The pain may be severe and need immediate medical, or resolve once thepenisis soft.
Descriptions range from burning or throbbing to feeling like broken glass.
For example:
These and other symptoms can point a healthcare provider toward the correct diagnosis and treatment.
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Each has tell-tale signs and risk factors that can help differentiate one from the other.
PD can cause pain during erections due to stretching of the shortened membranes.
Depending on the severity of PD, you may havepain during sexor when getting an erection.
Some people with PD may also feel pain when the penis is flaccid (soft).
Priapism
Priapismis an erection that persists for hours without sexual stimulation.
Prolonged ischemic priapism, including stuttering priapism, is considered a medical emergency.
It is triggered by blunt force trauma to the penis during sexual intercourse or aggressive masturbation.
A co-occurring health condition, such asirritable bowel syndrome, is common.
There’s also a tendency for people diagnosed with anxiety or depression to experience CPPS.
Another example is a rare tumor called anepithelioid hemangiomawhich typically causes a painless tumor around the head or neck.
If left untreated, it can cause scarring that affects not only sexual function but urinary function as well.
Penile lichen sclerosus can cause painful erections by exerting increased vascular pressure on stiff, inflexible tissues.
Itching, pain, redness, and swelling are also common.
The persistent dribbling of urine under the foreskin may also contribute by causing long-term tissue injury.
Phimosis
Phimosisoccurs when the foreskin can’t be retracted from the glans of the penis.
It is most common in children but also occurs in uncircumcised adults.
Conditions like penile lichen sclerosus or diabetes can increase the risk of developing this jot down of penile pain.
First-line conservative treatment relies on topical steroid creams and stretching exercises, but surgery may be needed.
Circumcision often is used to address the problem.
Can a Sexually Transmitted Infection Cause Erection Pain?
The first, best step is to allow the penis to return to its normal flaccid state.
When to See a Healthcare Provider
Ischemic priapism is a medical emergency.
Summary
A painful erection can have several causes, some severe.
Possible causes include Peyronie’s disease, a penile fracture, penile tumors, sleep-related painful erection.
Priapism is a medical emergency that can lead to permanent damage and irreversible erectile dysfunction if left untreated.
A painful erection may require diagnosis and treatment by a specialist known as a urologist.
American Urological Association.Managing patients with penile/glans pain: genito-pelvic dysesthesia.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Penile curvature (Peyronie’s disease).
University of California San Francisco Health.Drugs Reported to Cause Priapism.
Harvard Health Publishing.Chronic nonbacterial prostatitis (chronic pelvic pain syndrome).
2023 May 28;164(21):836-840.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.About Verapamil Injections for Treatment of Peyronie’s Disease.
