How to Uncurve Your Penis: Treatments That Work

Penile curvature can be reduced or corrected through several treatments, ranging from injections and traction devices to surgery, depending on the cause and severity. Most curvature that develops in adulthood is caused by Peyronie’s disease, a condition where scar tissue forms inside the penis and pulls it to one side during erection. A smaller number of men have congenital curvature, present since puberty. The treatment that works best for you depends on which type you have, how much curve you’re dealing with, whether you have pain or erection problems, and how long the condition has been progressing.

Why the Penis Curves in the First Place

The two main causes of penile curvature require different treatment approaches, so understanding which one applies to you matters before exploring options. Peyronie’s disease is an acquired condition: a fibrous scar (called a plaque) forms in the tough outer layer of the erectile tissue, making that area stiff and inelastic. When you get an erection, the healthy tissue expands normally but the scarred area can’t stretch, bending the penis toward the plaque. The prevailing theory is that repeated small injuries during sex or physical activity trigger abnormal wound healing, where the body lays down excess collagen and fibrous tissue instead of repairing cleanly.¹ The plaque typically sits on the top of the shaft, creating a dorsal or upward bend, though it can form anywhere.²

Congenital penile curvature, by contrast, is something you’ve had since puberty. There’s no scar or plaque — the tissue along one side of the penis simply developed unevenly during growth, usually resulting in a downward or sideways bend. Because the underlying cause is different (structural asymmetry rather than scar tissue), treatments that target plaque breakdown don’t apply. Congenital curvature is corrected surgically when it causes functional problems or distress.

Peyronie’s Disease Has Two Phases, and Timing Matters

If your curvature appeared over weeks or months in adulthood, you’re likely dealing with Peyronie’s disease, and the phase of the disease shapes which treatments are on the table. The acute phase typically lasts anywhere from six to eighteen months. During this window, the plaque is still forming, pain is common, and the curvature may be changing — getting worse, stabilizing, or occasionally improving on its own. The chronic or stable phase follows, when the plaque has matured, pain usually resolves, and the curvature stops changing.

Most doctors won’t recommend surgery during the acute phase because the situation is still in flux. Non-surgical treatments like injections, oral medications, and traction devices are typically tried first, especially while the disease is still active. Surgery is generally reserved for the stable phase, after at least three to six months without any change in curvature.

Injection Therapies

Injections directly into the plaque are among the most studied non-surgical treatments and can produce meaningful curve reduction. The most prominent option is collagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH), sold under the brand name Xiaflex. CCH is an enzyme that breaks down the collagen making up the scar tissue. It was the first licensed non-surgical treatment for Peyronie’s disease, approved after two large randomized controlled trials demonstrated its safety and effectiveness.³ Across studies involving more than 1,500 patients, CCH consistently decreased curvature and improved quality of life.⁴ One study reported an average improvement of about 23 degrees, representing roughly a 38% reduction in curvature.⁵

CCH isn’t risk-free, though. Bruising at the injection site is common — the same study reported about 10% of patients experienced hematomas. The more serious risk is corporal rupture, essentially a penile fracture at or near the treated plaque. A survey of urologists found that about a third had encountered at least one rupture in their patients, with a median onset of five days after injection, though cases have been reported as late as 32 days afterward.⁶⁷ Rupture typically requires surgical repair. This is why patients are told to avoid sexual activity for a period after each injection cycle.

Interferon alpha-2b is another injectable option. In a multicenter placebo-controlled trial, patients receiving interferon showed significantly greater improvement in curvature, plaque size, and pain compared to placebo.⁸ The main downside is flu-like side effects — body aches, low-grade fever — though these tend to be short-lived. Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, is sometimes injected as well. A head-to-head comparison found verapamil produced similar clinical outcomes to interferon at a much lower cost, making it a practical alternative in some settings.⁹

Traction Devices

Penile traction therapy involves wearing a device that applies a gentle stretching force along the shaft for a set number of hours each day. The idea is that sustained mechanical tension remodels the scar tissue and straightens the penis over time. Evidence from multiple studies supports this: traction can improve both curvature and penile length, which is appealing because many other treatments risk shortening.¹⁰

A controlled study using one specific traction device (Penimaster PRO) found an average curvature reduction of about 31 degrees at 12 weeks — roughly a 41% improvement — with gains correlated to how many hours per day the device was worn.¹¹ Another study using RestoreX traction therapy found that men who used the device for at least 15 minutes a day gained roughly 2 cm in length and saw curvature improve by about a fifth, with 95% of men treated for six months experiencing some length gain.¹²

The practical challenge is compliance. These devices need to be worn daily for extended periods, which many men find uncomfortable or inconvenient. Still, traction therapy is one of the lower-risk options and can be used alongside other treatments.

