My partner struggles to achieve an erection. Does this mean he is no longer attracted to me?

When it comes to a sexual issue like erectile dysfunction, the root cause isn’t always sexual in nature. ED may occur due to stress at work, or feelings of depression, or worries over financial stability. But because ED affects a sexual organ, the common thought is that the cause of the issue must also be sexual.

As such, when a man suddenly finds himself unable to achieve an erection, his partner may begin to wonder if it could be due to deep-seated issues concerning attraction. Does not being able to achieve an erection mean the man is no longer interested in his partner? Does it mean that the man no longer finds his partner attractive? The partner may begin to think that the ED has appeared because the man just doesn’t care for them anymore, which spirals into feelings of resentment, which in turn morphs into bigger problems.

But remember, erectile dysfunction is not caused solely be sexual issues. When a man suddenly struggles to achieve an erection, it is not because his partner does not make him sexually excited anymore. Odds are there is something mental, or perhaps even physical, going on that is causing the issue to happen. But in no way, shape, or form does erectile dysfunction indicate that a man is no longer attracted to his partner.

If you find yourself questioning if your man’s ED is due to attraction issues, sit him down and talk. Open discussion of erectile dysfunction is always awkward, but your man can assure you that the problem isn’t attraction based. With a little open discussion, and the help of a medical professional, together you can get to the root of the problem, find a way to overcome it, and reclaim your sex life.

How long does Viagra last?

The first time you take an erectile aid, it can feel like you’re engaging in a game of bedroom Russian roulette. How much should you take? When should you take it? Should you eat before you take it? Will it happen automatically? Does it require foreplay? You find yourself grasping for answers and, once you’ve ingested the pill, living in fear that the drug won’t work like it’s supposed to.

Thankfully, taking erectile dysfunction medication such as Viagra isn’t exactly rocket science. Your doctor will tell you how much to take, and it would be wise to stick to that dosage. Like all drugs, you don’t want to take Viagra on a full stomach, or you’ll be twiddling your thumbs until it kicks in. No, the erection doesn’t happen automatically; Viagra just helps your body to achieve an erection, but you’ll have to go about getting it the old fashioned way.

But one of the foremost questions men new to Viagra find themselves asking is: Just how long does the drug last? Well, Viagra isn’t the type of medication that will hang around in your body for days and days. Rather, you’ve got a limited window.

When it comes time to take Viagra, keep in mind that it normally takes effect after about 30 minutes. From there, the Viagra will continue to course through your body for around 5 hours. However, that doesn’t mean you have 5 hours to hop between the sheets. Research has found that the effects of the pill tend to wear off after around 2-3 hours.

So, you’ve got a good 2-3 hours to put that erection to work, but the drug stays with you for 5 hours. Just make sure to get down to business sooner rather than later and you should be just fine!

Can masturbating before sex help me last longer?

When you suffer from premature ejaculation, it can feel like any desperate ploy to last longer in bed is worth exploring. Whether its investing in medication, or trying out the latest technique trumpeted by a self-appointed expert on the internet, you’ll try just about anything to get just a little more time between the sheets. But one of the best ways to ensure you last longer during intercourse is also one of the easiest, and it won’t even make you grow hair on your palms.

While self-pleasure has gotten a bad rap thanks to old wives tales, the truth is that masturbation is completely normal and totally healthy. Sure, like anything in life, too much of a good thing can be detrimental for you. But as an occasional way to unwind or a method to help with premature ejaculation, it’s actually quite useful.

The science behind masturbating before sex is understandable: When you masturbate and orgasm, the penis reaches a sort of “cool down” period where it is less susceptible to sexual activity. For men that normally have to deal with a hair trigger downstairs, this allows the penis to last longer during intercourse without reaching orgasm.

So, yes, taking a little “me time” before you’re set to jump between the sheets can actually be a smart way to ensure your bedroom time lasts as long as you want it to.

I have premature ejaculation. Can thinking “un-sexy” thoughts help me to last longer in bed?

We’ve all heard the gag before: A man, in the throes of passion, feels the point of no return coming on. Desperate to hang on, he turns his mind to the least sexy thoughts possible: Baseball, Richard Nixon, his grandmother. Sure, such a set-up is good for a laugh, but is such a thing truly possible? For men that struggle with reaching orgasm too quickly, can the mind be focused on other things to prolong sex?

Well, despite being used in just about every raunchy teen comedy since the invention of the wheel, thinking “un-sexy” thoughts in an attempt to stave off orgasm isn’t very effective. Even if you were to turn every mental synapses at your disposal to thinking about puppies and ice hockey, the signals your erection is sending to the brain to alert it that’s its time for orgasm will override any stray thoughts you happen to have.

