Dustin Fontenot, PA-C, on Erectile Dysfunction and Treatment Options to Avoid
Donna Lee: Welcome to the Armor Men’s Health Hour. Dr. Mistry had to step away, so I have our Dustin Fontenot here. He stepped in. Hello Dustin.
Dustin Fontenot: Hello.
Donna Lee: Well I’m going to tell everybody how to get ahold of us again and then I have some really great questions for Dustin. He’s our department head of Armor Men’s Health, which we talk about quite a bit since this is the Armor Men’s Health Hour. So Dustin, get ready for the rapid fire questions that are coming your way. You can call us during the week at (512) 238-0762 our website is armormenshealth.com. You can email us any question you have on your mind if you’re too embarrassed to ask it in person or just don’t have time to go to the doctor, it’s armormenshealth@gmail.com. We had Dr. Fleming on today. He was amazing. What an incredible guy. He saved my mom’s life, so that’s kind of important to me. Dr. Mistry and he did that surgery. I’m so glad they got to talk about it. Anyway, it’s a fabulous Sunday. We are moving time slots soon, so beginning January 4th we’re going to be on Saturdays 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM and Dustin, we’re going to have to be a little more careful with our verbiage when there’s little kids in the car, so…
Dustin Fontenot: Why’s that?
Donna Lee: Because apparently there’s more times where dads are driving around listening to KLBJ and they’re running from game to game and they’re going to listen to our show and I don’t know how that’s going to go.
Dustin Fontenot: Okay, interesting.
Donna Lee: So dads and moms get those earmuffs ready for those kids and we’ll just keep talking about penises and testosterone for your enjoyment. I have Dustin on here today. He popped into the studio. I’ve got so many questions, Dustin. Just listening to this station alone, like we talked about, you either have erectile dysfunction or sleep apnea. How does a person sitting listening to the app or in their car, how do these guys, and wives, how do they decipher this information with 10 different ED commercials coming at you? You know, what’s your take as a provider, as the guy in charge of our Armor Men’s Health, how do you take that information? Beause I know you listen to the station, too.
Dustin Fontenot: Yeah. So it definitely can be a bit overwhelming for sure. With all of the information out there, all of the ads, you’re kind of getting bombarded. You know, I think it’s important to understand what type of places some of these are and what you’re getting yourself into, you know, and whether or not it’s the best fit for you. Certainly, you know, a guy with ED or considering treatment or something like that, visiting with his primary care doctor if he has a relationship with one I think is always a great place to start. You know, they can give him some recommendations as we’ve spoke about on this program before. A lot of times the ED can be one of the first signs of heart disease. You know, getting a full evaluation through either your own primary care doctor or through a urology practice or someone like that that specializes in it, that can give you that thorough evaluation, I think is really important. Unfortunately, a lot of the clinics that you hear, they guarantee you an erection, and that’s simply because they’re gonna use medication.
Donna Lee: You did use the word guarantee. That always freaks me out. They must have a bunch of hot women around.
Dustin Fontenot: No, not really. So, what they’re doing is they’re using a medication called TRIMIX and it’s an injectable medication that goes into the penis. And so just the idea that freaks a lot of guys out to think about a needle going into the penis. But it works, and if you give a big enough dose, it’s gonna work for everybody. The downside is you give a big enough dose, the guy ends up with a priaprism, which is a prolonged erection that requires even more needles to take down.
Donna Lee: That’s an ER visit sometimes, right?
Dustin Fontenot: Yeah, it’s an ER visit, um, especially if it’s after hours. So I think it’s important, uh, when you’re considering, you know, where to start the journey and your ED to know what you’re getting yourself into and to know that if you go to the one of those places, you’re likely going to get a needle in your penis.
Donna Lee: That’s a great name for a place, “Needle in your Penis.” Talk to me about supplements. I know that a lot of the commercials say, “Try this erectile dysfunction way of doing things…like through our clinic and pills and supplements don’t really work” kind of thing. I know that we promote a lot of supplements and we’re super holistic when it comes to patient care. So what do you recommend when a patient comes to you? What’s your first recommendation after you do a pretty thorough evaluation and lab work and all that stuff?
Dustin Fontenot: You know, in general, a lot of times our erections are kind of a snapshot of our overall health. If there’s aspects in your health that need improvement on, such as a lack of physical activity, lack of aerobic exercise, improvement in dietary modifications, things like that, that’s some of the first line interventions that we talk about is really just cleaning up areas in your lifestyle that can be cleaned up. As far as supplements, there’s several supplements out there that improve overall blood circulation. So L-argenine is a popular one that we recommend. The supplement talk is a whole ‘nother segment about where you’re getting your supplements from and that sort of thing. But, so right off the bat, you know, any supplements that improve circulation, anything with nitric oxide and things like that will can help with the erectile quality. However, any supplement that claims to you take this pill and it’s going to give you a great erection is misleading.
