Category: Erectile Dysfunction

Going under the knife can be scary. While medicine has made great strides since we utilized leeches and wooden tools, we still have the occasional hiccup. Because surgery is conducted by humans, and humans are prone to the occasional screw-up, sometimes the wrong nerve gets nicked or the wrong clusters gets cut. While it can be easy to write these mistakes off as a simple slip of the knife, these little accidents can lead to all sorts of issues down the line.

Your erection is a complex machine, dependent upon many smaller machines in order to be able to do its job. If one of these smaller machines should fail, the whole thing falls apart. If one of these smaller machines should get damaged during surgery, that could lead to issues developing with your erection.

Unfortunately, this has the potential to happen during radical cancer surgery. When surgery is conducted for prostate or bladder cancer, work is conducted near an important nerve and artery collection that the penis is dependent upon to achieve an erection. If these nerves or arteries should become damaged during surgery, it can lead to your penis being unable to receive the help it needs to achieve an erection.

If you’ve found yourself struggling to achieve an erection, and you recently underwent surgery, these issues could definitely be related. Unfortunately, surgery-related ED can be quiet serious, as it is related to internal injuries. If the wrong artery is cut or the wrong nerve is sliced, this can lead to the ED being permanent. Speak to a medical professional about your issue, and together you can determine what has caused the issue and what you can do to overcome it.

You’ve always prided yourself on being a man that’s prepared for anything. Whether it’s by making sure you’ve got everything you’ll need for your camping trip, or by bringing an old fashioned map when your phone up and dies on a road trip, you like to think you’re always two steps ahead. But when you suddenly find yourself unable to achieve an erection, you suddenly find yourself woefully unprepared.

The sudden loss of your erection can be scary, troubling, and downright humiliating. But, unfortunately, it’s something you just won’t see coming. While many health issues carry “early warning signs” with them (i.e. other issues in the body serving as a heads-up that related issues may develop down the line), erectile dysfunction does you no such favors. It strikes seemingly at random, and it tends to crop up at the absolute worst times.

While there are no traditional “early warning signs” for erectile dysfunction, that doesn’t mean that ED can’t be stopped before it develops. The thing about erectile dysfunction is that it can normally be traced back to its source; whether its stress at the office, an overreliance on tobacco, or living lazily, ED can be caused by a variety of life choices that can all be changed.

If you’ve developed ED, talk to your doctor. If the issue isn’t physical in nature, you’ll be urged to find the root of your problem and work through how to get around it. If you’re looking to avoid erectile dysfunction, cut out vices, live healthy, and learn how to deal with psychological hang-ups.

So, erectile dysfunction may not let you know when its going to rear its ugly head, but with work, you might not ever have to worry about it developing in the first place.

When you suddenly find yourself unable to achieve an erection, it can be downright scary. You’ll comb through the internet, desperately searching for some rationale behind what is happening. Are you too stressed at work? Is this a temporary thing? Could it have medical implications? Even worse, how do you know if this is erectile dysfunction or impotence?

There seems to be some general confusion when it comes to the terms “erectile dysfunction” and “impotence.” It’s commonly thought that these are two different issues, and that impotence is the more severe of the two. If you were to ask a normal guy what the difference is between ED and impotence, he would probably tell you that ED is temporarily being unable to achieve an erection while impotence means your erection is gone forever.

This is not true. At the end of the day, the two terms stand for exactly the same thing: the loss of the erection. Using one term or the other does not denote the level of severity of the issue. It simply boils down to preference.

Impotence used to be the de facto term for erectile loss, but as understanding of the issue grew, erectile dysfunction came to be the more commonly used term. The term “impotence” is simply an slightly outdated term that gets thrown around from time to time.

So the issues with your erection are not broken into “erectile dysfunction” or “impotence;” it’s both. The term doesn’t matter. What matters is figuring out what the cause of your erectile dysfunction/impotence is and working to overcome it.

In the world of men, erectile dysfunction is the closest medical equivalent to a four-letter word. It’s rarely discussed, and when it’s finally brought up, it’s in hushed tones or behind closed doors. Because most men would be so hesitant to talk about such an intimate issue, it’s a medical problem that many remain ignorant on.

