Erectile Dysfunction or Impotence - What Is It About?

Impotence can also be called Erectile Dysfunction. It refers to the inability of a man to maintain an erection during sex. It can include a reduced sense of sexual excitement, which in turn leads to a loss of an erection.

Getting An Erection and Love-Making

A man must be sufficiently aroused by one or more means to enjoy a firm erection. The arousal can be psychological or physical or even both together.

Generally the method of stimulation required to achieve arousal can be what a man views or feels. Also the utilisation of sensual or erotic language can have the desired effect too. On the other hand it can be his imagination producing thoughts and images that are of a sexual nature. Many men enjoy a combination of the both fantasy and reality.

Erections That Are Involuntary

It is well known that men get a type of erection that can be referred to as an involuntary erection. In other words an erection that he has not deliberately set out to have. A man may often notice he has an erection in bed in the morning and just before emptying his bladder. During the night the bladder has been filling with urine and this has in turn pressed on the prostate gland. Stimulating the prostate gland brings sexual arousal and this results in an erection.

There will be other times when a man gets an erection that is involuntary. For instance, a man can be sexually aroused when in the company of a person who he finds attractive sometimes. He will not necessarily want to have an erection but because he is sexually stimulated there is a good possibility that he will experience an erection anyway.

How Does the Body Achieve An Erection?

Inside the un-erect penis there are three empty chambers. These chambers fill with blood and the penis becomes stiff and erect. The penis grows longer and gets wider too.

When sexual stimulation (physical or imagined) or involuntary stimulation is present, the brain sends a message to increase the blood pressure in the body and to send blood to enlarge the penis. The three chambers in the penis fill with blood and the penis becomes hard and erect.

For the duration of sexual arousal, the penis will stay enlarged and blood is stopped from escaping from the penis by muscles at the base.

Interestingly the nervous systems of the body play an important part in all of this. The parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system are the two in question. Usually only one of these systems dominates at any one time. However to achieve an erection the two systems work together.

This information can provide a better idea of how impotence or erectile dysfunction arises. If a man experiences anxiety during sex it can alter the balance between the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system and lead to the loss of an erection.

In summary, impotence or erectile dysfunction is the lack of a lasting erection through to ejaculation. An erection is most often lost just before or during penetration and sometimes in the act of putting a condom on.