Erectile Dysfunction Through the Ages

Let’s take a look back in history to 2500BC to see how erectile dysfunctions was viewed all those centuries ago.

Ancient Remedies for Erectile Dysfunction

In China, ancient philosophers believed that Erectile dysfunction was caused by an imbalance of Ying and Yang, (which are contrary forces that interconnect). An ancient Chinese Book written in 2500BC, lists 22 ingredients that helped the Chinese Yellow Emperor’s (Huang-Ti) restore this balance and subsequently bed over 1200 women.

900-years later In Ancient Egypt, Erectile dysfunction was thought to be caused by evil spells. For them, grinding up baby crocodile hearts and rubbing them on the penis with Lotus flowers was their magic remedy.

Later the ancient Hindus believed that erectile dysfunction was of mental origin caused by intercourse with a distasteful woman. They had many remedies including the eating of sesame mixed with special pulses. Or rice and sugar cane, mixed with hog’s lard cooked in butter and finally the eating of the goat testicles. (1)

In Greece around 300BC, the Greek Philosopher Aristotle extracted aphrodisiac from the dried bodies of beetles or what is known today as Spanish fly. This was used for centuries but today is considered to toxic for humans. On a more sinister note, some Greek women were condemned to death and blamed for their husband’s lack of erections.

In Roman society, noble men were encouraged to have sex with both sexes, and this was intrinsically linked with religion. Sex was promoted as a sign of prosperity and individuals would turn to private religions or magic to improve their sexuality.

In the 10th century Vikings raped and pillaged their way across Europe. Being well hung was key to social hierarchy and being considered a real man in Icelandic society. Men that had erectile dysfunction or small penises were ridiculed. We don’t have any information of any treatments but needless to say Vikings with ED or a small penis, rapidly dropped down the social hierarchy.

In the dark ages around 1300, it was believed that demons were the cause of erectile dysfunction. The Malleus Maleficarum (the hammer of witches), a major textbook for Witch hunters, was published in 1486. The book documents how witches were able to make men impotent. Men with ED problems were urged to track down women who had bewitched their penises and if necessary, use violence in order to make them restore their erections.

Towards the end of the 16th Century Italian doctor discovered that you could treat erectile dysfunction by blocking veins that drained blood from the penis. Although the Italian doctor was onto something it would be many years before penile pumps were a recognised form of ED treatment.