Though oral medication can be an appropriate, effective treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED), the team at Gentle Giant Care LLC discourages using these medications to enhance your sexual performance if you don’t have ED. While medications such as sildenafil (Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis) may seem like a simple solution, they can cause unexpected and serious complications. If you take erectile dysfunction medication recreationally, it can interact dangerously with other substances. Ironically, doing so can also cause a decline in your sexual performance. You may become psychologically dependent on the medication and find you can’t confidently achieve an erection without taking a pill first, leading to performance anxiety, a common cause of ED. In general, shockwave therapy uses shockwaves which are single pulses of energy that travel faster than the speed of sound to stimulate blood flow to the affected area. These shockwaves create new blood vessels, through a process called neovascularization. This process is used to treat conditions like: Heart disease Kidney stones Joint inflammation Blood flow is vital for achieving and maintaining an erection. When healthy, arteries near your penis open wider when you’re sexually aroused, but when you struggle with erectile dysfunction (ED) or impotence, they may not be able to widen correctly. Over the last decade, using low-frequency shockwaves has been shown to be effective in treating erectile dysfunction and stimulating blood flow to the penis.