If you’ve found yourself recently struggling with your erection, it can definitely feel like you’re in this alone. You can’t exactly turn to your friends about such an issue, and it can feel embarrassing to talk to your partner about the problem. But rest assured, you are far from alone.

Erectile dysfunction is an incredibly common ailment that can afflict men of all ages. Studies have found that ED is becoming increasingly prevalent among younger men, and the numbers of older men suffering from the issue is only rising.

In fact, a recent study found that about 50% of men between ages 40 and 70 suffer from erectile dysfunction, which is higher than previously conducted study numbers. Researchers say this rise can be attributed to higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, and more men relying upon tobacco and alcohol.

So, while you probably won’t hear your friend group talking about it any time soon, erectile dysfunction afflicts thousands of men, so you are far from alone.

If you’ve found it difficult to achieve and maintain an erection lately, you might be questioning whether your issue is a temporary one or if you should consult your doctor. As the issue gets more obvious, you begin to face facts: you need to see a doctor about this.

While talking to your doctor about erectile dysfunction can be embarrassing, it’s important to remember that it’s the first step towards solving the problem. But with so many questions and concerns, it can be a little difficult to decide just what you need to ask your doctor to ensure that all your fears are addressed.

Well, worry not. Below you will find 8 questions that you should ask your doctor about ED. These questions will allow you to get all the answers you need, while simultaneously helping to establish how this issue can be conquered.

So, when it comes time to pay a visit to your doctor, remember to ask:

1. Could an underlying health issue be causing my ED?
2. Could any of my medications be causing my ED?
3. Could smoking or drinking be the cause of my ED?
4. Could psychological issues such as stress or anxiety be contributing to my ED?
5. If my issue is mental in nature, should I see a sex counselor or psychiatrist?
6. Could an ED drug such as Viagra work for me?
7. With the solution we have laid out, how much improvement can I expect?
8. Should we look into a nonmedical treatment (i.e. implants or surgery?)

The biggest report of the year is due in a couple days, and you aren’t even close to being done with it. Your company is depending on you, your boss is breathing down your neck, and you feel stressed. This stress from work can begin to leak into your normal life, leading to feelings of depression, anxiety, and the inability to focus on anything but the issue that is causing you stress.

While stress can affect your quality of life, it can also translate into physical effects. Too much stress can lead to heart attacks, heart disease, and even erectile dysfunction.

Yes, with your body chock full of stress, this can lead to issues downstairs. This is because stress can lead to increased blood pressure and cholesterol, which in turn can lead to erectile issues. With your blood pressure raised, your body will struggle to supply the body with the optimum flow of blood, which can lead to actions that rely upon blood flow, such as the erection, getting left out in the cold.

Unfortunately, stress-related ED can also become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. When a man develops ED, this can lead to stress about this newfound issue, stress about being unable to perform, and stress about what it could mean. In turn, this translates into more stress, which just leads to the issue getting worse.

If you’re dealing with stress-related ED, it’s important to get to the source of your bedroom woes. Work to push stress out of your life, or learn how to better deal with stress. With hard work, you can overcome stress, which in turn can bring your erection back to life.

When you hit the hay, does it sound like a backfiring car engine has ended up in your room? Does your partner often think that a jet engine has set up shop in your bed? You may have a snoring problem, more commonly known as sleep apnea. While snoring is a normal occurrence, think of sleep apnea as snoring on steroids. People afflicted with sleep apnea snore like their lives depend on it, because they actually kind of do. When you’re afflicted with sleep apnea, you tend to stop breathing for 10 to 30-second increments as you sleep, which causes your body to sputter and snore in an attempt to get oxygen.

To add insult to injury, sleep apnea doesn’t just cause your bedroom to sound like the hang out spot for a bunch of chainsaws. Because sleep apnea temporarily halts the intake of oxygen, this can lead to the oxygen count in your body lowering. The lower the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream, the worse your body’s overall function will be, which includes your sexual function.

Erectile dysfunction is very common amongst men that suffer from sleep apnea, with a whopping 46% of men with the disease reporting experiencing erectile issues, while 69% of men with the disease reported experiencing reduced sexual desire.