Why Combining Treatments Often Beats Any Single Approach

One of the clearest findings in recent research is that pairing CCH injections with traction therapy produces substantially better results than either treatment alone. A study comparing three groups — traction only, CCH alone, and CCH plus traction — found that the combination group achieved an average curvature improvement of about 34 degrees (roughly a 49% reduction), compared to about 20 degrees for traction alone and 19 degrees for CCH alone. The combination group also gained nearly 2 cm in length, while the other groups actually lost a small amount. Men in the combination group were nearly seven times more likely to achieve at least 20 degrees of improvement than those using traction alone.¹³

This makes intuitive sense: the enzyme softens and partially dissolves the scar tissue, while the traction device applies force to reshape the tissue as it heals. If you’re considering CCH, asking your urologist about adding traction therapy is a reasonable conversation to have.

Oral Medications and Supplements

Pills are the treatment most men encounter first, often because they’re the easiest to try. A network meta-analysis found that several oral treatments showed statistically significant improvement in curvature, including coenzyme Q10, pentoxifylline, propionyl-L-carnitine, and vitamin E.¹⁴ Pentoxifylline combined with other antioxidants and topical anti-inflammatories showed particular promise in one study of over 300 patients with early-stage disease, reducing curvature by about 10 degrees on average and resolving pain in roughly two-thirds of cases.¹⁵

That said, the evidence for oral treatments remains inconsistent overall. A critical review of nutraceutical interventions for Peyronie’s disease found that despite widespread use, the evidence for supplements with antioxidant activity is “overall ineffectiveness” with inconsistencies across guideline recommendations. Acetyl esters of carnitine showed some potential in selected studies, while omega-3 fatty acids were not recommended due to withdrawn study evidence. Oral therapy might help modestly in early-stage disease, especially for pain, but it’s unlikely to produce dramatic straightening on its own.

Shockwave Therapy

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) uses focused sound waves directed at the plaque. It gets marketed aggressively, but the evidence tells a more measured story. A single-arm study found that ESWT’s primary benefit was pain relief — pain scores dropped significantly after treatment. There was also a statistically significant reduction in curvature.¹⁶ A longer-term study found that about half of patients achieved some curvature improvement, while three-quarters became pain-free.¹⁷

So ESWT may help, particularly with pain, but the curvature improvement is less consistent than with injections or traction. It’s also worth noting that shockwave therapy for Peyronie’s disease was universally denied coverage by every insurance company in one review of 100 insurers.¹⁸ You’d typically be paying entirely out of pocket.

When Surgery Is the Right Call

Surgery is generally considered when the disease is stable (curvature hasn’t changed for at least three months), non-surgical treatments haven’t provided enough improvement, or the curvature is severe enough to prevent intercourse. The three main surgical approaches each trade off differently between straightening, length preservation, and erection quality.

Plication procedures (including the Nesbit technique) are the simplest surgically. The surgeon shortens the longer side of the penis to match the scarred side, straightening things out. It’s effective and has relatively few complications, but it does shorten the penis — roughly a quarter of patients in one long-term study reported shortening of 1.5 to 3 cm.¹⁹ A separate study found that about half of patients were bothered by the length loss during sex at least regularly, and about a third experienced involuntary slipping out during intercourse in at least half their encounters.²⁰ Plication works best when the curvature is moderate and you have good erections and reasonable length to start with.

Grafting procedures take a different approach: the plaque is cut open (incised or partially removed) and a patch of tissue is sewn in to fill the gap, lengthening the short side rather than shortening the long side. This preserves more length but carries higher risk, particularly to erectile function. In one study with 30-month follow-up, about a third of grafted patients needed medication to achieve penetration afterward.²¹ Grafting tends to be recommended for men with severe curvature (often above 60-70 degrees) who have adequate erections before surgery.

Penile prosthesis implantation is the option for men who have both significant curvature and erectile dysfunction that doesn’t respond well to medication. The inflatable device is placed inside the erectile chambers, and the act of inflating it can straighten mild curves. For more severe curvature, the surgeon can model (manually bend) the penis over the inflated prosthesis or add plication or grafting during the same procedure.²² In one series, plication combined with prosthesis insertion reduced curvature from an average of 39 degrees to under 5 degrees, though most patients reported decreased penile length.²³

Congenital Curvature Is Treated Differently

If your curvature has been there as long as you can remember and there’s no lump or hard spot in the shaft, you may have congenital penile curvature rather than Peyronie’s disease. Since there’s no plaque to dissolve, injections and oral medications don’t apply. The standard treatment when correction is needed is surgical plication — the same basic principle used in Peyronie’s plication, shortening the longer side to straighten the penis.