So, no, focusing on other things to stave off an orgasm is not effective. However, there are other techniques men can use to prevent themselves from reaching their tipping point too quickly.

The most effective method remains the stop-and-go technique. This requires you go until you feel yourself reaching orgasm, and then withdraw. Take deep, calming breaths and refrain from any sexual activity for a minute or two. When you feel your body beginning to unwind and your impending orgasm subsiding, you’re clear to get reengage. Admittedly, it will take some practice to pinpoint the perfect time to withdraw, but with work, you can get the stop-and-go technique down to a science, ensuring you’ll have no problems lasting between the sheets.

So next time you want to prolong your bedroom time, don’t think of Jimmy Carter or kittens. Try out the stop-and-go technique, and you should be able to last much longer.

Can not getting enough sleep cause erectile dysfunction?

It happens to the best of us: It’s way past your bed time, but you find yourself staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning, hoping in vain that sleep will creep up on you any second now. Sleep may eventually come, but you’ll pay the price next morning: Bloodshot eyes, yawns a plenty, a constant yearning for a nap. Yep, you didn’t sleep well and now you’re feeling seriously fatigued. But to add insult to injury, consistently not sleeping well doesn’t just affect your ability to stay awake; it can also end up killing your sex life.

For men that struggle with sleeping, the body can often feel too tired to get down to business between the sheets. Even if you genuinely want sex, your body, deprived of sleep, can’t muster up the focus to help you perform. This leads to signals from your penis to the brain for an erection get lost in the jumble of fatigue, leading to you wondering why you can’t get it up.

Even if you manage to catch a couple Z’s every now and again, you may still struggle to achieve an erection. When sleep deprived ED becomes consistent, you may run into problems getting an erection due to nerves over the problem happening again, even if you’re fully rested. In essence, even if you sleep, you’ll become self-conscious over the problem happening again, leading to the problem happening again, essentially dooming yourself to a vicious circle.

Thankfully, the solution for sleep deprived ED is simple: Get more sleep. But for men that struggle to sleep, this is a solution that is a lot easier said than done. Speak to your doctor about potential ways to improve your sleep, or invest in some sleep aids. Once you’ve gotten your sleep schedule back on track, your brain should be able to focus once more, and your erection should return to normal.

Can stress at work cause erectile dysfunction?

You have a meeting you need to plan. You have a quote you need to hit by the end of next week, and your numbers aren’t even close. The boss is expecting big things out of you, and you don’t know if you can deliver on his expectations. When you’ve got a full plate like this, it can cause work to become stressful. And while you may try to leave your work problems at work, as this stress continues to grow, it can spill into your personal life and may ultimately affect you in the bedroom.

When you have a head full of stress, it can often feel downright impossible to focus your mind on anything that isn’t related to your stressors. Sure, you may engage in other activities and manage to focus on other things at times, but it always feels like this stress is lurking in the back of your mind. When you bring that stress between the sheets, your brain may struggle to deal with sexual factors, causing these feelings to get lost in the ether and ultimately go unprocessed.

Your erection depends upon signals from your brain for when its time to get to work. When your penis is sending sexual cues to your brain, but your brain is focused on stress instead of the situation at hand, these signals do not get properly sorted and your penis never gets the go ahead, leading to missed erections, which can eventually snowball into full blown erectile dysfunction.

So yes, if work has been particularly stressful, it is very possible that your brain can’t properly focus on sex, leading to erectile issues. Thankfully, getting over stress-induced ED is quite simple: Figure out ways to cope with the stress. Either come up with plans on your own, or work with a psychologist, and you should work out ways to cope with workplace stress. Once you’ve gotten your stress sorted, your brain can get back to focusing on the bedroom and your erection should be back to normal.

Is it possible to develop erectile dysfunction in your twenties?

Historically, erectile dysfunction has been seen as a problem for men that are “over the hill.” The common conception is that the erection just drops dead after fifty, and there’s nothing you can do about it. But the truth is that hitting a certain age does not guarantee ED; in fact, if a man makes healthy choices and lives well, he might not ever develop erectile issues. But ED isn’t just a problem for men in their golden years, either; in fact, it’s becoming increasingly commonplace for men in there twenties to develop the issue.

At one time, ED among younger men was a criminally under reported issue, but in recent years men have begun to speak out about their erectile issues at a young age. While its true that ED is much more commonplace among older men (case in point, research by the National Institute of Health has found that 75 percent of men over 75 has ED), the amount of younger men afflicted with the problem has begun to climb (with a recent report citing that ED affects 5 percent of men between the ages of 20 and 39.)

