A curved penis can be straightened through several proven treatments, ranging from traction devices and injections to surgery, depending on what’s causing the curve and how severe it is. The right approach depends on two key factors: whether the curvature is something you were born with or something that developed later in life, and whether the condition is still changing or has stabilized.
What Causes Penile Curvature
There are two fundamentally different reasons a penis curves, and they require different treatment paths.
Congenital curvature is present from birth, though most people don’t notice it until puberty. It results from the way elastic tissue in the penis forms during fetal development. There’s no scar tissue or plaque involved. The curve is typically downward (ventral) and stays the same over time.
Peyronie’s disease is acquired, meaning it develops at some point in adult life, most commonly in middle-aged men. It’s caused by fibrous scar tissue (called plaque) forming inside the tough outer sheath of the penis. This plaque doesn’t stretch the way normal tissue does, so when the penis becomes erect, it bends toward the scarred side. Peyronie’s can also cause the penis to lose length or girth, create an hourglass shape, or make erections painful. The cause is often repeated minor injury to the penis during sex or physical activity, though connective tissue disorders also play a role.
The Two Phases of Peyronie’s Disease
If your curvature developed over time, understanding which phase you’re in determines what treatments are available to you. Peyronie’s disease moves through two distinct stages.
The active (inflammatory) phase is the early period when things are still changing. Pain during erections is the hallmark symptom. The curve may be getting worse, the plaque may be growing, and the penis may still be losing length. This phase typically lasts 12 to 18 months from when you first noticed symptoms.
The stable phase begins once symptoms have stopped changing for at least three months. Pain has usually resolved, and the curvature has plateaued. This is the phase where most definitive treatments, especially surgery, become appropriate. Surgical guidelines generally require at least 12 months since symptom onset and 3 to 6 months of stable, unchanged curvature before operating.
This matters because jumping into aggressive treatment while the disease is still active can mean treating a moving target. During the active phase, treatment typically focuses on slowing progression and managing pain rather than correcting the curve.
Traction Devices
Penile traction therapy uses a mechanical device to apply gentle, sustained stretching force to the penis over time. It’s one of the least invasive options and can be used during both the active and stable phases of Peyronie’s disease.
Older traction devices required 2 to 9 hours of daily use, which made them impractical for most people. Newer devices have shortened this considerably. Second-generation traction devices have shown improvements in both curvature and penile length with as little as 30 minutes of daily use. In clinical trials, a typical protocol involves 30 minutes per day, five days a week, though higher-dose regimens (30 minutes twice daily, seven days a week) have also been tested.
Traction therapy works best as a complement to other treatments or as a standalone option for men with mild curvature who want to avoid more invasive procedures. The improvements tend to be modest compared to injections or surgery, but the risk profile is very low.
Injection Therapy
For Peyronie’s disease specifically, injections of an enzyme that breaks down the scar tissue plaque can reduce curvature without surgery. The enzyme (collagenase) is injected directly into the plaque during an office visit.
A standard course involves up to eight injections, typically given in cycles. Among men who completed a full course or stopped early because they were satisfied with the result, the median improvement was about 27.5 degrees of correction, roughly a 41% reduction in curvature. A modified injection technique has shown even better results in some studies, with median improvements reaching 34 degrees (58% reduction), though this also came with higher rates of bruising and blood pooling at the injection site (56% versus 26% with the traditional approach).
Injection therapy is only for Peyronie’s disease. It doesn’t work for congenital curvature because there’s no scar tissue to dissolve. It also requires that the disease has stabilized before starting treatment.
Plication Surgery
Plication is the most straightforward surgical approach. The surgeon shortens the longer side of the penis (the side opposite the curve) by placing permanent sutures that pull the tissue into alignment. Think of it like taking a tuck in a piece of fabric to make it lie flat.
This technique is well-suited for curvatures under 60 degrees where erectile function is good. It’s also the standard surgical approach for congenital curvature, since there’s no plaque to remove. In studies of a modified plication technique, complete straightening was achieved in about 93% of patients.
The trade-off is some loss of penile length, because you’re effectively shortening one side to match the other. The median length loss in surgical studies is about 1.7 centimeters, with a range of zero to 3 centimeters. For men who already feel their penis has shortened due to Peyronie’s disease, this can be a difficult trade-off, which is why the procedure is generally recommended when the curve is moderate and length is adequate.
Grafting Surgery
When curvature exceeds 60 degrees, or when a man has already lost significant length and can’t afford to lose more, grafting becomes the preferred surgical option. Instead of shortening the long side, the surgeon cuts into the plaque on the short side and patches the gap with graft material. This lengthens the concave side to match the convex side, preserving or even recovering some length.
Grafting is also indicated when there’s an hourglass deformity with a hinge effect (the penis buckles at a narrowed point during erection), or when the curvature is severe enough that penetrative sex is impossible. The graft materials used include processed tissue from human or animal sources, as well as synthetic collagen-based patches.
The main caveat is that grafting carries a higher risk of affecting erectile function compared to plication. For this reason, candidates need to have strong erections before surgery. Men who already have significant erectile difficulties are generally steered toward a different option.
Penile Implants for Curvature With Erectile Dysfunction
When Peyronie’s disease coexists with erectile dysfunction that doesn’t respond to medication, a penile prosthesis can address both problems at once. The implant provides rigidity for erections, and the surgeon straightens the penis during the same procedure using manual modeling, plication, or grafting as needed.
Outcomes for this combined approach are strong. In survey data, 91% of men with both Peyronie’s disease and erectile dysfunction were satisfied with the degree of straightening after implant surgery. Eighty-seven percent reported their erectile dysfunction was “very much” or “much” improved, and 80% said they would recommend the procedure to a friend. Complication rates were relatively low: device infection occurred in about 5% of cases and mechanical malfunction in about 4%.
What Doesn’t Work
Shockwave therapy is sometimes marketed for Peyronie’s disease, but the evidence does not support its ability to reduce curvature. It may help with pain during the active phase, but it has not been shown to straighten the penis. Similarly, oral supplements like vitamin E, which were once commonly recommended, have not demonstrated meaningful curvature improvement in controlled studies.
No exercise, stretching routine, or over-the-counter product has been proven to correct penile curvature. The treatments that work, whether traction, injections, or surgery, all require medical supervision and a clear understanding of what’s causing the curve and how far along the condition is.