , recently there have been , uh, several scientific reports as well as anecdotal kind of reports in the media. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> of a concern of , uh, penile shrinkage after having covid. My

Speaker 4:

Husband's blaming Covid.

Speaker 3:

I will tell you, he , he didn't, he hasn't had covid since he was 16. <laugh>. So , uh, sorry, Michael. The , the question is whether or not being diagnosed with or suffering from COVID can lead to both erectile dysfunction as well as a shortening of the penis and the shrinkage. And I would say that the majority of patients that have reported this were ill from covid, like , like super hospitalized. They got , um, oh , they got intubated and they got really ill. And I will say that any illness that makes you really ill will contribute to ED and to That makes sense. Erectile dysfunction and mm-hmm . If you really had to think about how the body's working, if we had resources to keep things going. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and our erections, although we have a lot of fun with 'em , are really intended for reproduction. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> <laugh> . And if we're really, really sick, our body anthropologically probably doesn't put us in the, this guy needs to reproduce category. Oh ,

Speaker 4:

That makes

Speaker 3:

Sense. And so resources are gonna be taken away. I think he would be very natural to think of somebody who got intubated for two weeks and was in the I C U and very sick from any illness, probably has a higher risk of both developing erectile dysfunction. And when you have erectile dysfunction, very commonly the penis shrinks because if you don't use it, you lose it.

Speaker 4:

Stop saying that. Michael keeps hearing that <laugh> and it's just terrible for my home penis . Well ,

Speaker 3:

Does he doesn't need a partner. That's true.

Speaker 4:

He wants an AU pair . Even though all of our children are in college, <laugh>

Speaker 3:

Don't fall for it. <laugh> , there's a lot of erections that we get because we want them. And then there's a lot of erections that we get just kind of spontaneously throughout the night, early in the morning, sometimes when with stronger urge to urinate. Right . All of those little bitty kind of unintended erections also help maintain the length of the penis. Oh . So when we have, for example, patients that are undergoing prostate surgery, we have them start using a vacuum erection device so that, you know, artificially every day they get a seven minute erection, even though it's done by using a vacuum device. And we have seen anecdotally, and the studies have also kind of supported the fact that it maintains length of the penis. So getting really ill definitely is a contributor to erectile dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction is definitely a contributor to a perception of penile shortening. When you get very sick, you're gonna lose a lot of nutrients. Your body's gonna become, you know, it goes into a state in which it kind of eats itself in a way. It's called the CTIC state. It's when it's your body's fighting so hard to stay alive that a lot of the , uh, internal resources that we use to heal ourselves are being used for your heart and lungs and are gonna be taken away from maintaining your erections and reproduction. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, so you can

Speaker 4:

Get it back, you

Speaker 3:

Can get's you can get erections

Speaker 4:

Back. I was , I was sent a disturbing picture about , um, covid shrinks man's penis. It was like a news story. It says, doctors tell patient that severe vascular damage is irreversible.

Speaker 3:

That's the case. If, if , if you have, if you get really sick mm-hmm . <affirmative> ,

Speaker 4:

Then

Speaker 3:

There's bound to be long-term consequences. Yep . Um, I guess they call it long covid. We're gonna call it short covid <laugh>. Uh , but it , it ,

Speaker 4:

Short penis covid.

Speaker 3:

If you get sick, then the likelihood of ending up with that is higher. So what do we do in the medical? So number one, you have to go to a doctor that takes it seriously.

Speaker 4:

It knows what

Speaker 3:

They're doing. So , so the moment that you have a concern and you're dismissed out of hand mm-hmm. <affirmative> , it's usually because that doctor hasn't heard of it or hasn't had experience with it, but many times 'cause the doctor has no idea how to fix it

Speaker 4:

And it's probably not a urologist.

Speaker 3:

Maybe not. It's

Speaker 4:

Probably their maybe primary care. Maybe.

Speaker 3:

Maybe . Okay . Or even a urologist that doesn't have like a particular interest in helping you get a longer

Speaker 4:

Dose. That would be the worst urologist ever.

Speaker 3:

<laugh>. So, so regular use of a vacuum erection device. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , we like people to use a daily tadalafil or daily Cialis so that they can get more blood flow , uh, into the penis. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , this is a great example of where something like shockwave, which , uh, is, is, is a therapy in which we use ultrasound onto the penis to help kind of rejuvenate the penis by helping your body bring or encouraging your body to bring in growth factors to kind of repair damaged tissue. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , there may be a role for P R P injections in this particular instance.

