Which Vacuum Erection Device (VED)?
This is a great forum where men and often women come for advice, support, encouragement, inspiration or simply to find comfort in such a difficult time in their lives. I have gained a lot from this forum over the last 13 years, particularly after my very complicated surgery and painful and less than complete recovery. Like many, I still suffer from minor incontinence and total ED. We were very determined to re-establish our sex life and for a variety of reasons we decided to opt for VEDs. I have used four different pumps over the years. We feel it may be useful if I summarise the pros and cons of various pumps: I am presenting here some facts as well as my subjective judgement, a starting point for those thinking of using a VED. Although I have very strong views on this matter I am fully aware that it is horses for courses and it would be useful if other members of this forum assess my judgement and post comments.
DetailsVacurect SOMAerect
Cost £200 - £300 £200 - £300
NHS prescribed ? No Yes
No Yes
NHS and FDA Approved No Yes
Manual/Electric Only manual Both
Number and rings 11 sizes 3 sizes
Types of ring Hard plastic Soft silicone
Vacuum cylinders choice No 3 sizes
Principle of operation Penis pulled in Penis inserted in
through small hole the vacuum tube
Cleaning complex process simple
see video provided
My recommendation NO Yes
Personal view: Vacurect was the first pump I bought. I had two problems: During the rehabilitation period after surgery, I suffered from serious incontinence and my penis was so small that I could not even ‘offer’ it to the hole in the ring, made particularly difficult with the penis seriously dripping urine non-stop. Even when I managed, the mixture of the lubricant and urine made the pump very slippery (it has no pumping handle), messy and smelly. So I gave up and my GP prescribed SOMAerect (NHS) which worked well because it does not require your penis to be pulled into the vacuum cylinder through the small hole in the ring. You simply ‘drop’ your penis into the vacuum cylinder, put the end of the pump against the body at the base of the penis and pump; I prefer a battery operated rather than a manual-handle model. The urine simply drips into the bottom of the cylinder and does not interfere with the pumping process. Since I had spent £280 for Vacurect I decided to give it another go. Despite my urine-dripping-penis I did manage to create an erection but just when I thought I had achieved a required size of erection, suddenly my penis became extruciatingly painful, turned blue and I couldn’t remove it from the vacuum cylinder. Since it has no emergency vacuum-release-button, I couldn’t release the painful penis. Somehow, I don’t remember how, I managed to ‘break’ the vacuum – what an experience! This is serious! Needless to say the pump was ceremoniously put into the recycling bin! Also if you suffer from arthritis in your finger/hands, as I do, I strongly recommend you don’t choose this pump as it has no handle for pumping.
I must add that an organisation in South Africa called ‘A Touchy Subject’, which helps prostate cancer survivors, strongly recommends Vacurect, with many accompanying videos. Have a look at the videos showing how to clean the pump; it is complex with many parts. On its website it compares it - unfairly - with the South African manufactured Vacurect with a cheap (£15 - £30) sex-shop pump, with no mention of SOMAerect or any other similar pumps. This to me unethical for a site that is specifically set up to help!
My aim is to help men who wish to use VEDs to re-establish their sex lives. Some members may disagree with my judgement about the best pump to use. I obviously welcome their comments; after all we are all in this together.
Christmas Eve today - have a good Christmas and a Happy New Years. Time seems to shrink as we age - Einstein failed to observe that!
Edited by member 24 Dec 2024 at 19:12
| Reason: Formatting problem with survey table (still not right, working on it!)
'Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.' Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Prize laureate |
User
Which Vacuum Erection Device (VED)?
This is a great forum where men and often women come for advice, support, encouragement, inspiration or simply to find comfort in such a difficult time in their lives. I have gained a lot from this forum over the last 13 years, particularly after my very complicated surgery and painful and less than complete recovery. Like many, I still suffer from minor incontinence and total ED. We were very determined to re-establish our sex life and for a variety of reasons we decided to opt for VEDs. I have used four different pumps over the years. We feel it may be useful if I summarise the pros and cons of various pumps: I am presenting here some facts as well as my subjective judgement, a starting point for those thinking of using a VED. Although I have very strong views on this matter I am fully aware that it is horses for courses and it would be useful if other members of this forum assess my judgement and post comments.
