All mature, normal men experience morning erections of the penis, but fewer people know about nocturnal erections of the penis. Nocturnal erection is the erection of the penis when a person is asleep. Nocturnal and morning erections of the penis are one of the most important indicators of male sexual function.
Studies have found that men have spontaneous penile erections after sleeping well. The number of erections varies widely depending on age, physical fitness, and sexual function status. In general, young men have 7-8 erections per night. The number of erections decreases with age. The number of erections in healthy and normal older people is about 2-3 times per night.
However, if there is a decline in sexual function or disorder, the number of nocturnal erections will decrease or even disappear. Nocturnal erection is an important objective indicator for the diagnosis of pathological impotence. If an impotent patient still has nocturnal erection, then he is only functionally impotent; if there is no nocturnal erection, the correct diagnosis of pathological impotence can be made.
The cause and role of nocturnal erection is still not very clear. Some people believe that nighttime is the peak period of testicular production and secretion of androgen (testosterone), and erection is the result of increased androgen level in the blood; others believe that nighttime erection is the result of active plant nerve function at night, and the body’s own maintenance and repair function plays a role.
So, how do you know if there is a nocturnal erection using a simple method? The easiest way is to use a long strip of paper the width of a postage stamp, prick a row of pin holes like those on a postage stamp with a needle, and fix it around the penis before going to bed. If the strip of paper splits and breaks the next day, it is caused by a nighttime erection. This is medically called the “stamp test”.
As for the morning erection, it is an easily observable indicator of sexual function. If you haven’t had a morning erection for a long time, watch out, your sexual function is starting to decline. It’s time to do something about maintaining your sexual function. If you don’t care about it, who can?
Erectile function self-test
Whether or not you can have a normal sex life, whether or not your penis can have a normal erection plays a decisive factor. Only when a man’s penis can have a normal erection can both parties have sex and enjoy sex, but some men’s penis erections are sometimes good and sometimes bad, and it is men who determine whether or not they have an impotence condition. Today, we introduce you to the self-test of penile erectile function.
Experts point out that the nature of impotence can be determined from the nocturnal erection of the penis. Normal men of all ages can have a reflex erection of the penis during sleep at night.
According to experts, the average erection in adolescence is about 6 times per night for 20-30 minutes each time; the average erection in young adults is about 4 times per night; and healthy elderly people over 65 years old can still have a total erection time of 1 to 1.5 hours per night. Even children often have penile erections in their sleep
Apparently, the reflex erection of the penis at night is not related to sexual stimulation and is not affected by psychosomatic factors; therefore, it can be used to identify whether impotence is caused by psychosomatic factors or by disease factors. If the impotent patient has no nocturnal erection or the degree of erection is below the normal value for the same age group, there may be a disease factor and further in-depth identification of the root cause is required. If the impotent patient has a normal nocturnal erection, it is not due to a disease factor, but to mental and psychological factors.
There are several methods to self-judge nocturnal erection of the penis
1 Stamp test: Surround the body of the penis with four joint-hole stamps and glue the overlapping parts so that they form a ring and go to sleep. In the morning, check whether the stamps are torn at the joint holes, and a tear indicates a nocturnal erection. If the overlapping part is not glued firmly and comes off then open meaning.
2 penis circumference measurement: there is a commercially available tape soft ruler (general paper), one end of the side connected to a square buckle, before going to bed will be around the penis, one end from the buckle through, first read the circumference of the penis in a soft and shrunken state base, the next morning and then see if there is any change in the data. The difference between the data before going to bed and after waking up is the increase in the circumference of the penis after erection at night. In a normal person, the increase is 1.5 to 4.1 cm. If it is greater than 1.5 cm, the impotence suffered may be due to mental factors; if it is less than 1.5 cm, the impotence suffered may be due to mental factors; if it is less than 1.5 cm, think that it may be due to disease factors.
3 Penile strength measurement: Use a commercially available paper penile strength measurement tape, stick it around the penis before going to bed, and observe the three small ribbons on the tape breaking the next morning. If none of the small ribbons break, it means there is no nocturnal erection and impotence is due to disease. If only the small red band is broken, it is an ineffective erection, and if the red and yellow bands are broken, it is an insufficient erection and the cause of impotence should still be considered as a disease factor. If all the small red, yellow and blue bands are broken, it means that the erection is good at night and impotence is due to mental and psychological factors.
The above is an introduction to the self-examination method of penile erectile function, which is helpful in checking to distinguish impotence. Seeing that patients with mental impotence who have normal nocturnal erections have high self-confidence, impotence may also be cured without treatment. If you check that you are suffering from impotence, go to a regular hospital in time to confirm the diagnosis.
What is the cause of unexplained erection of the penis?
Penile erection is a human instinct, sometimes not determined by the human will, but caused by a series of reflex activities. In general, when a man becomes sexually aroused, his penis becomes erect; after the sexual urge subsides, the penis returns to a weak state. In the physiological situation, from a child of one or two years old to the elderly, the phenomenon of penile erection will occur. The erection of the penis is more frequent in adolescents who are in the stage of puberty. As we know, the reason why the penis becomes erect and weak is related to its anatomical structure and physiological function.
After adolescents enter puberty, due to the awakening of sexual consciousness and the emergence of sexual psychology, there will be a certain sexual impulse and sexual desire. If you get some sexual stimulation in your life, such as the love for the opposite sex, watching movies or books about love scenarios, having erotic dreams about sex during sleep, and the friction of tight pants on the genitals, etc., it will provoke the erection of the penis. All of this is not a pathology, but a political party phenomenon. Some people also have penile erections during sleep, but the number and duration of penile erections vary with age: adolescents, on average, can have about 6 erections per night, and each erection lasts about 20-30 minutes: young adults have an erection every 1-1.5 hours on average; after middle age, the number of penile erections decreases; healthy elderly people of 65 years old can still have several erections per night erections. It is only because these erections occur during sleep that the person is not aware of them. The presence or absence of an erection during sleep is a reliable indicator of whether the penis can be erected in the waking state. If the penis can be erected during sleep, it means that the sexual function is normal, even if the impotence is psychogenic (mental); if the penis cannot be erected during sleep, it is organic impotence, which can be caused by diabetes, nerve damage or vascular yin plug, etc.
What’s wrong with the erection of the penis after sleeping soundly?
Our internal organs are innervated by sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, and the sexual organs are no exception. The erection of the penis is innervated by the parasympathetic nerve in the sacral medulla, and when the parasympathetic nerve is excited, the penis becomes erect.
Both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves are somewhat tense (i.e., weakly and continuously excited) and work against each other like a seesaw. When the sympathetic nerves are excited, the parasympathetic nerves are relatively inhibited. During the daytime, when subjected to various stimuli from the environment, sympathetic nerves are relatively dominant; at night, when it is quiet and sleepy, especially during heterophasic sleep, parasympathetic nerves are dominant, and there is erection of the male penis and engorgement of the female vagina. There are two popular jingles: “The male penis rises at three o’clock, the female lotus blooms at midnight.” This means that previous generations have long observed this physiological phenomenon. Therefore, after falling asleep at night, the erection of the penis is not a pathology and does not require treatment.