Erection Problems

Most men have trouble getting an erection at some point. It can happen for all sorts of reasons. But when doctors talk about erection problems, they mean that you can't usually keep an erection long enough to have sex. For many men, erection problems happen because of something physical. An injury, illness or problems with your hormones can all cause erection problems. Some medicines can cause erection problems as a side effect. But your emotions can also play a part. Stress, unhappiness and depression can all cause erection problems.

You may have thought of erection problems as something you just had to put up with, or even a normal part of getting older. But there are treatments that work for most men. If you have treatment, your erection problems and your sex life are likely to get better. It's also worth remembering that there are lots of ways to give and receive sexual pleasure. If you have a partner, it's often helpful for them to understand your difficulties and for you to approach them together.

It may seem difficult or embarrassing to discuss erection problems with your sex life with a doctor. It is often difficult to diagnose the erection problems that is causing symptoms - more often it is a combination of problems, both physical and psychological (see below), that can cause problems with achieving or maintaining an erection. The history often can give a good idea about whether the cause is likely to be predominantly psychological or physical. Some men seem to have no erection problems when masturbating, and have morning erections / erections during the night, but have problems with their erection only when they are with a partner. In these cases, it is more likely that there is a predominantly psychological cause. Nonetheless when there is an accompanying loss of libido (sex drive) physical causes for erection problems also need to be excluded. The physiology of how erections occur is complicated, but essentially erections occur when blood becomes trapped within the penis. This comes about by either psychological stimuli, physical stimuli or both. For erections to occur some of the muscles within the penis need to relax.

Psychological causes include anxiety, depression, relationship problems and performance anxiety. Anxiety / fear increases the production of hormones such as adrenaline and this can prevent the muscles in the penis that need to relax to cause an erection from doing so. The problem is self-perpetuating as each time an erection fails, the anxiety levels associated with subsequent attempts at erection increase. This is performance erection problems.

Physical causes include vascular problems, diabetes, kidney problems, neurological problems (including trauma or operations to the back). Some prescribed medications can cause problems with achieving erections, and importantly so too can smoking and alcohol, as well as recreational drugs such as cannabis and cocaine.

In reality, most men with erection problems have a combination of physical and psychological elements. A man who has a physical cause for his erection problems will invariably have some psychological effects as a result of his problem - this could include depression or anxiety / performance anxiety - which can make the problems with erections worse. Treatment will depend on what is found. There are several therapies specifically for Erection Problems.