Sexual health and penis health don’t just depend on a hopefully responsible sexual behavior and protecting yourself from sexually transmitted diseases, but also on eating habits, your general health and especially on your cardiovascular system. The most common problems men have or get with regards to their penis are unfortunately homemade and not caused by accidents. With the right lifestyle, you can avoid many of them and some hint to more severe other diseases.

When should I see a doctor?

In general, paying your doctor a visit if you are unsure if everything is ok with your penis and prostate, is never a bad advice. Unfortunately, many men skip preventive examinations because they may be unpleasant and never visit an urologist. Bad idea, did you know testicular cancer is a disease especially young men under 30 get? Did you know that STD infection rates are steadily rising since many years because many people don’t pay as much attention to them any more since HIV treatment became better over the years? Did you know that smoking enhances the risk of bladder cancer by 3 times?

Most diseases can be cured if they are detected early, so seeing an urologist once too much is definitely better than once too little. No, we don’t want to scare you, but there is no reason to be ashamed or afraid, even a cystoscopy is neither painful, nor does it take longer than just a few seconds. A prostate exam may not be fun, a little unpleasant, but that’s it. There are many horror stories about urology and none of them is true, so be smart and don’t wait too long if your body tells you something may not be ok.

Common symptoms of something being wrong “down below” include pain, bleeding during urination or ejaculation, skin lesions, burning and/or discharge, significant changes in sexual desire, erectile problems.

What’s important for penis health?

The penis mainly consists of a sponge like erectile tissue (corpus cavernosa) and for a hard erection, the blood flow in the penis is essential.  The arteries in the penis are relatively thin, making them an excellent indicator for the overall state of you arteries. Arterial plague and damages, caused by smoking, diabetes, fat food and a generally unhealthy lifestyle often cause erectile problems, long before they cause problems to your heart. For this reason, if you erections get weaker, it’s always recommended to get a full checkup, ECG, blood pressure, cholesterol, ultrasound of the carotid artery.

What’s good for your heart is good for your penis and helps you keep a high testosterone level. Make sure you get enough sleep, don’t smoke, eat less meat and more fruit and vegetables, do sports or at least make sure to take the stairs instead of the elevator, don’t drink too much alcohol, avoid industrial fats, drink water instead of sweet drinks with a lot of sugar, basically all the advice you probably heard multiple times before.

There are no secret foods or supplements keeping your penis healthy, the penis and your libido, stamina and erection strength are more like an indicator of your overall physical and mental health.  Maybe not the answer you wanted to get, but the penis is attached to your body and since its ability to get hard totally depends on the blood vessels in your body, keeping them clean is the best way to preserve sexual power, no matter if you are 25 or 75 years old.

There are also other factors influencing penis health like neurological conditions, hormone imbalances, severe psychological problems or damage done by piercings or specific conditions like a phimosis, but they are less common than the problems caused by the wrong lifestyle.

How to prevent STD infections?

Easy, use a condom and if you don’t use one, make sure both you and your partner have been tested for sexually transmitted diseases before. Even oral sex isn’t safe, some pretty nasty STDs like herpes can be transmitted this way. If you have more than one partner or you are practicing risky things like anal sex, condoms and regular testing are mandatory. Most STDs except herpes and HIV can be treated very well with antibiotics, but untreated they can result in serious problems or even permanent damage. For HPV, also know as genital warts, a vaccination is available, recommend for men and women below the age of 26.

Bottom line: Keeping your penis healthy requires a somewhat healthy way of living, doing the recommended preventive checkups and paying attention to sudden changes in the look and feel of your penis. Don’t try any obscure home remedies if you think there may be a problem, but ask a professinal and get a proper exam.