Men’s health | Morning hard-ons – What’s that about?

Pitching-a-tent, morning wood, ‘n pishoring or ukuvukelwa; whatever you call it, morning erections are a regular rising occasion. Mara why?

A lot of dudes think you wake up with a boner when you really need to pee, but experts don’t think that’s the real reason. Most guys, (especially the teeny boppers) regularly wake up like a tripod, and the scientific name for this is nocturnal penile tumescence (NTP) – big words for an everyday event.

Why ‘nocturnal’? Well, you’re only aware of the last time your soldier came to attention. He’s been ‘popping up’ a few times during the night while you were asleep. The average guy has between 3 or 4 erections during the night, and they can last anything from half an hour to a few hours a session. Your hard-on has been working hard for the money while you were sleeping on the job!

But why? Why does he have a mind of his own while you’re trying to get your zizz on?

Flushing out the bad blood. NTP (night boners) are the body’s way of sending fresh oxygenated blood to the penis and keeping all the cells and tissue in your penis healthy and strong. It’s an indication that everything down there is doing well.

Waking up with wood is good!

Morning erections are also like lifting for your libido. Imagine that it’s similar to training at the gym for your penis. Your scants-stretcher needs to practice staying hard for longer periods of time if he is gonna do right by you when you get you sexytime on. It’s not easy being engorged with blood and staying stiff for extended periods of time if you haven’t been practicing. You wouldn’t run the Comrades without prepping, and your knob needs the same preparation.

There’s a few things that can cause you to go hard during the night. Your prick may be having his own good ole time while you’re asleep and get worked up because you were lying on your stomach or maybe from rubbing against the duvet got him stimulated. Also, the brain releases hormones during the day to stop you having embarrassing stiffies when you’d rather not like when you’re in a queue at the bank or sporting a Speedo on the beach. When you’re asleep, the brain chills-out and doesn’t release these hormones as much leaving you to be more “Free Willy” while you sleep.

Further on the hormone front, the male body’s testosterone level is highest in the morning, which may be another reason your ‘Lana’ wants to lead the choir.

If you are not experiencing morning erections at all, or they are very painful when you do, you need to see a doctor or a clinician. This may be the case if you are overweight, stressed, depressed, have high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Certain medications (especially for depression) can also cause fewer hard-ons. But, chat to your doc about it all the same, because it can indicate that you have some other medical or hormonal condition.

So, next time you wake up with your below buddy bulging, be grateful because it means that he’s healthy, which means that you probably are too.

Bruce J. Little is the Content Creator for Anova Health Institute, including We The Brave, Health4Trans and Health4Men. For info on sexual health for men who have sex with men, go to www.health4men.co.za.