The mission of the Genolier Men’s Health Centre is to support men of all ages in improving their sexual, cardiovascular and overall health at every stage of life.
Our approach is based on a comprehensive psychological and somatic assessment of health. Erectile dysfunction is not a disease, it is a symptom. Identifying the underlying cause of this symptom is the first step toward a sustainable solution and the prevention of other health problems, particularly cardiovascular and psychological issues.
“The function of man is to live, not to exist.” — Jack London, 1916
The Centre provides personalized care, tailored to patients' current and future needs. It seeks comprehensive solutions, particularly for intimate health, and implements appropriate preventive measures.
The Centre also contributes to the training and advisory support of healthcare professionals.
Appointments can be made by telephone from Monday to Friday, 10:00 – 17:00.
Book an appointment
centresantemasculine@genolier.net
Nescens Route du Muids 5
1272 Genolier
Canton of Vaud, Switzerland
Reception
From your first contact with our team, we support you in organizing your care by taking into account your personal situation : LAMal, Swiss supplementary or international insurance, patient residing abroad, or self-paying patient. We address your administrative and medical questions in order to guide you toward the most suitable solution. Our objective is to offer you a clear, personalized, and confidential journey from your initial contact with us.
The first consultation or video consultation
During a 30 to 60-minute consultation, we perform a comprehensive evaluation of your medical history, symptoms, and personal background. This initial visit enables us to identify key aspects of your vascular, hormonal, sexual, and general health. At the conclusion of this discussion, we explain the likely causes of your concerns, outline any necessary investigations, and present possible treatment options. For most patients, this consultation represents a significant step forward in understanding and addressing their health issue.
Medical examinations
The examinations performed at Genolier Clinic allow us to precisely identify the causes of your symptoms and assess your overall health status. For erectile dysfunction, they can reveal arterial insufficiency, venous leakage, neurological disorders, or other associated factors. Because erectile dysfunction can also be an early marker of cardiovascular disease, this evaluation contributes to the prevention of risks of myocardial infarction or stroke.
Genolier Clinic brings together on a single site the specialists and equipment necessary for complete and coordinated care.
The summary consultation
The doctor will present the results of the tests, preventive measures and the treatment options available to you. Complex cases are reviewed anonymously by the relevant specialists during a regular consultation meeting.
Treatment and follow-up
The solutions we offer are typically multidisciplinary—encompassing, for example, the management of performance anxiety, medical treatment of erectile dysfunction, and partner support. These include, as appropriate, measures designed to improve long-term health outcomes. For every patient, evaluating the effectiveness of proposed treatments is central to our clinical approach.
Because men's health involves many aspects of bodily and psychological functioning, the Men's Health Centre facilitates the coordination of different specialists for each patient.
We make collaboration easier with cardiologists, radiologists, neurologists, urologists, internists, psychologists, hepatologists, psychiatrists, check-up specialists, biologists, pharmacists, vascular surgeons, vascular medicine physicians, physiotherapists, hematologists, sleep specialists, rheumatologists, and oncologists.
The nervous system and erectile function
Sexual signals sent by the brain are transmitted to the penis via the spinal cord and nerves. This mechanism triggers the dilation of the arteries that supply blood to the penis, thereby initiating an erection. Stress, anxiety and certain neurological conditions can disrupt this process and lead to erectile dysfunction.
Erection: a vascular phenomenon
Blood enters the penis via arteries ‘opened by desire’, causing it to swell and become rigid. The expansion of the penis then compresses the veins to trap the blood and maintain the erection. When the arteries are narrowed or blocked, or when the veins can no longer retain blood properly, blood can no longer accumulate in the penis, leading to erectile dysfunction.
Hormones and erection quality
A healthy hormonal balance, particularly normal testosterone levels, supports sexual desire, psychological energy and erection quality. Certain hormonal disorders can impair erectile function.
Nocturnal and morning erections
A man spends long periods of the night with an erection without realising it, and usually wakes up in the morning with an erection. This phenomenon, which is independent of sexual desire, is considered essential for maintaining healthy erectile function. Any change in these erections may indicate underlying health problems.
The psychological aspect
Erectile function, psychological health and emotional well-being are deeply interlinked. Even when erectile dysfunction is of somatic origin (due to a physical condition), the psychological and emotional consequences often exacerbate the condition.
It is important to establish whether erectile difficulties are due to a psychological issue (low libido, relationship problems, performance anxiety, etc.) or a physical condition, as the treatment approach will differ. Answering a few simple questions asked by the doctor will help to determine this, and medical tests are highly likely to confirm the diagnosis.
Please note that physical causes trigger psychological mechanisms which, in turn, can affect erections (fear of failure, avoidance of sexual intercourse, reduced desire). One should never conclude that the cause of an erectile dysfunction is purely psychological without first ruling out a physical cause.
In order to restore good-quality erections, treatment will address both the physical and psychological aspects.
