Vacuum Pumping 101

Dear Perforeal and larslaukanen,

Thanks a lot for your replies. I pumped this morning 10 minutes in my bed when my wife took her breakfast. Then I jelq 7 minutes in the bathroom and I took a shower to relax. Maybe I am too enthusiastic, but it seems I am starting something new in my life, with a target (not really defined), but definitively, I feel very good and this is due that for the first time, I can share some very personal impression with a community of men having the same preoccupations.

Greetings from Switzerland.

klormand,

That’s how I felt when I first began PE and found these forums. It’s like being able to take control of your dick size and being able to do something about it. This community of men has been a place where I’ve been able to be the most honest about the most personal aspects of my life and be supported.

Good luck to you.
Peforeal

Kevin, you’re welcome. I’m sure you’ll eventually contribute back. Just go slow and don’t injure yourself in your enthusiasm.

ll

I don’t use a pump for PE, but rather to produce an erection for sex due to ED (severe venous leak). Unfortunately, there is not much help to be had on the ED forums as most folks use other therapies there.

Anyway, I’ve been using a pump successfully for almost a year, but have recently been having persistent bouts of pettechia/bruising on the front left portion of the penis head. My device is an FDA approved one with a vaccuum limit of 10 HG (don’t think I get close to it) and a release button. I go very slow with the pressure increases, and do lots of double pumping (pump and release pressure, pump, etc.). However, no matter what, I cannot produce an erection without the pettechia/bruising. Generally, this goes away in about 2 days.

I do often take viagra with it, which gives me a bit of head start before going in, but I still get the side effects. With the viagra, it takes 5-10 minutes to produce and erection, without it - it’s more like 15-20 minutes (and more side effects). There is a very big size difference between my flaccid and erect penis and/or my penis just leaks a lot of the blood drawn in.

The weird thing is before this I pumped faster/more aggressively, but never got pettechia, but did get a darkening shaft, general irritation and some doughnuts. Now, I just get the pettechia and some slight discomfort (I think I need a high pressure to get a full erection w/ the device).

My girth has expanded quite a bit, and I’ve had to upsize from the smallest of the 3 inserts at the cylinder base to the largest one, and recently did it without any insert. The cylinder is 2 inches wide and I still fill the same length about 1/2 -1 inch to the end. It doesn’t resemble the “packing” pics I’ve seen. Is it possible, the cylinder is not wide enough and it’s difficult for me to produce a full erection (hence high pressure/longer time)

So my questions are, is there anything I can do to produce the erection with the device without getting the pettechia/side effects? Will I do any permanent damage if I pump with the pettechia or persistently develop it when I pump?

This is my last chance for having a sex life (no other therapies work, and will not do an implant) at the age of 31, so I’m obviously a bit concerned about any persistent problems.

I should add that the pettechia/bruising is not very apparent when erect, but moreso when flaccid.

Hey grey,

Welcome to the forum. Does your pump have a gauge on it? How long are you staying in the pump?

Thunder,

It’s a Pos-T-Vac one, a typical ED one. I believe the FDA (to have official approval) bans anything that promotes extended use, such as a gauge, so it doesn’t have one (but has a limit of 10 HG). 5-10 minutes w/ viagra, 15-20 w/o viagra.

grey,

Do you take any blood thinning medication or supplements by any chance? Aspirin, vitamin E, ginseng, etc.?

Why would a gauge promote extended use? I say, get a decent pump with a gauge, make damn sure that you are staying at or below 5hg for awhile and see if things don’t improve, both ED wise and appearance wise. Pumping with no idea of how much vacuum you are pulling doesn’t sound like a good way to improve ED symptoms, in fact it is probably making the situation worse.

Starting a PE program might just help also, it has helped a few ED sufferers in the past.

I agree with T. A gauge is vital in the sort of pumping you are doing and it sounds like you have some sort of “governor” on yours that claims not to exceed 10 HG, which it may not, but it may also be giving you something like 8 HG which is causing the red spots.

Your method is good for ED, repetitious inflations and deflations. This will gradually increase your arterial efficiency perhaps enough to overcome the venous leakage. I had the same thing a few years ago but my doctor now believes that the leakage is overcome, at least from the evidence.

A suggestion: If you have a good fitting, pliable cock ring (shaft only type), slide that onto the base of your shaft when you get to about 50 percent erect, or at least somewhat engorged. Then continue to pump. The ring will stop more of the venous leakage out yet will allow arterial blood in, allowing you to get harder.

If you do this and you get a good erection, keep in mind that after a half hour of erection time, you need to slide the ring off and allow in newly oxygenated blood. You will lose the erection, but at least you would have had a good half hour of a hard-on. You can always start over.