Outcomes for congenital curvature surgery tend to be very good. In one long-term follow-up, about 90% of patients had either a straight penis or less than 15 degrees of residual curve, and all patients who answered the questionnaire reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the results. More than half said their sexual life improved after the operation.²⁴ Curvature recurrence runs around 19-21% depending on the specific technique used, though not all recurrences are clinically significant.²⁵

The Psychological Weight of Penile Curvature

Something often underestimated — sometimes by doctors too — is how much penile curvature affects mental health. Roughly half of men with Peyronie’s disease experience depressive symptoms, and upwards of 80% report significant distress related to their condition. Men describe feelings of shame, loss of sexual confidence, and a sense of being abnormal or broken. Over half report that Peyronie’s has negatively affected their relationship.²⁶

A large Swedish cohort study of 3.5 million men found that those with Peyronie’s disease had nearly double the risk of being diagnosed with anxiety and about 1.7 times the risk of depression compared to men without the condition. The risk of self-injurious behaviors was twice as high.²⁷ Being in a relationship appeared protective — partnered men were less likely to screen positive for depression in one study — but sexual self-esteem was the strongest protective factor overall.²⁸

This data underscores that treatment decisions aren’t purely about degrees of curvature on an ultrasound image. If the condition is causing significant distress, that matters in the treatment calculus — even for men with moderate curves that might not seem “severe enough” to warrant intervention by clinical criteria alone.

How Partners Are Affected

Peyronie’s disease isn’t something that happens only to the man who has it. A study of 35 couples found that female partners of men with Peyronie’s reported pain during sex, reduced desire, difficulty reaching orgasm, and overall sexual dissatisfaction before their partner’s surgery. Three months after surgical correction, sexual function improved significantly across every measured domain for both the man and his partner.²⁹

Even with non-surgical treatment, partner outcomes improved. After CCH injection therapy, about 70% of female partners reported an overall improvement in their sex life, and the proportion meeting criteria for sexual dysfunction dropped from 75% before treatment to about a third afterward. Improvements showed up in arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain during sex.³⁰ If you’re debating whether to seek treatment, your partner’s experience is a legitimate part of that decision.

Insurance Coverage and Cost

The financial landscape for Peyronie’s treatment is uneven. A review of 100 insurance companies found that only 54% even had a policy that directly addressed Peyronie’s disease coverage. Of those that did, CCH injections had the broadest coverage — every company that had a relevant policy covered them, though all required evidence of a palpable plaque. Traction and external devices were also covered by some companies. Surgical treatment was covered by some but denied by a substantial minority. Shockwave therapy was denied by every company that addressed it.¹⁸

Xiaflex injections without insurance can run several thousand dollars per treatment cycle (typically multiple injections over several months). Traction devices range from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars depending on the brand. Surgery varies widely based on the type and setting. Checking your specific plan’s coverage early in the process can save you from unexpected bills.

Emerging and Experimental Approaches

Two newer areas of research are generating interest but haven’t yet reached the point of routine clinical use. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections — where a concentrated preparation of growth factors from your own blood is injected into the plaque — have shown reduction in curvature and plaque size in a growing number of clinical trials, along with quality-of-life improvements.³¹ Stem cell therapy is earlier in its development. Preclinical studies in animal models have shown improvements in fibrosis and erectile function using adipose-derived stem cells, and early human studies with mesenchymal stem cells have shown promising reductions in curvature and plaque size.³²

Neither PRP nor stem cell therapy is standard of care yet, and clinics offering them outside of clinical trials are essentially asking you to pay for unproven treatment. If you’re interested in these approaches, look for enrollment in an actual clinical trial rather than a cash-pay clinic making bold marketing promises.

The Genetic Side of Peyronie’s Disease

One reason some men develop Peyronie’s disease and others don’t, despite similar sexual activity and potential for injury, appears to come down to genetics. Several gene variants have been linked to increased susceptibility. Researchers have identified a variant in the TGF-beta-1 gene that was significantly more common in men with Peyronie’s compared to healthy controls. Separately, a large genome-wide study of a related scarring condition (Dupuytren’s contracture, which affects the hand) identified chromosomal regions also present at higher frequency in men with Peyronie’s disease, particularly one variant on chromosome 7 connected to a developmental signaling pathway.³³

This connection to Dupuytren’s is well recognized clinically — men with Peyronie’s are more likely to have thickening of the palm tissue or other fibrotic conditions. If you have a family history of either condition, you may have an inherited predisposition toward abnormal scar formation. This doesn’t change your treatment options, but it does help explain why some men develop severe disease from relatively minor causes while others never develop plaques at all.