Donna Lee: Don’t buy it. You know, when you go to the convenience stores, some seedy convenience stores, they have all those supplements and there’s like a bull, like a big dark bull, or something in the front or a big giant cowboy with a big hat and they’re like, “Get your supplements here for optimal erections.” What does, is that just a bunch of crap?
Dustin Fontenot: So it’s interesting, because I have a lot of guys that take those, and a lot of guys say that they work.
Donna Lee: And I bet they drink Red Bull.
Dustin Fontenot: So you know, a lot of that is the power of suggestion. Placebo effect is 20%. And, but however, a lot of those gas station ED pills are coming from overseas. And when there was some study or something came out or investigation came out and a lot of them had Viagra and Cialis in them, they had Sildenafil and Tadalafil in them, but because they were getting manufactured in China or whatever and shipped over and mixed in with a whole bunch of other things, they were kind of flying under the radar.
Donna Lee: That’s kind of [inaudible]…
Dustin Fontenot: So you were really getting the gas station Viagra. And so I think some of it probably does work but you know…
Donna Lee: You don’t know what else is in them.
Dustin Fontenot: ….you have no idea what you’re getting. So it’s probably not too wise.
Donna Lee: Some bad chemicals, I’m sure. Oh, that’s scary. I know that this is kind of all over the place, but with shockwave therapy, there’s so many different names for it. So shockwave sounds scary, but we’ve talked about it on the show. It is not an actual painful shock. I know you have patients that you’ve treated. So tell us about how painless that is and what that looks like for a patient with ED.
Dustin Fontenot: Yeah. So the shockwave therapy is a great option for patients that are looking for a return of their natural function without having to rely on medications or injections. And it’s, in our office, our protocol, we do six sessions, which can be repeated if need be. Each session lasts about 20 minutes long and it consists of 2000 shocks. These shocks are completely painless. They should probably come up with a different word for it.
Donna Lee: I think there’s one of those companies on KLBJ. Call it something else…
Dustin Fontenot: You don’t feel, you don’t feel anything. But I think the take home for a guy that’s considering that is you know, you really need to be the right candidate for it.
Donna Lee: So not everybody with erectile dysfunction would benefit.
Dustin Fontenot: Yeah. But some of those places you hear ads on, if you walk in the door and you have enough money in your wallet, they’re going to do their procedure for you, you know, regardless if they think you’re a great candidate or not. Right. So, you know, we do we offer that service in our office as well, but you know, we’re going to be selective in the right patient and if we feel that it’s a service that could help them, then we will absolutely offer it to them.
Donna Lee: Right. And I know it’s not painful in any way. It is loud. It’s just like a loud clicking that happens. But, yeah, I’ve, we’ve talked to patients and I mentioned it on air, we’ve had a couple of patients that gave us some feedback pretty recently and on the fifth out of 6 treatments with the shockwave therapy, the first one said he didn’t need to use Viagara anymore and that really surprised him. And the other one was treated for cancer, went through chemo and thought he was not going to have erections anymore and he’s already having erections after five treatments. So, yeah, pretty amazing testimonials. And then why don’t we talk about Viagara and Sildenafil. Do you have a preference on compounded or not? Or what are your thoughts? Because I know that there’s so many compound pharmacies in Austin.
Dustin Fontenot: There are, and I would say that since both of those drugs have gone generic, you know most of the compounders were in business making those medications when they were still branded. So you had a substantial savings, but now that they’ve gone generic, you’re just as well off a lot of times getting them from your local pharmacy. As far as which one’s better or worse, you know, I would say that one may work better for one guy and another one may work better for the other guy.
Donna Lee: Okay. So it is case by case basis. So there’s not one good fit for everything?
Dustin Fontenot: No, not at all.
Donna Lee: So, patients I guess, or guys, I guess the moral to this story is to really do your research. See a doctor. How about that? Dustin Fontenot is one of our certified PAs. He’s been with us for what, 5, 6 years?
Dustin Fontenot: 5 years, yeah.
Donna Lee: And he’s amazing. He’ll be on some future shows, too. So if you have any questions, you can email us at armormenshealth@gmail.com. You can reach out to Dustin directly through me. I’ll answer every one of the emails or listen for the answer on the show. Our website is armormenshealth.com. We have four locations in the Austin area, Round Rock North Austin, South Austin, and Dripping Springs. If you want to see Dustin, too, give us a call, we can set you up for an appointment with Destin Fontenot. He is the guru of all things male wellness, and give us a call during the week (512) 238-0762. Remember to email us at armormenshealth@gmail.com. We had a great show today and we look forward to seeing you all again next week. And remember on January 4th we’re going to be on Saturdays from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM right here on news radio KLBJ.
: The Armor Men’s Health Hour is brought to you by Urology specialists of Austin. For questions or to schedule an appointment, please call (512) 238-0762 or online at armourmenshealth.com.