Oral medications are usually the most often prescribed form of treatment for erectile dysfunction. For most men who have trouble maintaining an erection so that they can successfully have sex, these medications are usually effective and normally cause no side effects.
Male erectile dysfunction medication include products such as sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra, Staxyn), tadalafil (Cialis) and avanafil (Stendra). They reverse erectile dysfunction by amplifying the effects of nitric oxide which is a natural chemical in a man’s body that relaxes muscles located in the penis. When these muscles are relaxed it allows more blood to flow into the penis and results in an erection when a man is sexually stimulated.
While these medications all work in similar ways, each has a slightly different makeup and has minor differences in the way it works. A doctor will consider these factors as well as other medical conditions and possible interactions with other medications when prescribing them.