Physical Causes of ED

Let's discuss the physical risk factors that can impact the health of your erections.  But it’s important to know that erectile concerns are often a combination of both physical and psychological issues. 

 For example, you may have a minor physical issue temporarily impacting your ability to get an erection that can contribute to a psychological risk factor. For example, maybe an accident or an illness impacted your body's ability to get an erection. Any serious illnesses or physical trauma can suppress testosterone levels which is an important hormone for a healthy sex life.  When stressed physically by illness, the body essentially goes into survival mode and doesn’t pay much attention to non-survival functions like, getting you laid. As a result, you may start worrying about your ability to get an erection, which can lead to mental stress or performance anxiety, that can linger after your body has recovered from your illness or accident. So what started as a physical thing, an illness, surgery or accident, can lead to a mental thing, worsening your ability to get and maintain an erection.

We will discuss the psychological issues later, but just know there may be more than one risk factor impacting your erections.

Blood Flow

One of the most common physical causes of ED is Vascular related diseases, including heart disease.  Up to 70% of the men who are experiencing a physical cause of their ED can attribute it to vascular disease, which is any condition that affects the network of your blood vessels or circulatory system. 

And because a hard cock is one full of blood, you can appreciate how important the system that transports that blood throughout your body is. 

Often vascular disease happens when cholesterol builds up and blocks blood vessels. When this happens, you don’t get good blood flow to the penis. If you haven’t already you should definitely check with your health care provider to see if you have high cholesterol and what you can do to address it. Even if you are young.

I always recommend making healthy changes to diet and exercise habits before using drugs to treat high cholesterol. 

Lifestyle changes can really help and we’ll be addressing those throughout this course.

Lifestyle

About 10% of the US population has type 2 diabetes. Diabetes can cause circulatory problems that inhibit blood flow and damages nerves that receive messages from the brain signaling the penis to relax and fill with blood. 

Again, lifestyle is important to prevent or reverse this common cause of erectile difficulties.

Being overweight is a risk factor for ED in and of itself, and it also contributes to these other health conditions, like vascular disease and diabetes, that are linked to Erectile difficulties.  This is because the medications that are used to treat those health conditions interfere with proper erectile functioning.

 A California study reported that being overweight increased a man's odds of developing ED by over 75%. 

Obesity and just being overweight has been shown to lower testosterone in men. Testosterone plays an important role in determining when erections happen and how firm they are. So it should go without saying you don’t want to do anything that decreases your testosterone levels.

Intoxicants

Alcohol

 While a little alcohol can help lower inhibitions, too much can impair your nervous system and leave you with “whiskey dick”. 

Whiskey dick happens because alcohol, in addition to being a sedative, interferes with the brain’s chemical messages, which can decrease blood flow to the penis. And since we know erections are all about that blood flow, drinking too much can leave you pushing rope.

If your system is full of alcohol, your body will usually focus more on processing the alcohol rather than achieving and maintaining an erection. 

Studies show that men who are dependent on alcohol have a 60 to 70% chance of suffering from sexual problems. The most common of these are erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, and loss of sexual desire. 

And to make matters worse, even if you can keep an erection, alcohol affects orgasms, causing them to be less intense and take longer to come, if they come at all.

So if you want a good lay, lay off the liquor. 

Nicotine 

Nicotine use, whether from cigarettes or vaping, also has a direct effect on the vessels that carry blood to the penis, by reducing the blood flow throughout your body and to your penis.  

The good news is, once you quit, your health starts to improve immediately. Your blood pressure improves. Your chance of a heart attack goes down. Most importantly for ED prevention, your circulation begins to improve within 2 to 12 weeks. 

Hypnotherapy has been shown to be a safe and effective way to quit smoking for those who are really ready to kick the addiction.

Cannabis

It’s important to note that other recreational drugs can affect your sex drive and sexual function as well.  For example, some data I’m finding suggests that ED is twice as high in cannabis users compared to controls.  It may interfere with the pathway called the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.  Yup, good ‘ol pot can make you limp!

