Losing an erection (Erectile Dysfunction, or ED) happens due to a mix of physical and psychological factors, involving brain signals, hormones, nerves, muscles, and blood flow; it's common and often caused by stress, anxiety, relationship issues, fatigue, alcohol/drugs, medications, or underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure, requiring a chat with a doctor if it's frequent to find the root cause.
Erections are about being relaxed and being turned on. Losing an erection or being unable to become erect often results from nerves, anxiety, or using alcohol or other drugs. Sometimes, people worry about performance.
Dr. Newton says you might be surprised by how many men have erectile dysfunction. He says it affects about 50 percent of men over the age of 40 and is even more common as men age.
This can happen for many reasons, but some of the most common causes are nervousness, anxiety, or using alcohol or other drugs. The nervousness and anxiety you mention when having sex with your girlfriend can come from thoughts about what you're doing, your body, or even what your girlfriend is thinking.
This is a normal variation experienced by some men. Most men lose their erection pretty quickly after orgasm, even if stimulation continues. A few stay hard a good while, possibly even without continued stimulation.
Kegel exercises are not just for women. You need some musculature in the pelvic floor to maintain hard, long-lasting erections. Muscles keep blood from flowing out of the penis when it is erect. Keeping these muscles strong is easy and may help reverse erectile dysfunction.
It takes an average of 5 to 7 minutes for a man to reach orgasm and ejaculate. But this varies a lot from person to person. About 4% of men almost always ejaculate early. That means that they have already had an orgasm before penetration or just afterwards, for example.
This is usually caused by stress, tiredness or drinking too much alcohol, and it's nothing to worry about. It can also be a side effect of some medicines. If erectile dysfunction happens often, it may be caused by a condition such as: high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
This is a complete myth. A man can suffer from ED while still being sexually attracted to his partner. In fact, ED can be caused by or linked to a number of issues, most of which have nothing to do with sexual attraction. Despite this, it can still make a man's partner feel inadequate sexually.
This problem can be put down to a number of causes. For example, there could be a physical cause, due to health conditions such as diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular disease. Or it could be a psychological cause such as performance anxiety or low libido.
It's common for a partner to wonder if the lack of physical arousal is due to a loss of attraction or emotional disconnection. However, ED is rarely linked to how a man feels about his partner. It's usually due to physical, psychological, or lifestyle factors such as stress, health issues, or medications.
Symptoms and Causes
Decreased blood pressure in the penis
The veins in your penis are responsible for blood flow out of the penis back to the heart. During an erection, these veins are compressed to restrict blood flow, allowing pressure to build in your penis. If this compression reduces, it will cause you to lose your erection.
Male sexual arousal is complex. It involves the brain, hormones, emotions, nerves, muscles and blood vessels. Erectile dysfunction can result from a problem with any of these. Also, stress and mental health concerns can cause erectile dysfunction or make it worse.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Focus on a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Foods high in flavonoids, like berries, citrus fruits, and dark chocolate, can help improve circulation for better erections.
7 strategies for partnering up with ED
Losing an erection doesn't necessarily mean you're not aroused. Erections are influenced by various factors including psychological state (such as stress or anxiety), physical health, and overall fatigue, which can interfere with arousal and performance even when you feel sexually stimulated.
My Husband Can't Stay Hard: Is He Cheating? A loss of erection isn't necessarily a sign of cheating. That said, cheating may contribute to psychological factors like stress and anxiety, which can cause psychogenic ED, low sex drive, and other sexual health issues.
Good news for men - the survey made it clear that erectile dysfunction is nothing to be ashamed of. When asked about the experience, 39% of women admitted feeling 'undesirable', yet positive feelings of empathy and support were just as common, and many women described feeling both.
Stress, anxiety, and performance pressure
When you're with your partner, you might feel a heightened sense of responsibility to satisfy her or to maintain a certain level of performance. This can lead to anxiety, which paradoxically makes it more difficult to achieve or maintain an erection.
Medication, such as sildenafil (sold as Viagra), can be used to manage it in at least two-thirds of cases. Vacuum pumps that encourage blood to flow to the penis and cause an erection are also successful in 90% of cases. Psychological treatments include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and sex therapy.
Myth: Erectile dysfunction only affects men over age 70.
It affects about half of men ages 40–70. Some erectile function changes with age. Erections may take longer to develop, may not be as rigid or may require more direct stimulation to be achieved.
Factors Affecting Semen Volume
Each time men ejaculate, they discharge between 1.25 and 5.00 mL (1/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon) of semen on average. However, this amount varies from person to person due to the influence of certain factors such as: Age. Hereditary.
Things like stress, health conditions, medication or past sexual trauma can cause it. Sexual dysfunction can happen at any point during the sexual response cycle.
According to some studies, 18-year-old males have a refractory period of about 15 minutes, while those in their 70s take about 20 hours. Although rarer, some males exhibit no refractory period or a refractory period lasting less than 10 seconds.