New guidelines to help men get the right help at the right time for erection problems after prostate cancer treatment

We’ve teamed up with Macmillan to publish guidelines that will help health professionals support men who have trouble getting or keeping an erection as a result of their prostate cancer treatment.

This treatment side-effect currently affects 76 per cent of men. But until now, there was nothing available to support health professionals to manage this condition in the best way, leaving many men struggling to recover. We didn’t think this was good enough.

So we’ve published a new guide. The first tells health professionals how to best manage erection problems caused by prostate cancer surgery. It sets out treatment pathways (what to do when) for each case and cover the pros and cons of every treatment option.

The guidelines prompt health professionals to talk to men before treatment about the sexual side effects, and why it’s important to deal with erection problems as soon as possible after they happen. This is because early intervention for erection problems offers men the best chance of making a full recovery and being able to get or keep erections as well as they could before treatment.

These guidelines were written for health professionals, but they’re an important tool for men too. They describe the best possible support and treatment, so men will know what they can ask their doctor or specialist nurse for and when they should ask.

Having access to the right interventions for erection problems after prostate cancer treatment as early as possible makes a real difference to a man’s chances of making a full recovery. So knowing what to ask for is a powerful first step down the road to recovery.

Download the guidelines now: guidelines on managing erection problems caused by prostate cancer surgery.