Morning wood (nocturnal penile tumescence) usually lasts from 30 minutes up to an hour, often subsiding as you wake up and get ready for the day, but if it persists for more than four hours (priapism), it's a medical emergency requiring immediate ER attention to prevent permanent damage. It happens several times a night, linked to REM sleep, full bladders, and peak testosterone levels in the morning.
In most cases, morning wood is a sign that everything in your body is working properly. Most morning erections last about 10 minutes, but in some cases, they may last as long as 30 minutes. But if your morning erection lasts longer than an hour, you may want to talk to your doctor.
Together, the parasympathetic nervous system, the male reproductive system, and REM sleep all affect a man's likelihood to have nocturnal erections. Not all men experience regular morning erections though. It's just as normal to experience one every day as it is to experience it just once or twice a week.
The blood trapped in the penis is deprived of oxygen. When an erection lasts for too long — usually more than four hours — this lack of oxygen can begin to damage or destroy tissues in the penis. Untreated priapism can cause erectile dysfunction.
The average length of an erect penis is about 5.1 inches (around 13 centimeters). How big your penis is when erect has nothing to do with the size of your penis when it's soft. Some people with a smaller-than-average penis can have a longer-than-average erection and vice versa.
Nocturnal erections occur in each REM sleep phase. Therefore, healthy men have as many involuntary nocturnal erections as times they enter REM sleep, which is usually between 3 and 6 times per night. ROC Clinic belongs to the main national and international Urology and Andrology medical organizations.
Low testosterone can contribute to ED but is rarely the sole factor responsible for ED.
After orgasm, the blood is returned to the general circulation and the penis returns to a soft (flaccid) state. Even a minor disturbance in any of these steps such as decreased blood supply, disturbances of nerve mechanisms or psychosexual problems may lead to erection problems.
Erect (Rigid)
The blood that flowed to your penis in the tumescent stage is now unable to drain from the penis. This causes your penis to become rigid and hard enough for sex. If you're worried about how your penis is performing, take our erection check quiz.
Answer. During sexual intercourse, most men ejaculate between 5-10 minutes and research has shown the average time to ejaculate after penetration is five and a half minutes. Usually, ejaculation less than one to one and a half minutes after penetration is regarded as premature ejaculation.
Symptoms
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Yes, a 70-year-old man can still get an erection, though it's more common to experience some erectile dysfunction (ED) due to aging, health conditions (like heart disease, diabetes), medications, or lifestyle factors, but effective treatments and lifestyle changes can help manage this and maintain sexual function. Erections might take longer to develop, be less firm, or require more stimulation, but persistent difficulty achieving a satisfactory erection isn't a normal part of aging and can often be addressed by a doctor.
A combination of aerobic (increase in heart rate) and resistance (weightlifting) training has been found to increase the production of testosterone. This also helps prevent the most common diseases that men are most likely to die from, heart disease and cancer.
Not getting a morning erection may be a sign of erectile dysfunction, but it could also be a normal side effect of aging, poor sleep, or a reaction to a medication. Morning erections can be affected by hormonal changes, a full bladder, or physical stimulation during sleep.
It takes 3.6 inches from the root of the penis to the tip of the glans to hit the 50th percentile for flaccid length. That means 68 percent of men measure between 3 and 4.2 inches, and 95 percent are in the 2.4- to 4.8-inch range.
The time to wait for "round two" varies greatly, typically ranging from a few minutes to several hours or even days, depending on age, health, and individual factors, with men generally needing a longer refractory period than women, though women can experience sensitivity or psychological downtime. Younger individuals often recover faster, while older individuals usually need more time (sometimes 12-24 hours) to become aroused again.
Perhaps more interesting is the narrow distribution of erect penis size. Most men are remarkably close to each other: 4.7 inches is in the bottom 25 percent, and 5.6 inches is at the top 25 percent. Very few people — those within the top 1 percent — reach 9 inches.
"Big" for a man is subjective and context-dependent (clothing, health, physique), but generally means sizes beyond standard large, like XL and above (XL chest 46-48"+), often with taller measurements, or physiques with larger shoulders/waists (waist over 37" for health), with "big" often referring to being significantly larger than average in height, width, or muscle mass.
Average Size & Variation
Other trusted sources place it in the range of 5.1 to 5.5 inches (13.0 – 14 cm) when erect. Because measurements vary, nearly 68% of men fall within the mid-range (4.6 to 6.0 in) when erect. Lower and higher extremes (below 9.7 cm or above 17.5 cm) are far less common.
Yes, not ejaculating for about 7 days can temporarily increase testosterone levels, with one small study showing a significant peak around day 7, though levels then tend to return to normal, and more research is needed for broader conclusions, with lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, and sleep being crucial for overall hormone health.
Beginning around age 40, men's testosterone levels start to gradually drop by about 1 to 2% each year. Reduced testosterone levels are quite common, with over a third of men over age 45 having levels below what is considered normal for their age.