Health Topic

Penis Disorders

Penis disorders can cause pain and affect a man's sexual function and fertility. Read about the types of problems, including symptoms and treatments.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: Penile disorders

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Penis Disorders

Problems with the penis can cause pain and affect a man's sexual function and fertility. Penis disorders include:

  • Erectile dysfunction - inability to get or keep an erection
  • Priapism - a painful erection that does not go away
  • Peyronie's disease - bending of the penis during an erection due to a hard lump called a plaque
  • Balanitis - inflammation of the skin covering the head of the penis, most often in men and boys who have not been circumcised
  • Penile cancer - a rare form of cancer, highly curable when caught early

It sits within Men, Sexual Health Issues and Male Reproductive System.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Penis Disorders

401 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

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Diagnosis and Tests

Treatments and Therapies

Prevention and Risk Factors

Living With

Related Issues

Statistics and Research

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Penile Diseases. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Penis Disorders, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.