I’m a female urologist — here’s how I get men to talk about their erections

Health

By Andrew Court

She’s taking a soft approach to a hard issue.

A female urologist says she’s found the perfect way to get men to talk about their erections — and while it may seem deceptively simple, it’s surprisingly effective in helping flaccid fellas get some stiffness back.

Dr. Rachel Rubin, a urologist with fellowship training in sexual medicine, shared her advice in an online talk titled “The Easy Way to Talk About Penises,” which was posted to Medscape on Friday.

The Washington, D.C. doc admitted many medics found it difficult to talk to patients about penises, despite their professional training.

“It doesn’t come naturally for many of us,” Rubin declared. “If a 20-year-old comes in to my office with his 85-year-old grandfather and they both say their penises aren’t working, how do you figure out what’s going on? Do they even have the same thing wrong with them?”

The urologist said she uses the Erection Hardness Score (EHS), described by the National Institutes of Health as a “simple, validated, semi-quantitative, self-reported tool that scores erection hardness on a 4-point scale.”

The tool was developed back in 1998 by a team of urologists looking into the effects of the then-newly released drug, Viagra.

Rubin attached a visual of the four-point score for viewers at home, before explaining what each of the four points meant.

“A ‘1’ is no erection at all,” she described. “A ‘2’ is when it gets harder and larger, but it’s not going to penetrate. A ‘3’ will penetrate, but it’s pretty wobbly. A ‘4’ is that perfect cucumber–porn star erection that everyone is seeking.”

The doc declared that she has her male patients “talk in numbers” in order to effectively described their erection.

“I have the patient tell me a story,” she said. “They may say, ‘When I wake up in the morning, I’m at a 2. When I stimulate myself, I can get up to a 3. When I’m with my partner, sometimes I can get up to a 4.’”

If one of her patients is unable to reach optimal erection, Rubin prescribes treatments depending on their specific situation. These can include lifestyle changes and sex therapy, as well as testosterone or Viagra.

She then asks them to return to her practice to give an update to see if their numbers on the four-point scale have changed.

“I have an objective measure that shows me how the treatment is affecting their erections,” she declared.

Erectile dysfunction impacts 40% of men by the time they are 40 and 70% of men who are 70, according to Cleveland Clinic. Over 50% of men will suffer from some kind of ED.