Erectile Dysfunction ain’t no joke.
The “limp noodle”. Shootin’ pool with a rope. Can’t raise the main sail.
Lots of ways we guys joke about erectile dysfunction…until it happens and statistically, the risk is pretty high. In fact, 1 out of 2 men over the age of 40 will experience some form of erectile dysfunction in their lifetime. The risk goes up 4X in men over 50 compared to their 40 year old counterparts. Now you can start to see why this has become such a big target in the world of men’s health treatment. The problem is the treatments offered are often a “one size fits all” approach. This is largely due to the fact that cases of ED are psychological more than 20% of the time. Some evidence suggests that number may be even higher in those seeking treatment online as many men just don’t want to talk about the problem with a health care provider in person. That means at least 1 out of every 5 guys get a favorable result from treatment and that’s enough to sustain a pill mill type business and, man, are there plenty out there. But what about the other 4 dudes???
Gettin’ wood is a complex physiologic process that is truly amazing! There are a crazy number of neuro-chemical reactions, hormonal influences and blood vessel changes that take place in a matter of seconds. In the interest of saving you one of my geek out sessions, I’ll just leave this link for all you Hardy Boys that want to do more research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513278/
Now that you’re back from that rabbit hole, you probably start to realize that just handing out some Viagra might not be the answer for every man. ED is not a disease in and of itself. Erectile Dysfunction is a symptom. There, I said it. Making the diagnosis of ED is like diagnosing someone having a heart attack with “chest pain”. There’s a list of pretty darn serious medical issues that can be at the root of ED. I don’t say this to scare the crap out of you, but as a caution to not just accept the first script of Viagra someone hands you and assume you’re all good.
OK, before you hit Google to figure out what underlying medical condition you have causing ED, do keep in mind what I said earlier about the incidence of psychological related ED and also remember that many of the more serious conditions are reversible.
Here’s some things to consider:
If you are overweight, have high blood pressure, known heart or vascular disease or diabetes, these can all be at the root cause of ED. If you fall into any of these categories and you’re having ED, its time to MAN UP and talk to your doctor about it. If there’s a problem “downstairs”, there might well be growing problems upstairs as well.
If you have a history of lower back injury, chronic back pain, or taking medications to treat these things, yet another scenario to have real talk with your doc. In these cases, ED can be a sign of worsening spinal and/or nerve compression. In many cases, the pain meds and other drugs used to manage chronic pain can themselves be the cause.
If you struggle with anxiety, depression or substance addiction and having ED, any of these can be the cause and again, the treatments for these complex mental health conditions can also play a role.
There’s another addiction that many men deal with privately that has a profound affect on sexual health. Pornography. Most guys don’t see porn as an addiction or problem. What many don’t realize is, the images and videos imprint in the primal areas of our brains (something called the amygdala) and can start to affect neurochemistry over time. Porn can create loss of attraction to our mate and even cause some self-image issues as we compare ourselves and our beautiful spouses to the “models” we see. These things can create some of the mental health conditions listed in #3 over time and compound ED. It becomes a snowball effect. If you watch porn and struggle with erectile dysfunction, STOP IT. If you’re reading this thinking to yourself, “this guy doesn’t know me”, I challenge you to stop watching porn for 2 weeks. I bet you within a week (in the absence of any of the other above issues #1-3), you’ll be back at Full Mast and swingin’ for the bleachers. Your spouse will enjoy your new found libido too!
Alright, alright. I think we’ve beat this thing to death (can I say that here?). There is still a ton more things on the topic we could discuss but at some point the “scroll factor” comes into play and I lose you.
Bottom line, if you have symptoms or concerns about erectile dysfunction, talk it over with a medical professional you trust. Someone that has your best health in mind and doesn’t just dismiss you with a Viagra prescription!
Be strong and unafraid! ALPHA MALE. No apologies.