The patient's partner can help apply the techniques, which include gradual development of intimacy and stimulation. Such techniques also can help relieve anxiety when physical impotence is being treated. Drug Therapy Drugs for treating impotence can be taken orally or injected directly into the penis. Oral testosterone can reduce impotence in some men with low levels of natural testosterone. Some observed improvements following their use may be examples of the placebo effect, that is, a change that results simply from the patient's believing that an improvement will occur.
Many men gain potency by injecting drugs into the penis, causing it to become engorged with blood.
Drugs such as papaverine hydrochloride, phentolamine, and prostaglandin E1 widen blood vessels. Nitroglycerin, a muscle relaxant, sometimes can enhance erection when rubbed on the surface of the penis. Research on drugs for treating impotence is expanding rapidly. Patients should ask their doctors about the latest advances. Vacuum Devices Mechanical vacuum devices cause erection by creating a partial vacuum around the penis, which draws blood into the penis, engorging it and expanding it.