DetailsVacurect SOMAerect
Cost £200 - £300 £200 - £300
NHS prescribed ? No Yes
No Yes
NHS and FDA Approved No Yes
Manual/Electric Only manual Both
Number and rings 11 sizes 3 sizes
Types of ring Hard plastic Soft silicone
Vacuum cylinders choice No 3 sizes
Principle of operation Penis pulled in Penis inserted in
through small hole the vacuum tube
Cleaning complex process simple
see video provided
My recommendation NO Yes
Personal view: Vacurect was the first pump I bought. I had two problems: During the rehabilitation period after surgery, I suffered from serious incontinence and my penis was so small that I could not even ‘offer’ it to the hole in the ring, made particularly difficult with the penis seriously dripping urine non-stop. Even when I managed, the mixture of the lubricant and urine made the pump very slippery (it has no pumping handle), messy and smelly. So I gave up and my GP prescribed SOMAerect (NHS) which worked well because it does not require your penis to be pulled into the vacuum cylinder through the small hole in the ring. You simply ‘drop’ your penis into the vacuum cylinder, put the end of the pump against the body at the base of the penis and pump; I prefer a battery operated rather than a manual-handle model. The urine simply drips into the bottom of the cylinder and does not interfere with the pumping process. Since I had spent £280 for Vacurect I decided to give it another go. Despite my urine-dripping-penis I did manage to create an erection but just when I thought I had achieved a required size of erection, suddenly my penis became extruciatingly painful, turned blue and I couldn’t remove it from the vacuum cylinder. Since it has no emergency vacuum-release-button, I couldn’t release the painful penis. Somehow, I don’t remember how, I managed to ‘break’ the vacuum – what an experience! This is serious! Needless to say the pump was ceremoniously put into the recycling bin! Also if you suffer from arthritis in your finger/hands, as I do, I strongly recommend you don’t choose this pump as it has no handle for pumping.
I must add that an organisation in South Africa called ‘A Touchy Subject’, which helps prostate cancer survivors, strongly recommends Vacurect, with many accompanying videos. Have a look at the videos showing how to clean the pump; it is complex with many parts. On its website it compares it - unfairly - with the South African manufactured Vacurect with a cheap (£15 - £30) sex-shop pump, with no mention of SOMAerect or any other similar pumps. This to me unethical for a site that is specifically set up to help!
My aim is to help men who wish to use VEDs to re-establish their sex lives. Some members may disagree with my judgement about the best pump to use. I obviously welcome their comments; after all we are all in this together.
Christmas Eve today - have a good Christmas and a Happy New Years. Time seems to shrink as we age - Einstein failed to observe that!
Edited by member 24 Dec 2024 at 19:12
| Reason: Formatting problem with survey table (still not right, working on it!)
'Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.' Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Prize laureate |
User
Hi Gee_Baba
Thank you for putting me right. I agree with you that Victoria who runs A Touch Subject has helped many men during their dark days.
My wife had some problems during her menopause and found a solution that has worked for us, even now in our 80s! She has been using natural progesterone for the past 30 years with great success in maintaining her vaginal health, mood swings and high libido.
My wife writes:
A great discovery for us was a particular type of vaginal moisturiser called YES VM. At my age although I use Wellsprings Serenity Natural Progesterone Cream for Women, a plant-based hormone replacement cream, I was beginning have vaginal dryness which was not fun. I kid you not! It is organic, has no side effects and is better than KY jelly which is rather heavy. I am a really allergic and reactive type and if I can tolerate it so will most people. Do have a look.
Before our discovery of this product, because after prostatectomy Pratap’s penis does not receive natural lubrication he had to use water-based lubricant like KY Jelly for our comfort. We found this quite unsatisfactory because either he ended up using too much (for my comfort) which he found too slippery to achieve an orgasm or too little which helped him but not too comfortable for me. But the introduction of YES VM solved the problem I could control the amount of lubricant I insert and he uses none. And by trial and error we have been able to control the level of lubricant to suit both of us, such that it is comfortable for me but not too slippery for him; win win! Another benefit of using this lubricant is that Pratap really likes the feel of my vagina and he says it feels like old times, pun not intended!
PS. The natural progesterone 'Serenity for women' is not 'designed' by large Pharma who have no interest in promoting such a product.
