Regenerative Cell Therapy for ED

In order to create a concentrated dose of your body’s healing and regenerative cells, we will collect a sample of blood from your arm and spin it down to separate out the proteins involved in tissue growth and the blood cells involved in healing after injury. This concentrated dose of the blood’s regenerative components is injected into each of the two erection chambers (corpora cavernosa) of the penis.

The growth factors and healing cells stimulate the formation of new blood vessels and repair the lining of existing blood vessels. Studies show anti-inflammatory, reparative, neuroprotective (helping protect nerves from damage), and neurotrophic (helping nerves grow) effects.

It is also theorized that Regenerative Cell Therapy may increase the production of nitric oxide, which helps relax the muscles and allows more blood to flow into the penis, but this research is in its early stages.

There are a number of studies that published data on the effectiveness of  Regenerative Cell Therapy for erectile dysfunction.

The most significant, and highest quality study, was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2021. It is a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, which is considered the gold standard. At 6 months, 69% of treated men had a significant increase in the quality of their erections (compared to 27% of the men in the placebo group.)

How the study was conducted: Patients were randomly assigned to the treatment or non-treatment group. The physicians conducting the study did not know which patient was in which group. Each patient received either the Regenerative Cell Therapy treatment or a sham treatment, but was unaware of which he was receiving. This eliminated bias from the side of the researchers and patients, and gave a baseline and reference by which to compare the treatment and non-treatment groups.  This methodology is the gold standard for studies and is called a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study.  This study showed significant differences between the treated and non-treated group for erection satisfaction, ability to maintain erection, and safety.

The most dramatic difference between Regenerative Cell Therapy treatment and most of the other non surgical treatments is that, if it proves effective for a patient, he will no longer need to manage his erectile dysfunction. Instead of taking pills, injections or treatments on an ongoing basis, and usually before each time he has sex, his erections will be spontaneous. Or, he may need a less invasive method than he was using previously to get and maintain a good erection.

However, it is important to note that it is still not known how long improvements in erectile function from treatment will last

The current studies tested for Regenerative Cell Therapy are on men with non-severe ED (mild, mild to moderate, or moderate ED), but theorize that in more severe cases, Regenerative Cell Therapy can reduce the severity of the ED.

Most erectile dysfunction is caused by vascular problems. Patients either have a problem getting the blood into the penis (inflow) or keeping it inside the penis (trapping) Learn more about the causes of ED.

The men who are most likely to be successfully treated with Regenerative Cell Therapy are those who have “inflow” problems; those who have decreased blood flow through the arteries into the penis.  

Regenerative Cell Therapy has not been tested on men with erection issues that are primarily neurologic, such as dysfunction caused by prostate surgery. However, studies have shown improved nerve regeneration and increased nitric oxide synthesis with regenerative cell therapy; thus it is possible this treatment may prove to have a positive response on penile nerves, and thus on erectile dysfunction in these men.

Yes. Fortunately, safety is not an issue. There is no evidence of any short or long term negative effects of treatment. No adverse events or side effects were reported during the largest and most important study, discussed above.

The research published shows high safety and low pain measures for Regenerative Cell Therapy recipients.

There are a total of two treatments, which are performed one month apart in our offices. Each treatment lasts for approximately 45 minutes. We follow the published protocol of the study discussed above.

There is no significant, long-term data yet. Results can be seen anywhere from 1 month to 6 months after treatment. It appears that most treatments last at least 1-2 years, but this is subject to individual variation.

We follow the protocol outlined in the Journal of Sexual Medicine study referenced above. This includes using the same FDA-approved centrifuge to concentrate your blood’s healing and regenerative cells. We also follow the treatment protocol and timeline indicated in the study: two injections per treatment are administered one month apart. The study found this treatment to be both safe and effective in men with mild to moderate erectile dysfunction.  

We’ve waited to offer Regenerative Cell Therapy for ED until we felt the evidence for a specific protocol, with specific equipment, was found to be convincingly effective from a science-based perspective.