don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

This essay will inaugurate a series of wellness essays on human body parts, beginning with one of my favorites, the penis. Since this is an equal opportunity, affirmative action website, tomorrow's essay will offer a wellness perspective on the vagina. No, I'm just kidding. While all body parts are important, most do not lend themselves to a wellness perspective or, if they do, I don't want to spend the time figuring out what such perspectives might be. However, there are good reasons why a wellness perspective on the penis seems in order at this time.

According to Chris Steidle, MD, Director of the SeekWellness Sexual Problems Center, "Many men experience sexual problems at some time in their lives and don't know where to turn for expert advice." Well, many men--and women, experience all kinds of problems at some time in their lives (like, every day!) and know not where to turn for advice, at least initially. Problems are part of life and sexual problems are no big deal, at first. When difficulties are unresolved over time and adversely affect quality of life or cause other problems, then expert advice is in order--and sooner rather than later is best. The key in all this is to develop, in advance of need, your capacities for dealing with problems as they arise. This self-analysis may or may not lead to a decision to seek advice. In most cases, we work out our own problems; on a few occasions, it's good to get advice from experts. If you ever need advice on sexual problems, I recommend you familiarize yourself with the factual knowledge AND excellent generic advice on such problems provided by the good Doctor Steidle.

One significant benefit, for males, in reading Dr. Steidle's information at the SeekWellness Men's Sexual Problems Center, is to understand the facts about one of our most treasured organs, the penis. All organs, of course, are equally important, but surely one is more equally important than most of the others, at least for certain of life's little pleasures not to mention a few essential functions, like propagating the species. That organ, of course, would be the penis. Dr. Steidle's site provides invaluable factual information about the penis. In fact, the information is so valuable that it should be made available for men (and interested women but definitely not women who have no interest in penis information whatsoever--we don't want any sexual harassment lawsuits around here, for goodness sakes) even when they are NOT having sexual problems. That is one reason I chose to write about this topic today.

Personally (and I realize that most writers would shy away from getting TOO personal at this point), I found all the information of interest--and much about the organ that I did not know, despite six and a half decades of personal experience. Inasmuch as I consider myself reasonably well informed about anatomy, in general and the nature and functions of this organ, in particular, this suggests that many other males might benefit from a greater familiarity with the material at Dr. Steidle's quite excellent site.

Take the matter of an "inadequate erection," for example. According to Dr. Steidle, an "inadequate erection is probably one of the biggest issues a man confronts." This immediately makes one wonder whom the final arbiter on whether an erection is adequate or not might be. My guess is that such a call has to be made by the possessor of the erection, such as it is, or was. Dr. Steidle does not provide a definition of adequacy, but that's probably because most people would not have any problems deciding whether an erection, theirs or someone else's, is adequate. Or, not adequate.

In any case, Dr. Steidle explains that most men have such problems now and then, but that occasional failures are a long way from erectile dysfunction or impotence, which IS defined ("The persistent failure to develop and maintain erections of sufficient rigidity for penetrative sexual intercourse.") The only wellness perspective I have on this kind of penis problem is to recommend personalized medical attention. Other penis problems of a sexual nature include difficulties with ejaculation and a wide range of mental/emotional difficulties, many of which are exacerbated if indeed not caused by cultural, social and other imprinting of a dysfunctional nature. There is no human alive who, if subjected to what most of us would consider bizarre and repressive reinforcement and mis-education about human sexuality, would not manifest one form of sexual pathology or another. Given the power of so many institutions promoting sexual ignorance buttressed with messages of guilt, shame, repression and the like, the wonder is that anyone, anywhere manages to have ANY positive experiences with ADEQUATE erections. No wonder Garry Shandling got such a laugh when he quipped, "I'm too shy to express my sexual needs except over the phone to people I don't know"--many males could relate! That point of view, I suppose, is part of my wellness perspective on the penis. There's more.

Dr. Steidle advises visitors to his Center to become acquainted with the basics of the male sexual system. The basics are anatomy, physiology, diseases, drugs, diagnosis and treatments--all of which are addressed to some extent at the website. The message is everyone should "become an educated health care consumer, which should help you regardless of the cause or cure for your problem." That, too, is an important wellness perspective that fits well with personal responsibility for your own well-being.

Getting personal again, I was surprised to read of the complexity of the penis. Most men do not think of this organ as a complex body part. Things seem rather simple and most of us like to think that all things are possible, quite naturally, without any need for an advanced degree or special efforts on our part. All this is true, most of the time, most of our lives, if we are fortunate, knock on wood (no pun intended.)

Still, the facts are amazing if elusive. (I believe it was Marlene Dietrich who said, "In America sex is an obsession, in other parts of the world, it is a fact.") Consider Dr. Steidle's description of the anatomy of the penis:

It is comprised primarily of two cylinders of sponge-like vascular tissue that fill with blood to create an erection. Blood is pumped into the penis under great pressure and a series of valves keep it in the penis to maintain the erection. A third cylinder is the urethra, a tube that carries the urine and the ejaculate. The knobby head of the penis is called the glans. Blood flows to the penis by two very small arteries that come from the aorta. These arteries are the same size as the arteries to your finger. The main problem that causes impotence is that the blood vessels become blocked and the blood cannot get to the penis. The other major problem is leakage of blood from the penis into the veins around the penis called a venous leak. This is very common, similar to a hole in a tire. The larger the hole, the more air that needs to be pumped into the tire to keep it hard...The creation of an erection is an extremely complicated cascade of events that requires many different things to happen. There are numerous chemical transmitters involved in this including epinephrine, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, prostaglandins and nitric oxide. The exact mechanism by which erection occurs is still unclear but we do know that the neural input from the brain is extremely important.

Wow. Think about that--and live so as to keep those transmitters transmitting, the arteries clear and the neural inputs inputting, which everyone knows has a lot to do with becoming and staying fit and eating wisely, for starters.

Dr. Steidle's Center also offers facts about ejaculatory disorders, penile enlargement and the effects of disease states and drugs on sexual function. In addition, you will find information about physical exams and treatments for assessing sexual problems. Finally, you can learn about penile implants, penile prostheses and even vacuum erection devices. For those who never had the benefit of an owner's manual on this excellent body part, pursuing a greater familiarity with the science of the subject would be a healthy initiative. It is not necessary to have sexual problems to benefit from replacing ignorance with understanding. It is never too late to learn what should have been discovered in high school, if not sooner. With respect to knowledge about human anatomy in general and this organ in particular, abstinence is NOT the best policy. Abstaining from education is never a good move for those who value healthy sexual functioning as a vital part of a wellness-animated lifestyle.

Be well. Always look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of effective decisions. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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