So what has caused is causing erectile dysfunction in younger men? Experts attribute the rise to a variety of factors: More stress at work and at home, a rise in depression, drug and alcohol dependence, and rising obesity numbers have all been pinpointed as ED causes among the young.

So, yes, it is very possible to develop ED in your twenties. If you are a young man and you consistently struggle to achieve an erection, speak with your doctor. Work together to get to the root of the problem and, with hard work, you should be able to overcome this issue and get your sex life back on track.

Can anabolic steroids cause erectile dysfunction?

For some men, working out is life. It’s not something you do after work, or something you do on the weekend after dropping off the kids; it is something to be done at all hours of the day, in pursuit of the perfect body. And that’s fine. Everyone approaches life differently, and there is nothing wrong with committing yourself to sculpting your body. Where such a lifestyle becomes problematic is when steroids enter the picture.

Anabolic steroids are utilized by bodybuilders to help build muscle in a way that normal bodybuilding just can’t. Injecting or ingesting steroids helps the body to boost the production of testosterone, which in turn facilitates muscle growth and being able to work out for longer.

But it can also lead to issues within the body, particularly where your erection is concerned. You see, anabolic steroids produce so much artificial testosterone, it causes the naturally produced testosterone in the body to shrink. This naturally occurring testosterone plays a vital role in assisting the body in achieving an erection. Less of this natural testosterone means erections become more difficult to achieve, and the problem will only get worse the longer steroids are used.

So while the journey for the perfect body might seem vital for some, odds are it isn’t worth sacrificing your sex life over. Wean yourself off of the steroids until you’ve managed to cut them out of your life entirely, and your natural testosterone levels should return to normal over time, and with them, your erection.

At what age is it normal to develop erectile dysfunction?

As a man enters his golden years, it is inevitable that the body will begin to change. Previously limber joints will begin to crick and crack, backs that used to be as strong as an ox’s will become brittle and sensitive, and the body will struggle to produce an erection. At least, that’s what the common consensus seems to be. It is an accepted fact of life that old age means the loss of the erection, and men seem to accept this simply as inevitability.

But the truth is that erectile dysfunction is not set in stone; true, it does become more prevalent as a man ages, but it is not guaranteed. ED, like all body ailments, is reliant upon how you live your life. In the same way that your heart will remain strong thanks to consistent exercise and healthy living, the same goes for your erection. By making positive life choices, avoiding vices (over drinking, smoking, etc.), and staying active, experts estimate that it is possible for a man to retain the ability to achieve an erection well into his late 80’s.

But not everyone strives to stay in peak physical condition. For men who live a normal life, the expectancy of ED development rises. Research has found that ED is most likely to develop in men over the age of 60. It can certainly develop before this magical number, but 60 is the most commonly reported age for ED development. From there on in, the chances of erectile dysfunction will only continue to rise.

So, if ED is accepted as inevitable, 60 seems to be the age at which men need to worry about the issue. But it’s never too late to change this; by making positive lifestyle choices, eating well, and getting active, it’s possible to maintain a healthy sex life well into your 80’s. But don’t put these changes off until it’s too late. Make the right choices now, and your erection will thank you.

Can tight underwear cause premature ejaculation?

It’s a debate as old as time: Boxers or briefs? There are men that swear that boxers are the way to go; the loose fabric and the not-too-tight waistband all add up to boxers being the de facto underwear for some men. But some men argue that the snug fit and unobtrusive feeling of briefs make it the supreme underwear choice. But boxer proponents always seem to have a trump all argument when it comes to briefs; tight briefs, they say, can lead to premature ejaculation. According to urban legend, if your underwear is a touch too tight, you’ll find yourself struggling to last in the bedroom for the rest of your days. It’s a rumor we’ve all heard, but is there any truth to it?

Well, sort of. In actuality, tight underwear does not cause premature ejaculation, nor can it cause erectile dysfunction to develop. What it can cause, however, is a lowered sperm count, which can lead to a whole new set of issues. Yes, tight underwear can actually cause your sperm count to drop, and if you don’t switch up your underwear, this affect may be irreversible.

This because briefs bring your testicles up close and personal to your body. The testicles hang away from the body to allow them to regulate their own temperature; when brought up to the body, this can lead to an internal temperature change within the testes. This temperature change causes the testicles to heat up, effectively causing the semen within to “cook” and whither up. Should the testes remain close to the body and continually be exposed to heat, this will cause the sperm to continue to disappear and the testicles will not be able to replace them, effectively permanently shrinking your sperm count.

So while your favorite pair of tighty whities might not cause premature ejaculation, they can still lead to issues within the testicles. You don’t need to ditch briefs, but switch to pairs that aren’t quite so constrictive and you should be able to avoid this issue.