What Causes Erectile Dysfunction?

There are many… I mean MANY factors that can cause erectile dysfunction. A combination of physical and mental factors can be a contributors. I will just will go over a few of the common and not so common factors.

So the physical. We know that blood flow is the biggest factor for healthy erections. That said, any physical medical condition that affects blood flow is going to have an impact on your erections. Some of the most common health conditions that affect our erections include: Heart disease – if our ticker is not working our blood flow is not optimal; Clogged blood vessels – which, in many cases, means high cholesterol issues which is going to affect blood flow; and blood pressure issues, either high or low, is going to affect… you got it… BLOOD FLOW.

Now some of the lesser talked about medical conditions that affect E.D. include: Parkinson’s, which can affect the ability to get and maintain healthy erections; secondary side-effects from prescribed medications that contribute to erectile issues; alcoholism and other substance abuse issues – remember alcohol is a depressant and can affect erections. Also, weed can negatively impact your ability to get and maintain an erection. Yes Mary Jane can kill your groove. Sleep disorders also impact erections – which is another good reason to get your ZZZZZs. Scar tissue in the penis (Peyronie’s Disease) – another culprit – any pelvic surgery or spinal cord surgeries can potentially have a negative impact on your erections, it just depends on where exactly the surgery is and what nerves and muscles will be affected.

Let’s take a look at the mental health side of things. Depression can affect erections, especially SSRI’s used to treat many depressive disorders. Anxiety is a big one I see in my office now days. Stress is another one that is becoming more and more common, and tougher for many couples to understand because many people deal with stress. However, stress impacts people in different ways. It’s important to keep that in mind. Relationship stressors or poor quality of a relationship can affect quality of erections – including guilt related to infidelity. Yes, you read that right. Guilt related to infidelity can contribute to E.D.. And porn usage can also contribute to erectile issues.

As you can see there is a myriad of contributors to erectile dysfunction. This is just a small snap shot. I truly hope you found this to be an interesting little read.

As always,

Gabriela