Sildenafil (Viagra®), tadalafil (Cialis®), vardenafil (Levitra®) and avanafil (Spedra®) work by helping to widen the arteries that supply blood to the penis. In 30 to 40% of patients, they may prove ineffective.
In nearly half of cases, the cause of the erectile dysfunction medication’s ineffectiveness is a vascular condition: blocked arteries or venous leakage.
A neurological condition that affects the transmission of nerve signals to the penis may also render them ineffective.
In other situations, the issue may be a lack of sexual desire. Indeed, whilst these medicines facilitate erections, they do not ‘replace’ sexual arousal. For these medicines to be fully effective, they must be taken in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
Apart from the tablet-form medicines mentioned above, there are others that are administered via an injection into the penis (self-injections). These may prove ineffective in cases of vascular disease: blocked arteries or venous leakage.
There are many causes of erectile dysfunction. Identifying them is essential for choosing the most appropriate treatment and restoring natural erections.
A distinction can be made between psychological and emotional causes (performance anxiety, reduced desire, etc.) and physical causes.
The most common physical causes are :
The initial aim of treatment will be to identify the mechanism(s) by which erections are impaired.
These medical examinations are used to identify the mechanisms underlying why a man is no longer able to achieve satisfactory erections. This essential step in the management process will enable us to select the most appropriate treatment to restore natural erections.
This step may prove essential before concluding that an erectile dysfunction is solely of psychological origin.
The Men’s Health Centre offers its patients all the necessary examinations at the Genolier Clinic. These will be prescribed following your first consultation at the Men’s Health Centre, based on your symptoms and your state of health.
Penile Doppler ultrasound with pharmacological stimulation consists of inducing a temporary erection using medication and then analyzing, via ultrasound, the functioning of the arteries and veins of the penis. It makes it possible to determine whether blood reaches the penis correctly and is maintained there sufficiently. Penile Caverno-CT with pharmacological stimulation is sometimes performed as a complement in certain situations, particularly when venous leakage is suspected. It allows for very precise mapping of the blood vessels of the penis in order to better understand the mechanism responsible for the disorder and to consider the most appropriate treatments.
Further medical examinations will be prescribed if necessary to assess the risks of cardiovascular events and prevent them.
More detailed information regarding these tests is available in Prof. Allaire’s guide ‘Reconnecting Men to Life’, which can be accessed on the Clinic’s website or at drallaire.com.
Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) can cause blockages in the arteries of the penis, leading to erectile dysfunction, but it can also block the arteries that supply blood to the heart (coronary arteries) or to the brain (carotid arteries), causing a myocardial infarction (heart attack) or a stroke.
Studies have shown that erectile dysfunction doubles the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke within the following three years. Having an erectile dysfunction can therefore represent an opportunity to avoid a major health crisis.
Why can erectile dysfunction appear several years before a heart attack or stroke? This is mainly because the penile arteries are very narrow (1.5 to 2.5 mm in diameter): they are therefore the first to become blocked, before the coronary arteries (4 to 5 mm in diameter) or carotid arteries (5 mm in diameter), which are much wider.
Care at the Men’s Health Centre includes an assessment of cardiovascular risks and the management of risk factors. To this end, we work in collaboration with specialists from the Clinique de Genolier: cardiologists, liver specialists, endocrinologists, radiologists and nutritionists.
Premature ejaculation refers to ejaculation occurring sooner than desired, sometimes within a minute of penetration.
Erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation often occur together. For example, erectile dysfunction can cause performance anxiety, which contributes to premature ejaculation. Similarly, some men who are self-conscious about erectile dysfunction may rush through sexual intercourse for fear of losing their erection, which perpetuates premature ejaculation.
Conversely, ejaculation, and often orgasm, may be delayed or difficult to achieve, or may become impossible. This is referred to as anejaculation or anorgasmia.
The management of these difficulties at the Men’s Health Centre combines complementary areas of expertise.
“I’m not going to be able to do it.” – “I’m going to lose my erection.” Almost all men experience this fear at some point in their sex lives, and when this thought becomes a constant, it can lead to “performance anxiety”.
This anxiety is self-perpetuating: fear activates neurological circuits and triggers the release of adrenaline, the stress hormone. This reduces blood flow to the penis, leading to loss of erection: it is an arterial manifestation of stress, a self-reinforcing vascular cycle of failure.
Treatment at the Men’s Health Centre begins with a question: is this anxiety the consequence of a physical condition affecting erections, or is it the cause of the erectile dysfunction?
In all cases, whether performance anxiety is the primary issue or a consequence of a health problem affecting erections, we help our patients to overcome their performance anxiety.
At the Men’s Health Centre, we believe that the personal concerns of patients suffering from conditions such as diabetes, cancer, chronic rheumatic diseases or skin conditions must be taken into account. This is something patients have called for and is strongly advocated by international health organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO).