PM me and I’ll give you some tips about making the Viagra part work better for you.

Glad you joined up here. I’ve read your posts at ASI and understand better now your frustration.

I’ve read the FDA guidance for approved pumps and basically they say any feature “that would promote extended use beyond producing an erection for sex” would not receive FDA approval (though it still can be sold). I’m sure the manufacturers of the VEDs don’t want to take that chance, and of course a gauge isn’t the most romantic thing either.

When I bought my pump last year, I could not find a light battery-powered pump with a gauge that could have rings placed on the base. Also, I was wary as my urologist stressed I get an FDA approved one with the vacuum limiter and release valve. I also suspect that the pumps meant for ED, produce an erection more suitable for intercourse than the ones geared for PE.

I’m REALLY impotent, max dose of viagra does not work nor do injections. My experience is that low pressures, no matter how long I apply them, will not produce an erection. I try to build-up gradually to higher pressures and double pump, but make no mistake, after one year I still cannot create an erection w/o a higher pressure. Whether it’s my severe venous leak or the quantity of blood that needs to get into my penis to produce an erection, it’s just the way it is for me.

I do feel I’ve had some arterial improvement, as my erections with the constriction rings, can be maintained better during sex.

Avocet,
What kind of ring are you talking about? I have found the only rings that work, are these thick ultimate rings:

Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to fit them in the cylinder when on the penis base. Also, the constriction is so tight, little additional blood gets in from my experience. Additionally, if I release the vaccuum the erection is lost immediately.

Would pumping to a partial erection at low pressures, increase my resistance to pettecihia and/or allow me to produce erections at lower pressures than now? So far, after almost a year of pumping erections for sex (about 10 minutes once or twice a week), my propensity for pettechia has increased with no decrease in the time or pressure required to produce an erection.

Is there any dangers of persistently developing pettechia other than cosmetic?

I occassionally take advil, but usually not close to the time when I pump. Used to take Vitamin E daily and advil more before with no pettechia/bruising issues.

I do take enbrel, which is an immune-suppressing drug, for my psoriasis (skin disease), but my doctor doesn’t think it’d cause bruising. Of course, he’s not very familiar with vacuum pumps, so it’s definitely a question for my urologist during my next visit.

grey,

You might already do this, but make all of your pressure changes slowly, especially your first pump up for the session. You already do pump and release which is good. Just make the first pump up low pressure and slowly increase on your subsequent pump ups.

You really could use a gauge. Even though you system has a 10”hg limit, probably the max you ever need is 5, with most of your time spent around 4”hg.

I do all of my pumping with heat and I think that helps also. I preheat the cylinder and while pumping, keep the cylinder wrapped in an electric heat pad.

You can also try circulation techniques while pumping by doing kegels and milking the tube.

Also, what is your pumping frequency? Do you pump every day, which I think is good, or have a set schedule, or is it more hit and miss?

The rings you’re using look very tight to me and with the stretchy grips they appear that they might not only fit poorly in the tube but also may loosen your seal from time to time.

What I use and like very much is a pliable “O” ring I bought from a hardware store in the plumbing dept.. It is made of seamless neoprene; they come in a large number of sizes. You have to experiment a bit on sizing, but they are very cheap (about US $1.50) so buying several is very reasonable. The fit is snug at the shaft base, doesn’t interfere with the tube at all and does allow sufficient arterial flow in to allow the erection to progress under vacuum. I don’t use the pump to get an erection for sex, but when I have pumped with one of these on the erection holds nicely when I come out of the tube. My guess is that the rings you’re using aren’t allowing enough arterial blood in to build a really firm erection and once out of the tube they are permitting too rapid a venous flow back out, defeating your purpose.

Yes, pumping at lower pressure would still work if you give it time and you’d avoid the red spots, I’m quite sure. Pettechia is almost always a result of pumping at higher HG pressure than your tissue can deal with. Many guys here get it from jelking too forcefully.

The only danger of pettechia to guys like us who need all the arterial flow we can get is in creating, over and over, little micro-explosions of our capillaries when in fact we should be strengthening our penile vascular system through things like regular pumping at healthy HG levels. Since you report that you are seeing some increased vascularity, you could probably build on that over time. I wouldn’t worry much about pumping also causing an increase of your venous flow out since most of the draining veins are a bit deeper inside than the primary supply arteries you can see on your shaft.

Hey, Avocet. I’m just curious. You got great flaccid gains. Did the size of your (flaccid) glans gain in proportion?

A second question, after rereading this thread, I’m curious about your second growth spurt in length (the last 1.5”): do you attribute that mostly to pumping or other exercises?

I’m finally getting the privacy to pump daily, so I’m starting to ramp it up.

ll