Joshua had been a lifetime cannabis user but gave it up when he found this out and noticed immediate improvements in the hardness and duration of his erections, as well as an intensification of his pleasure and his sex drive.

Just like driving you don’t want to be operating your high performance machinery under the influence.

If you think you may have a problem with alcohol or drugs, please seek professional help. You can also ask for support in our online forum.

Medications

Many prescription medications are also contributing factors to ED.

These include some, but not all, antidepressants, antihistamines and medications to treat high blood pressure, pain or prostate conditions. 

Many men these days suffer from back pain and have been prescribed or are self medicating with opioids or other pain meds. These definitely will impact the quality of your erections.

Basically if you are taking any prescription meds and experiencing ED, it’s important to talk to your doctor and ask if it’s possible that one of your medications could have side effects of ED.  If you would like to wean off your prescriptions, please do so under the care of a doctor.  If your doctor does not offer you any alternatives to prescription medications, you may want to seek out a Functional, Naturopathic or Holistic doctor.

Prostate

Remember that your prostate is an organ that sits just under your bladder.  The tube that carries your urine and ejaculate to your penis passes through the prostate. If the prostate enlarges it compresses that tube.

An enlarged prostate gland, known as Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, or BPH— is a common condition as men get older. An enlarged prostate gland can cause uncomfortable urinary symptoms, such as blocking the flow of urine out of the bladder.  

If you are on the younger side you may be thinking, that’s not something I need to worry about, but actually it is.  It’s not a condition that develops overnight. An enlarged prostate effect 50% percent of men 50 and over. And that percentage goes up as men get older. So prostate health is important at any age.

Treatments for both enlarged prostate and prostate cancer can also impact erectile function. It’s important to keep your prostate healthy and happy for the benefit of your erections. Make sure that you are getting all your regular checkups for your prostate as recommended by your health professional.

Surgeries or Injuries

Surgeries or injuries that affect the pelvic area, abdomen or spinal cord can impact your ability to get an erection. This includes hernia surgery.

Surgeries can create adhesions which are bands of scar tissue that can cause internal organs or tissues to be stuck together when they are not supposed to be, sometimes creating pain or lack of good blood flow. 

Scar tissue remediation using manual techniques can be helpful in breaking up these adhesions.  

Injuries can also impact the nerves impulses to the penis. 

Some of the manual techniques and exercises I will be teaching you can help.  But if you noticed that your ED issue began after an injury or surgery, you may also want to seek out a pelvic floor physiotherapist or myofascial release bodyworker to get a hands on assessment. 

Sleep 

The quality of your sleep can definitely impact your erectile health.

A lack of sleep can elevate cortisol levels and decrease testosterone which can affect your libido and erections. So make sure you are getting 7-8 hours of good sleep a night. Sometimes it's just bad habits and a lack of discipline that keeps us from getting enough sleep. And sometimes there is an underlying health cause. 

If you suffer from any form of insomnia, whether that’s having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep through the night, it’s important that you address that. I always recommend natural treatments whenever possible. Acupuncture, herbs, yoga, and many of the stress reducing exercises you will learn in this course can really help with insomnia. But there are times when medications are needed. Just check that they do not have any side-effects that could contribute to ED. And never self-medicate. Work with your physician or a functional sleep doctor.

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder found in men. The side effects of fatigue, high blood pressure, risk of heart disease and stroke are well-known. But one issue that is not as widely talked about is the relationship between sleep apnea and Erectile Difficulties.

Continued research finds that having sleep apnea can be a drag on your love life. In fact, a study done in Germany reported that 70 percent of men seeking sleep apnea treatment also suffered from ED. 

So, if you know or have been told you snore or hold your breath while sleeping, there is a good chance you are experiencing obstructive sleep apnea and should consult your doctor and request a sleep study as this could be contributing to your sleepy cock.

If you think the cause of your ED may be associated with a physical or medical condition, please consult with your doctor. And stick with this course. Much of what you will be learning here can help you on many levels including optimizing physical health.