There are different numbers floating around when it comes to the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) among men in the United States. Most fall between one-third and one-half of men who’ve had some experience with ED.
A short-term struggle with achieving and maintaining an erection usually isn’t cause for concern, but if your ED is ongoing, it could be pointing to a much larger issue.
As a symptom, ED is one that you ignore at your peril. To explain why, Dr. Scott Lafferty and the team here at Lafferty Family Care review a few conditions that are closely linked to ED below.
When you get an erection, it’s blood that’s making your penis larger and stiffer. More specifically, when you’re aroused, your arteries increase blood flow to your penis, which fills two spongy chambers called the corpora cavernosa.
While there are a wide range of reasons why men develop ED, topping the list are conditions that may affect blood flow, such as:
To put some numbers to this, one study found that 71% of men with high-risk hypertension had signs of ED.
So, in terms of being a harbinger of circulation issues, ED can certainly point in that direction, and many men only learn of their cardiovascular problems because of ED.
Our lives certainly don’t lack stress, and the effects of this chronic state can be physical, mental, and emotional. Stress and anxiety are directly linked to a surprisingly large number of health issues, and they are even cited as direct causes.
When it comes to ED, the link to stress is fairly direct — the stress can take over your mental health to a point where you can’t relax, never mind enjoy sexual activity. And once this happens, the problem can snowball as your ED becomes a new source of stress.
So, if you’re experiencing ED due to stress, know that your ED is just one manifestation of possibly many that are occurring in your body in response to the heightened stress state. That means that your ED is a good reminder to find ways to manage stress, which can do wonders for your health and state of mind.
Another possible culprit behind ED is low testosterone. So, if you’re struggling with ED and you know that blood flow and stress aren’t to blame, it might be worth having us check your reproductive hormone levels.
No matter what’s leading to your ED, we understand that your sexual health is an important piece in your overall wellness puzzle.
In having us investigate your ED, we can not only help you get back on the road to improved sexual function, but we can also check other areas of your health to see if your ED was a symptom of another health issue that we need to address.
For a comprehensive evaluation of your sexual health, as well as treatments for your ED, simply contact our office in Rogers, Arkansas, to schedule an appointment.