My wife believes that no woman, whatever her age, should have to give up on sex because of vaginal dryness, mood swings and above all loss of libido.
Good luck.
Edited by moderator 29 Dec 2024 at 13:04
| Reason: Links unrelated to prostate cancer
'Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.' Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Prize laureate |
Show Most Thanked Posts
User
A couple of points. I think "A touchy Subject" is Australian and not South African, not that it mattered as to the veracity of their content. I also found their site and content extremely useful and helpful. Particularly, during my dark days post surgery when nothing worked e.g. there was a particular article about using a strap on with my wife then caressing my limp penis, this really was a life saver and I could not overstate the efficacy. I would suggest that those embarking on the journey look at the website and resources from this site. It really was invaluable to myself and wife.
As regards the VED pump, I again beg to differ. Agreed like you, I purchased the Vaccurect pump myself, could not get it to work, don't know if it is due to trying too early or just technique. I spoke to my consultant, and was issued the somaerect, the result was exactly the same. So I dumped both devices and forgot about it.
Fast forward to 15months post surgery, you kindly sent me a video on how to use Somaerect, followed the video, and bingo. However what nagged at me was the speed and the faff that it entailed compared to getting a natural erection. So went back to try the vacurect pump again, presto, got our sex life back on track. I can now get up and running with this bed in less than 10secs. However, sadly my darling wife is at the cusp of menopause and for some reason I could not be bothered with sex anymore..
User
Hi Gee_Baba
Thank you for putting me right. I agree with you that Victoria who runs A Touch Subject has helped many men during their dark days.
My wife had some problems during her menopause and found a solution that has worked for us, even now in our 80s! She has been using natural progesterone for the past 30 years with great success in maintaining her vaginal health, mood swings and high libido.
My wife writes:
A great discovery for us was a particular type of vaginal moisturiser called YES VM. At my age although I use Wellsprings Serenity Natural Progesterone Cream for Women, a plant-based hormone replacement cream, I was beginning have vaginal dryness which was not fun. I kid you not! It is organic, has no side effects and is better than KY jelly which is rather heavy. I am a really allergic and reactive type and if I can tolerate it so will most people. Do have a look.
Before our discovery of this product, because after prostatectomy Pratap’s penis does not receive natural lubrication he had to use water-based lubricant like KY Jelly for our comfort. We found this quite unsatisfactory because either he ended up using too much (for my comfort) which he found too slippery to achieve an orgasm or too little which helped him but not too comfortable for me. But the introduction of YES VM solved the problem I could control the amount of lubricant I insert and he uses none. And by trial and error we have been able to control the level of lubricant to suit both of us, such that it is comfortable for me but not too slippery for him; win win! Another benefit of using this lubricant is that Pratap really likes the feel of my vagina and he says it feels like old times, pun not intended!
PS. The natural progesterone 'Serenity for women' is not 'designed' by large Pharma who have no interest in promoting such a product.
My wife believes that no woman, whatever her age, should have to give up on sex because of vaginal dryness, mood swings and above all loss of libido.
Good luck.
Edited by moderator 29 Dec 2024 at 13:04
| Reason: Links unrelated to prostate cancer
'Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.' Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Prize laureate |
User
User
I use a system from Encore Revive Vacuum Systems (Florida USA). I purchased about 6 years ago after ED diagnosis due to depression meds, only used twice as results were not as I hoped for and I could still achieve penetration sometimes, my wife & I adapted and we both were able to get where we wanted to go.
Then in March of 2023 I was tested with a Gleason score of 9 and in June I had a radical prostatectomy, now in 2024 attempting to get some sexual function back.
Now I use the Revive Vacuum three times a day as therapy and only recently am trying to use the pump for our sexual relations.
The pump makes my penis look impressive but I go flat very quickly (less than 1 minute), and never hard enough for penetration although their are my wife's dryness issues (we are in our 60s) that also effect things.
I think the pumps is a good value and would work if your penis can hold the blood in after pumping, the system I purchased came with a set of 7 rings, I am still working down to the smallest ring but the smallest ring looks a little scary.
I think the best I can hope would be like a condom filled with water, as long as I can keep the blood from leaking out.
I am working with my urologist to see about shots... Luckily my flaccid penis can still achieve an orgasm with a male vibrator.