Erectile dysfunction advertisements are focusing on younger males. But many don’t want the meds, specialists say

Dr. Jeff Campbell isn’t any fan of on-line advertisements for erectile dysfunction (ED) medicine focusing on younger males. 

“These internet sites that are basically advertising a product, which is usually medication or sometimes, a service, I think make men really question their own function,” said Campbell, a urologist at St. Joseph’s Health Care in London, Ont.

Euphemistic ads for ED medication are as old as the internet, but in recent years, direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical companies are using memes and unmistakable messaging to reach young men concerned about their sexual health on social media. The ads often tout prescription drugs as the solution for ED, a persistent inability to achieve and maintain an erection for sexual activity, but doctors caution young men often only need medication after other measures — like diet and exercise — haven’t improved sexual health and performance.

“I think a lot of the ads are looking to treat ‘desperate men’ who are looking for anything to try to improve relationships or self-esteem or sexual function,” Campbell said.

Psychogenic factors at play

When it comes to connecting patients with medication, University of British Columbia urologist Dr. Ryan Flannigan says direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical companies can help reduce barriers as younger men can often grapple with shame.

“I think that creates a very convenient point of access for men, particularly young men,” he said.

A 2021 study in the U.S. found 14 per cent of men under 40 experience ED, with 11.3 per cent experiencing mild ED and 2.9 per cent reporting moderate-to-severe symptoms. 

Still, Flannigan says these services can sometimes offer care and treatments in “eventualities that basically do not want therapies,” notably when ED is pushed by psychological elements or life-style habits.

“You’re kind of leveraging people’s vulnerabilities and feelings of insecurity to kind of push a product,” Flannigan mentioned.

CBC reached out to direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical corporations Rocky Health Inc, Felix Health and Phoenix for remark, which promote on social media, however didn’t obtain a response in time for publication. 

According to a 2025 narrative review, ED in youthful males can stem from efficiency nervousness and relationship points, in addition to watching porn or utilizing medicine. 

Campbell says youthful males usually don’t acknowledge the affect of recent relationships, earlier sexual trauma, or work stress on sexual efficiency.

“They usually present thinking something is wrong with their penis.”

But he notes some circumstances of ED in youthful males can be physiological, like poor blood circulation or hormonal deficiencies. It can be widespread in males with diabetes. 

He provides ED in males below the age of fifty with no clear trigger for the situation could possibly be an indication of a cardiovascular subject. 

“It can predate cardiac events or heart attack by about two to three years and it’s considered the canary in the coal mine, so to speak.”

As such, Campbell recommends consulting with a medical practitioner earlier than attempting therapies pushed on-line.

Strategic course of medicine

Dr. Dean Elterman, a Toronto, Ont.-based urology surgeon, says he usually affords reassurance to youthful males and referrals to psychological or sexual remedy earlier than suggesting quick programs of low-dose PDE-5 inhibitors like sildenafil — offered as Viagra — or tadalafil — offered as Cialis. 

For most males, PDE-5 inhibitors like sildenafil and tadalafil are prescribed to be taken when wanted, often earlier than sexual exercise. But physiological elements have a tendency to wish longer-term use, Elterman says.

“If a young healthy man were to take one of these medications … and don’t have contraindications or medications that will mix badly with it, they can, and it will improve their erections.”

Elterman says whereas he is not in opposition to non-medicinal choices like natural dietary supplements, he cautions in opposition to buying such merchandise on the web.

“There is certainly a placebo effect to many of these,” he mentioned.

“If you’re getting something over the internet, you don’t know what the ingredients are. You may be subjecting yourself to something that could potentially be a bit harmful to you.”

Lifestyle adjustments as a substitute can have a optimistic affect on managing ED, Elterman provides, together with decreasing smoking, bettering sleep and dietary habits, in addition to exercising often. 

Risk of dependency

Campbell says continually counting on medicine to attain and preserve an erection will be dangerous — particularly for younger males — as a result of it will possibly result in dependency.

“If you take a couple of pills in your 20s and you have this great erection with it, you have this expectation of how things should continue, and then it sometimes affects the psychological impact of spontaneous sex,” he said.

“Now you assume so as to carry out, you want these tablets, which you most likely by no means wanted within the first place.”

Elterman says he sometimes prescribes short courses of PDE-5 inhibitors to “help with confidence.”

“On the one hand, it could reduce performance anxiety if taken on occasion,” he said.

“On the other hand, if you become almost dependent upon it, like a crutch, you’re really not addressing some of those underlying psychological or biological reasons why you’re having erectile dysfunction.”

PDE-5 inhibitors additionally include different dangers — together with complications, nausea and dizziness, in addition to extra critical issues like elevated cardiovascular dangers, particularly for individuals who have pre-existing coronary heart situations. 

ED doesn’t have to be a supply of disgrace

Elterman says it’s vital to keep in mind that ED is a treatable situation. 

“We have very good treatments that are available,” he mentioned. “They’re safe and effective.”

Campbell says he sees younger males tie their sense of masculinity to their capacity to take care of an erection, when the fact is that fluctuating sexual perform is regular for males of all ages.

“It’s just something that’s not talked about,” he mentioned. 

“Most men are very reassured when I actually tell them how common it is and how normal it is, and that they realize that they’re not kind of alone.”