Most men experience waking up with an erection which is very normal. In general language, it is known as ‘morning wood’. This is not embarrassing or joke but still some men think:

What if I don’t get morning wood anymore?

This is not just a random question. Almost every man thinks about it once in his life. Its answer is not as simple as yes or no. 

Let’s take deep information about morning wood, reason and when you should be concerned. Read this article for clear and honest information. 

What is morning wood?

Just to clear, morning wood is another name of an erection that men notice after waking up from sleep. In medicine, it is known as nocturnal penile tumescence. But this is just for information, you don’t need to remember this difficult term. 

What actually is important to remember is that these morning woods are completely normal and automatic. These happen during sleep and it doesn’t always mean you were aroused in sleep. 

Just to inform you, these erections happen several times during your sleep but you just notice the last one after waking up. 

Reasons of Morning erections:

Please note that morning erections are not random, it’s the result of several processes within your body while you sleep. Here are some common reasons of morning woods: 

1. Sleep cycles are important:

Do you know that there are different stages of sleep including REM sleep. REM means Rapid Eye Movement. During this sleep stage, dreaming happens and the body relaxes deeply. Just remember that during REM sleep, your muscles are relaxed whereas your brain and many nerves are active. So, erections are common because of this combination even if you don’t have any sexual thoughts. 

2. Hormones’ morning behaviour: 

The sex hormones present in male body is Testosterone which rises naturally during sleep so its on its highest level in the early morning hours. So, these hormones play an important role in sexual function in men. So, if testosterone gets affected with age, stress or other medical issues, morning erections will also be affected. 

3. Less stress, high testosterone: 

During sleep, your mind is free from stress, anxiety etc. These factors interfere with erections so when you sleep, mental blocks are not active and men start getting morning woods. That’s why doctors ask you not to take any stress. 

What if a man doesn’t get morning wood sometimes? Is it unhealthy? 

No, it’s not always a serious condition. Its completely normal as it may happen because of several reasons like: 

• If you drank alcohol before sleeping. 
• If your sleep pattern is changed. 
• If you had a disturbed sleep. 
• If you were stressed or anxious before sleeping and didn’t get REM sleep. 

A quality sleep has a great impact on morning erections. If you don’t sleep properly, you may not get an erection and it’s completely normal. 

When it is serious? 

Occasional erection absence is normal but if you didn’t get an erection for a long time, then you shouldn’t ignore it. Moreover, if you feel trouble keeping an erection during sex, then you should be concerned and consider all physical and hormonal changes. 

Possible reasons: 

Here are some most common treatable reasons to consider: 

1. Aging: With aging, morning woods are naturally less firm, noticeable or frequent. This may be due to the change in testosterone or sleep patterns which is very common with aging. It doesn’t always mean poor health. 
2. Stress, anxiety or mental health: Depression, anxiety or chronic stress can affect your sexual life as it disrupts sleep cycles and nerve signals to lower testosterone. Overall, mental health plays an important role in sexual health that we can’t even imagine. 
3. Poor sleep cycle: As REM sleep is important for morning woods so if you have insomnia, sleep apnea, nighttime waking, irregular sleep pattern, your erections may disappear even without any health issues. 
4. Low testosterone: Low level of male sex hormones can lower libido and erection quality in men. So, morning wood gets affected. Symptoms of low testosterone are fatigue, low muscle mass or sex drive, mood swings. Go for a normal blood test to check testosterone levels. 
5. Blood flow issues: Healthy blood flow gives frequent erections but if you have high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart problem or smoking habits, it can affect blood vessels’ size and eventually, erections. 
6. Diabetes: Increased sugar level can damage nerve and blood vessels that can lead to weaker and fewer morning erections. 
7. Medications: If you are already taking antidepressants, blood pressure or hormone treatment medicines, then morning erections can be changed. You should discuss it with your doctor. 

Remember, you should not mix morning wood with erectile dysfunction. If you get morning woods but trouble getting erection during sex, then this condition may be psychological but if you don’t get morning woods and trouble during sex, then this should be considered seriously.

What to do to improve morning erections naturally?  

Your overall health can help you to restore morning woods. Moreover, you can take these actions to improve morning erections: 

1. Quality sleep: Follow a sleep time table to get regular sleep and if you have any sleep disorder, treat it before it’s too late. Also, reduce your screen time before going to sleep. 
2. Manage stress: If you feel anxious, use relaxation techniques and exercises to address mental health issues. 
3. Support Hormonal health: Hormones play an important role to get an erection so maintain a healthy weight, exercise daily and avoid alcohol consumption for supporting hormonal health in men.
4. Heart Health: Eat a healthy diet to control blood pressure. They don’t help directly to get erections but overall well-being can help. 

Conclusion: Not getting morning erections is not unhealthy always but it should be considered seriously in some cases. Usually, morning erections depend on sleep, lifestyle, stress, age, medical factors etc. 

But if you face any health changes or sexual life disturbance, then it’s a signal to visit a doctor. 

Don’t feel panic if you don’t get morning woods for some days but its knowledge in advance can help you to avoid unnecessary stress without any embarrassing or panic situation. Contacting a doctor in case of an emergency is a sign of awareness, not weakness.