South Bay SD News

• Chronic sinusitis affects 28.9 million American adults, or 11% of the adult population. 
• Balloon sinuplasty is the procedure most often recommended for people with chronic sinusitis. 
• There are many symptoms associated with chronic sinusitis, including erectile dysfunction.

Studies show that erectile dysfunction is one of many possible symptoms of chronic sinusitis. According to Dr. Paul Shalch Lepe of SoCal Breathe Free, there is a direct correlation between sinusitis and a patient’s sex life. 

"In general, if you feel sick, you just don't feel like doing anything, including sex," Dr. Shalch Lepe told the South Bay SD News. "One of those essential mechanisms that we inherited from evolution is that the sense of smell has a lot to do with sexual stimulation. So if you're congested, that function will be affected as well. It's absolutely something that can impact a patient’s sex life, having this recurrent chronic infection that they're not getting proper treatment for."

Erectile dysfunction, which the National Institutes of Health defines as “the inability to attain and maintain an erection of sufficient quality to permit satisfactory sexual intercourse,” affects approximately 5% of men in the United States, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). A study using data from more than one million people from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) found that chronic rhinosinusitis can put patients at increased risk for erectile dysfunction. According to the report, treating rhinosinusitis surgically significantly decreased the risk of erectile dysfunction in patients.

Yahoo Sports reported that men who suffer from chronic sinusitis are as much as 50% more likely to be impotent compared to men who do not suffer from sinusitis, citing a report from Kaohsiung University in Taiwan. The study found that when sinusitis inflames the lining of the sinuses, it causes the blood vessels in men's genitals to restrict blood flow.

While some people might turn to medication to try to alleviate their sinus symptoms, medications such as Sudafed or other cold medications can also cause erectile dysfunction, according to Men's Journal.

Erectile dysfunction can be caused by a mix of physical and psychological issues. Often, there are underlying issues associated with erectile dysfunction, and those can be helped by seeing a doctor, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

According to SoCal Breathe Free's website, Dr. Paul Schalch Lepe is an otolaryngologist and ENT doctor in San Diego who specializes in sinus, allergy, and sleep treatments. He completed his residency in otolaryngology at the UC Irvine Medical Center at the UC Irvine School of Medicine and earned his medical degree at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico School of Medicine in Mexico City.