KissMeGoodnight eLearning Series:
Your Sexual Health

Impotence and Your Sexual Health
(Men and Women)

Both men and women are concerned about impotence and the affect it will have on their sex lives. Talking to your medical health care professional will help alleviate some of those fears, as well as present ideas for treatment. Impotence and loss of your sex drive is very common in men and women as they age. The loss of your sex drive can happen for many reasons including getting older. Stress plays an important role in our sexual health. There may be times when you are ready and want to have sex, while your partner is at the other end of the libido scale. This would then be a time for communication to find out how you both can receive pleasure when you are ready as well as help your partner in ways other than sexual intercourse.

Impotence is more common in men older than 65, however, it can occur at any age. The majority of men experience erectile dysfunction at least one time in their lives and this is very normal. It is also normal as men age, that they will experience changes in the erectile function just as they experience changes with the rest of their body. Their orgasms may not be as powerful as they once were and the time it takes to achieve erection in between orgasms will become longer. There are a couple of signs and/or symptoms of impotence. These signs include the inability to have a full erection, inability to maintain an erection during intercourse, and the complete inability to achieve an erection regardless of the attempts made.

The way a penis maintains an erection is primarily the way it is made. The penis has two cylindrical structures that look kind of like sponges. These cylindrical shapes run along the length of the penis. When arousal takes, place blood begins to flow into the cylinders, which then increase up to seven times their normal size. Just as a sponge when you get it wet it expands, the same happens with the penis. When blood flows in to the penis, an erection is formed. The longer the arousal the harder and stiffer the penis becomes. Once ejaculation has occurred the blood flow retreats and the penis goes back to its normal size and shape.

The first step that needs to happen for a man to have an erection is he needs be aroused. Men can become aroused through touch, taste, smell, auditory, and through vision. Then there will be a response in his nervous system. When the brain responds favorably to a certain sense, this activates blood flow in to the penis. When this starts, there is a relaxing of the blood vessels within the penis, which allow more blood flow to enter. This produces a harder erection. The downside to this is the delicate balance of all these factors that create an erection. If one area is disharmonious, the man can experience erectile dysfunction.

There are several nonphysical causes of impotence, among them are:

• Psychological problems
• Stress – this could be from work, or family, or both
• Anxiety – about finances, children, or life in general
• Fatigue
• Depression
• Negative feelings toward yourself, spouse, or circumstances around you
• Resentment
• Hostility
• Lack of interest
• Some Physical causes of impotence can include:
• Diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage caused by diabetes)
• Cardiovascular disorders, which can affect the blood flow to the penis
• Prescription medications – talk to your doctor and find out if any of your medications are a potential cause of impotence
• Cancer or prostate operations
• Spinal cord fractures
• Multiple sclerosis
• Hormonal imbalances
• Alcohol and other forms of drug abuse

Impotence can also be one of the first signs of another underlying health problem. Several medical conditions also have erectile dysfunction as a side effect. Therefore, it is important not to see only the impotence but other medical factors as well. There may be times when you cannot really tell the difference between the physical and nonphysical symptoms of erectile dysfunction. The simple act of fearing that you may not be able to get an erection can in itself cause you to not have an erection.

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KissMeGoodnight.com : 2006

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