Morning wood is formally known as nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT); it usually occurs in both boys and men. As time goes on, men begin to wake up with erect penis. Although it is widespread with men, men of all ages can experience nocturnal penile tumescence too.
Most individuals suspect that a morning erection is a result of the sexual stimulation, but this is not the case. Morning wood is the automatic response of your body to various natural occurrences.
What Causes Morning Wood?
The various causes of nocturnal penile tumescence are multifactorial. There are a few theories that help explain the origins of morning wood in men. These theories include:
Physical Stimulation
Your body acknowledges everything that is going on around you, even if your eyes are shut. If perhaps you touch or your partner touches your genital, it can arouse you, and you become erect. Your body automatically reacts to the stimulation with an erection.
Hormone Shifts
You experience the highest level of testosterone in your body when you wake up. It is most high when you wake up immediately from the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage.
The increase in this particular hormone is capable of causing an erection. This can occur even if no physical stimulation is present. The level of testosterone begins to wane as men get older, and as their testosterone levels decrease, so does their nocturnal penile tumescence.
Brain relaxation
Usually, your body automatically releases hormones during your waking hours to suppress erections. But while you are asleep, very little of these hormones are produced. A
s a result of this, morning wood becomes more likely to occur, and you might even have erections while in your sleep.
Who Experiences Morning Wood?
It is safe to say that every man, irrespective of age, can experience morning wood. Experiencing nocturnal penile tumescence is a good thing; it shows that your blood and nervous system are functioning correctly around your genitals.
Morning wood also occurs in boys as young as six years to eight years old. It can also occur in older men in their 60s and 70s.The occurrence of nocturnal penile tumescence becomes less frequent as men begin to get older, and ED conditions start to occur.
Most men experience morning wood three to five times every night, irrespective of what they dreamt of. The duration of a nocturnal penile tumescence can be up to thirty minutes. During their sleep, some men can have an erection that lasts as long as two hours. But during waking hours, most of these erections become suppressed.
How often should a man experience morning wood?
Men of various ages, experience morning wood, the ones who tend to experience more frequent morning wood are younger adults whose level of testosterone is at its peak. These young adults may experience erections during the morning times, and sometimes during the night time.
The point when sexual maturity is at its peak in men is during their late teens to late 30s, accompanied y high levels of testosterone. It is natural for men in this phase to experience regular episodes of morning wood.
As men reach their 40s and 50s, the episodes of morning wood they experience begin to decline. This is as a result of the testosterone levels reducing. The event of morning wood is expected to decrease gradually but not abruptly.
A gradual reduction in your episodes of morning wood is natural and healthy. When you have a hormonal imbalance, most specifically the type that negatively affects the testes and penis, it can lead to little or no more experiences of morning wood. This is a significant reason why research has shown regular episodes of morning wood to be healthy.
Numerous researches have shown that men with hypogonadism suffer from less frequent morning wood episodes. However, when they engage in testosterone therapy, there was an increase in their events of morning wood.
Some studies have shown that the amount of sleep a person gets can affect the frequency of morning wood. It says that if a man does not get the adequate required sleep and does not enter the REM cycle, he is likely to experience little or no nocturnal erections.
Men with sleep apnea and ED found that getting enough rest resulted in more episodes of morning wood occurring. Other researchers have used nocturnal erections as a tool for measuring your sexual or hormonal health, especially when you are getting treatment for ED.
If you are experiencing a lack of frequent erections or no erections at all, your doctor can diagnose that there might be an underlying cause of ED, and it could be physical.
Do guys get erections in their sleep?
It is not a hidden fact that most men get erections while they sleep. Most men get a minimum of five constructions in a night. Men are to wake up with erections every day to show that their body is in good health.
Nocturnal penile tumescence, otherwise known as nocturnal erection or sleep-related erection, is essential for the overall health of a man. If you do not have that regular morning erection, it could mean that your blood flow or testosterone levels are low.
Why is morning wood so principal?
Many things have to be correctly functioning for you to achieve and maintain a firm erection. Your body has to produce hormones on-demand and message the arteries to transport enough blood to your genitals.
Your mind has to be in perfect harmony with your system while your nervous system starts to pass across signals. Numerous things could go wrong. If perhaps you are having problems with achieving an erection, it could be as a result of multiple chronic health risks.
The blood vessels of the genitals in a man are so small compared to those in the other parts of your body. This means that other hidden issues can first spring up as erectile dysfunction.
What does it mean if you stop getting morning wood?
Experiencing morning wood is a sign of great and healthy living. It shows that there is a sufficient supply of blood and nerve to the genitals. Once you stop having nocturnal penile tumescence or you no longer wake up with erections, this could be a symptom of a medical issue.
It is most likely to be a significant symptom of erectile dysfunction. There could be an occurrence preventing your body from supplying sufficient blood or nerve supply for erectile function.
You would experience erectile dysfunction if you have the following:
Excess weight or obesity- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol levels
- Type two diabetes
- Depression or anxiety.
Other factors can cause erectile dysfunction, factors like certain physical disabilities. There are some specific medications that, when consumed, can also cause erectile dysfunction. Some antidepressant medications and painkillers can prevent nocturnal penile tumescence.
As you get older, you begin to get fewer erections in the mornings or while you sleep. However, if you are still young and you do not experience erections or your erections do not last long, then it is high time you visited your doctor.
When to see a doctor?
Having erections is very healthy, but there are some instances when you would need to visit your doctor. These include:
You stop having morning wood
You need to talk to your doctor when you no longer experience morning wood as frequently as before or do not experience it any longer. It is usual for the episodes of nocturnal penile tumescence to occur less as you begin to age.
However, an immediate fall in morning wood frequencies could mean an underlying medical problem.
You begin to experience a painful erection
You ought to see your doctor immediately if you experience erections for a long time after you wake up because morning erections are to subside after thirty minutes when you have woken up. If your erections are also painful, you need to see your doctor too.
However, some men naturally experience morning erections every day while some experience it once a week; this does not mean that neither of them is healthy.
So when you visit your doctor and explain how your body works, he would be able to diagnose when you have a problem quickly.
Conclusion
Morning wood is a widespread occurrence in men. It shows that there is an adequate supply of blood and nerve to the genitals. In some men, morning wood occurs almost every day, while in others, it can happen once a week.
However, as men begin to age, they stop experiencing morning wood as frequently as before. Morning wood can be caused by physical stimulation, hormone shifts and brain relaxation.
If you stop experiencing morning wood abruptly, this could mean that you have an underlying medical problem. You could be having erectile dysfunction because of some types of diseases like diabetes and heart diseases.
Make sure you observe how frequent your morning wood occur, and if you start having problems, make sure you consult your doctor.
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