If you’ve found yourself uninterested in sex and unable to get your little guy stand at attention, it could be your sleep apnea to blame. Talk to your doctor about perhaps investing in a CPAP mask or OAT mouth guard, both of which have been found to be very helpful in fighting sleep apnea. With a solution in place, your body will get all the oxygen it needs, and your erection can go back to normal.

When your hair begins to thin, and that once full head of hair slowly transforms into a receding hairline, it can be troubling. Many men opt to rage against this hair change instead of going quietly into that balding good night by investing in hair loss medication. One of the most popular hair loss medications on the market is finasteride, more commonly known by its brand names Propecia and Proscar, with over 400,000 men filling prescriptions for the drug just last year. But while finasteride has been found to be effective at combating hair loss, it’s got the unexpected side effect of affecting your ability to perform between the sheets.

Yes, if you’ve been taking a finasteride-based drug and you’ve recently struggled to achieve an erection, there’s a connection. This is because Propecia and Proscar work by reducing the amount of dihydrotestosterone circulating in your blood stream, which has the benefit of encouraging hair growth. The downside, however, is that dihydrotestosterone is a male sex hormone, and is vital to communicating to the brain that it’s time for the erection to get to work. With reduced sex hormone levels, sexual feelings have a tendency to get scrambled, which results in the body being unable to achieve an erection.

Thankfully, the solution for this issue is simple: stop taking finasteride. If you’re experiencing side effects such as erectile dysfunction, halt taking finasteride and tell your doctor. There are other hair loss drugs on the market, so you can work together to find one that works better for you. And you won’t have to worry about the side effects sticking around, because finasteride has not been found to linger in the body.

Blood pressure is fickle. If it’s not operating at it’s optimum level, the rest of the body can pay the price. So when you develop high blood pressure, it can somewhat nerve wracking. After all, you’ve heard that spike blood pressure levels can lead to deadly problems such as heart attack and stroke. But high blood pressure doesn’t just affect your heart. It can also affect other extremities that are dependent upon the heart, such as the penis.

Yes, while it may feel like you’ve got enough to worry about with high blood pressure as it is, high blood pressure can also lead to erectile issues. That’s not to say that every man that deals with high blood pressure will find himself unable to achieve an erection, but the correlation is high. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that 49% of men between 40 to 79 with high blood pressure reported suffering from erectile dysfunction.

It’s easy to understand how high blood pressure can lead to ED. Your erection is dependent upon your heart, which causes important blood vessels to dilate as blood is passed through the body. With high blood pressure, the heart can be dealing with this newfound stress, which in turn can lead to arteries not dilating properly, which equates to not enough blood being supplied to the penis to achieve an erection.

So, short answer, yes, men with high blood pressure are at a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction than normal men. If you find yourself experiencing erectile issues, speak to your doctor and work together to figure out how to beat the problem. Your plate is full enough with high blood pressure, so there’s no reason to add ED to the mix.

While intercourse is supposed to be a fun, relaxed experience, many men find themselves nervous to perform. A new partner means new likes, new dislikes, and new quirks to learn and discover, and the fear that you won’t be able to satisfy your partner can be overwhelming. For some men, this anxiety can translate into the inability to rise to the occasion. This performance anxiety induced erectile dysfunction is very common, and it can be very frustrating. Thankfully, there are ways to overcome this issue.

Sexual performance anxiety-induced ED is related to your brain. Your brain interprets your anxious feelings, and this jumbles up the signals of sexual excitement that are being sent from downstairs, leading to your brain not communicating to your penis that it’s time to get to work.

First and foremost, you need to remind yourself that sex is supposed to be fun, not nerve wracking. Relax and enjoy the ride. If you get in your head that this, that, and the other could go wrong, you’ll struggle to get it up. Shake off your nervousness and focus on enjoying the experience.

Secondly, take it slow. Skipping foreplay and jumping right into sex could lead to your sexual anxiety getting worse, ensuring that you won’t be able to achieve an erection. Tell your partner that you want to ease into it, and work your way up to sex. Give your body time to relax and prepare for the act.

Temporary ED is very common, but it can be beaten with work.