There is a pervasive, destructive myth that sexual health can be compartmentalized and taken care of separately from overall health. That’s not the case. Your overall health is inextricably connected to your sexual health, and you can’t focus solely on things like testosterone levels or vascular health without looking into all your habits and how they contribute to or diminish your sex life. Below are some tips to optimize male sexual health and understand what your penis is trying to tell you.
Consider Your Vascular Health
Since an erection depends on enhanced blood flow to the penis, vascular health is critical to having enjoyable, dependable erections. Vascular health and erectile function are so interconnected that decreased erection quality may be your first clue that your vascular health is deteriorating.
Healthy blood sugar levels contribute to vascular health, so being mindful of your nutrition is also key to maintaining satisfying erections. Embracing a fitness routine can make a noticeable difference in your sexual function since your cardiac health is a primary component as well. The effects of improving your overall health can be dramatic, but they take time. When trying to be more mindful of nutrition and cardiovascular health, give your body a few months to indicate whether it will impact your sex life.
Drink That Water
Hydration is an often-overlooked component of male sexual health. Dehydration can reduce your blood volume, which isn’t great for blood flow. Drinking water is crucial and an excellent habit to implement when trying to improve the quality of your erections.
Check Your Hormones
Testosterone levels can also play a role in sexual function. If you are concerned about them, talk to a doctor and ask them to check. Elevated cortisol levels, which is indicative of higher stress, can also create lower testosterone levels since they block its production. The more information you have about what’s going on inside your body, the more efficiently you’ll be able to combat erectile issues.
Mitigate Stress and Overwhelm
Since stress reduction can help improve erections, it’s important to find time to slow down. Living a fast-paced life may sound efficient, but it can do a number on your sex life. Slowing down and relaxing is crucial, so carve out time to journal, meditate, or take deep breaths.
What started as a physiological issue can, over time, become a psychological one. If your erections start to diminish in quality or frequency as a natural part of aging, you may begin to question your ability to perform. The more you have trouble getting or staying hard, the more you may avoid sex to prevent the feelings of anxiety and shame. The truth is that everyone has difficulty getting erections at some point in their lives. But if this causes you to spiral into self-doubt, you may begin a cycle of performance anxiety. To mitigate this, it’s crucial to be honest with your partner and let them know that it’s not that they don’t turn you on anymore. When you’re honest, you set the groundwork for addressing this change as a team rather than blaming each other and creating a lasting divide.
Sexual health isn’t something that you can only enjoy during your twenties and thirties. With the right habits, you can enjoy sexual health and pleasure your whole life. Investments you make in your physical health have the tendency to pay off in your sex life as well.
For tips on how to thrust during sex, check out my YouTube video below:
Need More Info on Male Sexual Health?
Contact me for a free consultation today.
Bio: Dr. Nazanin Moali is a clinical psychologist and sex therapist in the Los Angeles area. She works with various individuals to understand and improve their sexuality. Dr. Moali conducts personal consultation sessions in her Torrance and Hermosa Beach offices, or via a secure, online video-counseling platform. Click here to take the sex quiz for women.