Porn Publisher Larry Flynt Uses Penile Implant at Age 70

March 1, 2013— -- Given his career as the king of porn, it may come as no surprise that publisher Larry Flynt is still sexually active at the age of 70, even after he was paralyzed in an unsolved sniper shooting 35 years ago.

The publisher of Hustler, who is five-times married and has spoken extensively about his love of women, revealed just this week that he has a penile implant.

"Lots of men have them," Flynt told The Hollywood Reporter.

"There's a little reservoir in the bottom part of your stomach, and you trigger it with a button inside your testicles that doesn't show. Nothing shows."

More men like Flynt are having the implants installed, doctors say.

"He's open about his sexuality and probably didn't want to give up on sex when he was older," said Dr. Andrew C. Kramer, associate professor of surgery and urology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who did not treat Flynt.

Kramer performs about 250 penile implant surgeries a year, many of them for older men like Flynt who want to regain their sexual prowess after disease or spinal cord injury.

Experts like Kramer say the penile implant is the "treatment of last resort" for men with erectile dysfunction, but its popularity is increasing due to a dramatic rise -- about 74 percent -- in the number of men undergoing radical surgery for prostate cancer.

"I see young guys in their 40s who wake up impotent," he said. "You have to tell your wife in her 30s, we're just friends and cuddle now."

The most common reason for erectile dysfunction in older men is chronic disease that affects the vessels in the penis -- most often diabetes, hypertension, smoking or high cholesterol. Nerve damage caused by spinal cord injuries, diabetes or prostate cancer surgery is also a culprit.

The penile implant or prosthesis is an inflatable device containing two balloon-like cylinders that is inserted in the penis to work like a hydraulic system. A small pump is placed in the scrotum with a reservoir of about two to three ounces of salt water that connects to the tubing.

The man can activate the pump so the balloons fill up with fluid, creating an erection. After sex, he releases the valve inside the scrotum to drain the fluid back into the reservoir.

"I find it a good treatment," said Kramer, who is part of the third-largest practice in the world for penile implants. "Men come to me and say, 'Doc, my organ stays hard. Psychologically, it [seems] harder than a penis."

Urologists typically start with medications that address blood flow, like Viagra and three other similar drugs -- the least invasive approach. "Pills are great if they work," he said.

When that fails, men have other options, but they are often "cumbersome" and interfere with lovemaking, according to Kramer.

Muse, a suppository about the size of a grain of rice, can be inserted in the urethra and acts to expand the blood vessels. Vacuum erection devices take preparation and "strangulate" the penis by trapping old blood in the organ. Injection therapy requires a needle.

"If a guy feels like having sex, he has to say, 'Hold on, dear,'" said Kramer. "An implant can take 10 seconds and the partner doesn't even know. It's more natural."