For a full-fledged sexual life, a man needs a healthy erection, since without it it is impossible to have a normal sexual intercourse. In addition, male erectile function is often equated with the manifestation of masculinity or vitality and is seen as a sign of the physiological and psychological health of the body. Let's look at what role tumescence plays in this.
What is tumescence?
Normal intercourse is the penetration of an erect penis into the vagina. One of the prerequisites for this is an erection. It can occur as a result of sexual arousal, touching the genitals, or as a response to psychological stimuli. In this regard, there are three types of erections:
- Spontaneous, which appears without the participation of consciousness. This usually happens in a dream with all men of different ages, and also often happens with teenagers at any time of the day.
- Reflex, appearing as a reaction to stimuli (touch). This type of erection is of great importance when problems with potency begin and it is difficult to bring the penis into an erect state.
- Psychogenic, caused by erotic thoughts or irritation of the sense organs responsible for sexual arousal in a man: smell – the smell of the skin, hearing – exciting music, touch – massage, vision – the sight of a naked body, taste – the pleasant taste of food, imagination – fantasies.
Although an erection can be triggered by any factor, it must go through certain stages before the penis becomes hard and enlarges.
- First, the penis is in a phase of complete relaxation.
- Then, under the influence of some stimuli, excitation begins. It is divided into two stages: in the latent phase, blood flows to the genital organ, which slightly lengthens and thickens from this. Next comes the tumescence phase, when blood flow increases, thereby causing an erection.
- Now comes the phase of full erection. The penis is in an erect state, which means you can have sexual intercourse.
- Orgasm is accompanied by ejaculation.
- After that, the detumescence phase begins. The erection weakens, the penis returns to a state of complete relaxation.
So, tumescence is one of the most important phases of erection, during which the volume of the penis increases and its elasticity increases. Absence or incomplete tumescence speaks of erectile dysfunction. In order to determine the cause of a sexual disorder, a nocturnal spontaneous tunescence test is performed to determine if the problem is psychological or otherwise.
Night tumescence is a natural physiological process. It reflects the state of health of the genitourinary system. A healthy man has 3 to 5 spontaneous erections during sleep. The duration of one varies from 5 to 30 minutes. Usually the penis goes into an erect state in the phase of REM sleep.
Night erections are observed throughout a man's life. The exact causes of their occurrence are not clear, it is only known that they are not caused by sexual stimulation. However, nocturnal tumescence is considered one of the ways in which the male body maintains the health of the penis. That's why people with erectile dysfunction have fewer spontaneous erections during sleep.
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