Speaker 4:

Platelet rich plasma

Speaker 3:

P R P or the P shot mm-hmm. <affirmative> as it's widely known we're doing. Uh, and so these are the kinds of other alternatives. We use lots of supplements. Uh , one of the , our favorite supplements is called artero sil . Uh, we use that , um, because it really helps with , um, fixing the inner lining of blood vessels. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we really wanna work on your nutrition to make sure that you're not taking in a lot of anti-inflammatory, you know, or a lot of inflamm pro-inflammatory foods. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Uh , and so that's some, some areas in which we're gonna start helping you. Not just pills, but also , um, there's a , uh, something called a penile traction device , uh, that have been invented by a number of engineers over the years, predominantly used in Peyronie's disease. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , but it also will help kind of get back some length , uh, will make sure that you don't have a , uh, too big of a fat pad that may need to be lipo sucked or , um, uh, otherwise kind of reduced that pre pubic fat pad, which can cause a buried penis. Maybe get a couple inches there. And so , um, don't just look down and be like, well, I guess that's how it is. There are certainly things that , uh, can be done <laugh> .

Speaker 4:

That's what I keep telling my husband. <laugh> , I guess .

Speaker 3:

Sorry . I guess that's just how it is . It's

Speaker 4:

What it is . I

Speaker 3:

Guess what it's what?

Speaker 4:

It's <laugh> .

Speaker 3:

Oh man. If you're a divorce attorney, <laugh>,

Speaker 4:

When he send said female attraction, tell me more about that. 'cause I visualize the guy, you know, the guy who breaks his leg in the hospital and his legs up in the traction thing. He's got a , I just pictured a little tiny traction thing holding his

Speaker 3:

Penis. These, these devices are amazing. One of the newest ones that we've started using is called Restore rx . R E S T O R E R X . Mm-hmm. <affirmative> . And , and for those of you listening, I I'm not getting like paid. There's no advertisement , uh, for the show. Uh, really just , although that

Speaker 4:

Would be nice.

Speaker 3:

That would be nice. Uh , uh, but really these are just things that we use that help you in terms of what , uh, you know, we , we promote products that we use. So , um, this Restore rx , uh, which I think you can get without a prescription, but I'm not completely sure. There's also Andro penis , A N D R O penis mm-hmm . <affirmative> , Andro penis . It's also another traction device. These things look like something out of a medieval times .

Speaker 4:

It does. I'm looking at it online

Speaker 3:

'cause but the , the tough part is how do you stretch the penis? Like that's what it is . You know ,

Speaker 4:

Can't you just pull it? Why do you have to buy these things?

Speaker 3:

I don't care. <laugh> , you

Speaker 4:

Know , get that hot babysitter involved.

Speaker 3:

Um, we're probably get in trouble for suggesting that au pairs are anything about babysitters.

Speaker 4:

They , they don't live here, they're overseas <laugh> .

Speaker 3:

So , uh, a penile traction device is gonna require constant traction of the flacid penis. And so that's what these devices do. They , uh, help with penile curvature. If you have Peyronie's disease and they help with , um, uh, lengthening of the penis , uh, if that's an issue that you're having. So , uh, certainly , uh, if you're suffering from a decrease in length of penis, whether it be through age or underlying vascular disease or because of Covid or because you've had your prostate removed or because any other number of reasons are you just

Speaker 4:

Cold all the time.

Speaker 3:

<laugh> , it's very, very cold.

Speaker 4:

This one, this website's saying two to four inches. What can a person really expect if they're usually using the right equipment correctly? Uh , consistently

Speaker 3:

One , one and a half centimeters. I think that like

Speaker 4:

One and a half centimeters.

Speaker 3:

I think three , three quarters of an inch is something that you can reasonably expect. I think getting a four inch longer penis using the the device is probably , uh, something that would probably be selling off the shelves if it was true.

Speaker 4:

Correct. And on this website, the very top phone number says sales. So <laugh>, that's probably a problem.

Speaker 3:

<laugh> , but , uh, just because , uh, the promises may seem , um, you know, over the moon mm-hmm . <affirmative> doesn't mean that there isn't a real benefit for it. So , uh, if you're out there suffering from this , uh, kind of condition, we want us to , uh, take care of you. I , Donna , how do people get ahold of us? You

Speaker 4:

Can call us about yours upcoming Penis Traction Equipment at 5 1 2 2 3 8 0 7 6 2 . And remember our website please. It's arm men's health.com. Send your questions to Arm Men's health@gmail.com. They're amazing, they're super insightful and they are helping other people, so that's important. Listen to our podcast wherever you catch your podcast. Thank you, Dr. Mystery .

Speaker 2:

The Armor Men's Health Hour will be right back. If you have questions for Dr. Mystery , email him at Armor men's health@gmail.com.